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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.
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Case study of a DOE 2020 Housing Innovation Award winning custom home in a cold climate that got a HERS -7 with PV, with 1,280 square feet, ENERGY STAR certified appliances, no-VOC products, and a 7.75-kW PV system.
Case study showing project and performance data and energy-efficiency measures of a winning entry in the Housing Innovation Awards of DOE's Building Technologies Office.
Habitat for Humanity Zero Energy Home (ZEH) provided 15 years of continuous monitoring for single family house with various energy features.
There is a demonstrated need for affordable housing and smaller homes. Reduced square footage new construction projects present a solution for this growing need. Completion of these types of projects is not without challenges however, as high efficiency building measures present problems with proper equipment sizing and indoor environmental quality. This case study describes the support provided by FSEC to the Manatee County Habitat for Humanity to create a small footprint home design that qualifies for Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH) certification in Florida. Specific measures to address equipment sizing challenges, and interior air quality targets are identified among other construction elements that contribute to qualifying for ZERH certification. Discussion of the approach to meeting these challenges is informative to other efforts to build to above code standards in hot humid climates, and other regions.
Off-channel areas are one of the most impacted aquatic habitats by humans globally, as extensive agricultural and urban development has limited them to roughly 10% of historical extent. This is also true for California’s Sacramento River Valley, where historically frequent widespread inundation has been reduced to a few off-channel water bodies along the mid-Sacramento River. This remaining shallow-water habitat provides crucial ecological benefits to multiple avian and fish species, but especially to floodplain-adapted species such as Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). Characterizing spatiotemporal off-channel dynamics, including inundation extent and residence time, is fundamental to better understanding the intrinsic value of such habitats and their potential to support recovery actions. Remote sensing techniques have been increasingly used to map surface water at regional and local scales, with improved resolutions. As such, this study maps off-channel inundation areas and describes their temporal dynamics by analyzing pixel-based time- series of multiple water indices, modified Normalized Difference Water Index (mNDWI) and the Automated Water Extraction Index (AWEI), generated from LandSat-8 and Sentinel-2 data between 2013–2021. Quantified off-channel area was similar with each water index and method used, but improved performance was associated with Sentinel-2 products and AWEI index to identify wetted areas under lower mainstem discharges. Results indicate an uneven distribution of off-channel habitat in the study area, with limited inundated areas in upstream reaches (<16% of total off-channel area for greater flows). In addition, much less habitat exists for flows under 400 m 3 /s, an important migration cue for endangered winter-run Chinook salmon, limiting juvenile access to areas with enhanced rearing conditions. Off-channel habitat residence times averaged between 7 and 16 days, primarily defined by the rate of receding flows, with rapid flow recession providing marginal off-channel habitat. This study shows reasonable performance of moderate resolution LandSat-8 and Sentinel-2 remote sensing imagery to characterize shallow-water inundated habitat in higher-order rivers, and as a method to inform restoration and native fish recovery efforts.
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This project explored the use of minisplit ductless heat pumps in combination with small through-wall transfer fans to provide space conditioning in small single-story homes, including manufactured homes and homes built by Habitat for Humanity. The objectives were to reduce space-conditioning energy consumption by 50% compared to the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code (ICC 2009) while maintaining home affordability and thermal comfort. The strategy to achieve this goal also included a highly efficient thermal envelope to reduce space-conditioning loads.
This project explored the use of minisplit ductless heat pumps in combination with small through-wall transfer fans to provide space conditioning in small single-story homes including manufactured homes and homes built by Habitat for Humanity. The objectives were to reduce space conditioning energy consumption by 50% compared to the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code while maintaining home affordability and thermal comfort. The strategy to achieve this goal also included a highly efficient thermal envelope to reduce space conditioning loads.
The SPS is an innovative interpretation of the “perfect wall” concept, in which environmental control layers are located on the exterior side of the structural components, as opposed to traditional cavity insulated, stud-framed walls. The primary objective of this study is to validate the SPS technology in terms of its constructability, cost, and performance. Specifically for this project, we partnered with two affordable housing nonprofits in Minnesota—Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity and Urban Homeworks—to build five new houses using SPS walls, as well as two high-performance stud-framed comparison homes. We also reviewed cost and performance data from 13 SPS homes built prior to this project by MonoPath and Spero Environmental Builders. Reviewing the outcomes of these 20 homes total, we find promising results in terms of constructability, cost, and performance, although more structural performance data are needed before this new technology can see widespread adoption.
The ascomycetous yeast Candida membranifaciens has been isolated from diverse habitats, including humans, insects, and environmental sources, exhibiting a remarkable ability to use different carbon sources that include pentoses, melibiose, and inulin. In this study, we isolated four C. membranifaciens strains from soil and investigated their potential to overproduce riboflavin. C. membranifaciens IST 626 was found to produce the highest concentrations of riboflavin. The volumetric production of this vitamin was higher when C. membranifaciens IST 626 cells were cultured in a commercial medium without iron and when xylose was the available carbon source compared to the same basal medium with glucose. Supplementation of the growth medium with 2 g/L glycine favored the metabolization of xylose, leading to biomass increase and consequent enhancement of riboflavin volumetric production that reached 120 mg/L after 216 h of cultivation. To gain new insights into the molecular basis of riboflavin production and carbon source utilization in this species, the first annotated genome sequence of C. membranifaciens is reported in this article, as well as the result of a comparative genomic analysis with other relevant yeast species. A total of 5619 genes were predicted to be present in C. membranifaciens IST 626 genome sequence (11.5 Mbp). Among them are genes involved in riboflavin biosynthesis, iron homeostasis, and sugar uptake and metabolism. This work put forward C. membranifaciens IST 626 as a riboflavin overproducer and provides valuable molecular data for future development of superior producing strains capable of using the wide range of carbon sources, which is a characteristic trait of the species.
In cooperation with the Building America Program, The Levy Partnership explored a variety of options to reduce space-conditioning energy consumption, working with partners to design, manu- facture, and build test homes in three states. The Levy Partnership tested the use of minisplit ductless heat pumps in combi- nation with small through-wall transfer fans to provide space conditioning in small single-story homes, including manufactured homes and homes built by Habitat for Humanity. The team set out to achieve 50% less energy consumption, compared to the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code, while maintaining home afford- ability and thermal comfort. The strategy also included a highly efficient thermal envelope to reduce space-conditioning loads.
Marburg virus disease, caused by Marburg and Ravn orthomarburgviruses, emerges sporadically in sub-Saharan Africa and is often fatal in humans. The natural reservoir is the Egyptian rousette bat (ERB), which sheds virus in saliva, urine, and feces. Frugivorous ERBs discard test-bitten and partially eaten fruit, potentially leaving infectious virus behind that could be consumed by other susceptible animals or humans. Historically, 8 of 17 known Marburg virus disease outbreaks have been linked to human encroachment on ERB habitats, but no linkage exists for the other 9 outbreaks, raising the question of how bats and humans might intersect, leading to virus spillover. We used micro–global positioning systems to identify nightly ERB foraging locations. ERBs from a known Marburg virus–infected population traveled long distances to feed in cultivated fruit trees near homes. Our results show that ERB foraging behavior represents a Marburg virus spillover risk to humans and plausibly explains the origins of some past outbreaks.
Energy sustainability and redundancy for surface habitats, life support systems and scientific instrumentation represent one of the highest-priority issues for future crewed missions to Mars. However, power sources utilized for the current class of robotic missions to Mars may be potentially dangerous near human surface habitats (for example, nuclear) or lack stability on diurnal or seasonal timescales (for example, solar) that cannot be easily compensated for by power storage. Here, we evaluate the power potential for wind turbines as an alternative energy resource on the Mars surface. Using a state-of-the-art Mars global climate model, we analyse the total planetary Martian wind potential and calculate its spatial and temporal variability. We find that wind speeds at some proposed landing sites are sufficiently fast to provide a stand-alone or complementary energy source to solar or nuclear power. While several regions show promising wind energy resource potential, other regions of scientific interest can be discarded based on the natural solar and wind energy potential alone. We demonstrate that wind energy compensates for diurnal and seasonal reductions in solar power particularly in regions of scientific merit in the midlatitudes and during regional dust storms. Critically, proposed turbines stabilize power production when combined with solar arrays, increasing the percent time that power exceeds estimated mission requirements from ~40% for solar arrays alone to greater than 60-90% across a broad fraction of the Mars surface. We encourage additional study aimed at advancing wind turbine technology to operate efficiently under Mars conditions and to extract more power from Mars winds.
ABSTRACT Animal behavior is an important component of individual, population, and community responses to anthropogenic habitat alteration. For example, antipredator behavior (e.g., vigilance) and animal movement behavior may both be important behavioral responses to the increased density of habitat edges and changes in patch connectivity that characterize highly modified habitats. Importantly, edge density and connectivity might interact, and this interaction is likely to mediate animal behavior: linear, edge‐rich landscape features often provide structural connectivity between patches, but the functional connectedness of patches for animal use could depend upon how edge density modifies animal vigilance and movement. Using remote cameras in large‐scale experimental landscapes that manipulate edge density (high‐ vs. low‐density edges) and patch connectivity (isolated or connected patches), we examined the effects of edge density and connectivity on the antipredator behavior and movement behavior of white‐tailed deer ( Odocoileus virginianus ). Deer vigilance was 1.38 times greater near high‐density edges compared to low‐density edges, regardless of whether patches were connected or isolated. Deer were also more likely to move parallel to connected high‐density edges than all other edge types, suggesting that connectivity promotes movement along high‐density edges. These results suggest that increases in edge density that accompany human fragmentation of existing habitats may give rise to large‐scale changes in the antipredator behavior of deer. These results also suggest that conservation strategies that simultaneously manipulate edge density and connectivity (i.e., habitat corridors) may have multiple effects on different aspects of deer behavior: linear habitat corridors were areas of high vigilance, but also areas where deer movement behavior implied increased movement along the habitat edge.
Phenotypic diversity and abundance drive salmon resilience in the face of increasing environmental variability. But what happens when human activities fundamentally alter the habitat complexity that drives this diversity? And how can we restore habitats to recover both diversity and abundance to support salmon persistence in a warming climate? Here, we looked at the impact of a large watershed restoration effort on the abundance and climate resilience of the three remaining core natural spring-run Chinook Salmon populations in the California Central Valley (Butte, Mill, and Deer Creek). Butte Creek fish, which have floodplain access, had higher overall productivity and faster juvenile growth compared with Mill and Deer Creek populations, and the proportion of floodplain inundation was positively correlated with Butte Creek adult abundance two years later. While Butte Creek exhibited significant increases in abundance post-restoration (~2000%), it generally exhibited lower phenotypic diversity and only a marginal increase in population stability after restoration based on the coefficient of variation (CV). In particular, Butte Creek salmon tended to exhibit larger drops in escapement following dry years (e.g., return years 2010, 2017) compared with Mill and Deer Creek populations, presumably due to limited inundation of its downstream floodplain. The late-migrating juvenile strategy (i.e., yearling), which disproportionately supported Mill and Deer Creek populations during droughts, was uncommon among Butte Creek adults (averaging 60% of returns for Mill and Deer Creek vs. 0.3% for Butte Creek). Increased spring-run stock complex stability was found, post-restoration, when combining the three spring-run populations (i.e., lower aggregate CV). However, among-river pairwise correlations also suggested increased synchronization in population abundances post-restoration, potentially due to increasing frequency and severity of extreme climatic events (e.g., droughts and ocean warming). This study underscores the importance of restoring a connected mosaic of aquatic habitats across modified landscapes, such as cold water refugia and floodplains, to preserve multiple (across-population) life history pathways for increasing salmon stock complex stability and abundance. These landscape-scale process-based habitat restoration efforts are likely to be crucial for the successful long-term recovery of vulnerable species in a rapidly changing climate.
In New Mexico, Mexican spotted owls (Strix occidentalis lucida) are typically found in rocky canyons consisting of mixed-conifer forests that have experienced minimal human disturbance. At Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Mexican spotted owls have been found breeding and foraging in habitats consistent with their known biology, but face the impact of human encroachment in the surrounding upland habitat. Little is known about the prey base present within the Laboratory’s vast forests. In anticipation of expanding human development in proximity to known occupied owl habitat, the goal of our study was to evaluate the small mammal prey base available to Mexican spotted owls at the Laboratory and to assess prey availability, diversity and composition. We sampled two study plots within the Laboratory’s forests for small mammals in 2021. Study plots were situated in conifer, deciduous, mixed conifer-deciduous and mixed oak. Our small mammal trapping efforts and SCR modeling revealed site-specific differences in prey base diversity, abundance and density between the unoccupied Pajarito Canyon and nearby occupied Mortandad Canyon site. These results highlight how managing tracts of land for small mammal prey base may overlap with goals set forth by researchers for Mexican spotted owl habitat needs. We recommend further trapping efforts to better understand prey availability in occupied and unoccupied sites at LANL as well as further investigation of prey selection through the dissection of pellets found in the areas surrounding known nesting locations.
Ecologically informed photovoltaic (PV) developments that co-prioritize PV electricity generation with ecosystem function (‘ecovoltaics’) have emerged as a promising land sharing strategy to minimize ecological conflicts associated with PV solar energy development. While habitat-focused ecovoltaic designs can conceptually benefit biodiversity by offsetting or enhancing impacts of PV development, foundational field research is needed to examine how wildlife respond to these novel ecosystems. We conducted passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) in 2023 and 2024 at 13 solar facilities and paired control sites to investigate avian community responses to ecovoltaic facilities in the Midwestern United States. Compared to control sites (row crop agricultural fields), we found that ecovoltaic sites supported more grassland bird species throughout a 17-week monitoring period between May and September. Grassland bird communities on ecovoltaic sites were also more stable than on agricultural controls, as measured by the Jaccard dissimilarity index. We also used PAM-based weekly species occurrences in an occupancy-modelling framework to investigate the influence of PV development and other landscape variables on grassland bird occupancy. 10 out of 13 modelled grassland bird species had greater predicted occupancy probabilities (ψ) on PV sites than control sites. Synthesis and applications. Our findings suggest that properly sited and developed ecovoltaic solar facilities in human altered landscapes can improve habitat for birds and other wildlife, but further research is needed to understand which species may benefit most from these novel ecosystems.
A small relict population of Glyptemys insculpta (Wood Turtle) was discovered on a protected area in New Jersey in 2006. Marking and radio-tracking of the old founder individuals helped to determine movement patterns and habitat use. Monitoring of nesting females revealed that nesting habitat and nest success was limited due to invasive plants, human landscape alteration, and Procyon lotor (Raccoon) depredation. We initiated habitat restoration including creation of protected nesting areas, mowing in winter, invasive plant removal, and adjacent landowner education. Here, we direct-released hatchlings from protected nests from 2006 to 2015, yet only a few were detected in subsequent years. Between 2011 and 2023, some or all of each hatchling cohort were head-started indoors at a high school for 9 months. We have continuously radio-tracked all head-starts from the 2011 cohort and portions of the 2012–2014 cohorts. Head-started turtles found their own food, established home ranges, and hibernated communally with founder adults. Subsidized Raccoons, mowers, automobiles, and flooding events—all human-instigated—were the causes of mortality. The first males and first females from the 2011 head-start cohort reached maturity in 2017 and 2019, respectively, at ages 6–8, younger than expected by 4–5 years. Successful reproduction by head-starts was confirmed by viable hatchlings produced in 2019, 2020, and 2023. Head-starting can pull a relict population out of the nose-dive to extirpation when used in conjunction with habitat-restoration practices, but it must be conducted with persistence and continuity over at least the number of years it takes for the earliest cohorts to reach maturity and begin producing offspring of their own.