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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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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

The Building Business Network (B-Biz): Addressing Gaps in the High-Performance Building Technology Market, Especially for Underserved Customers

Increased market intelligence and business model innovation is needed to build contractor confidence in high-performance building technologies in order to increase the speed and scale of adoption to meet the U.S. Department of Energy's building stock decarbonization goals. Although there have been important innovations in energy efficiency, affordability, and decarbonization of building technologies, consumers are not purchasing these technologies at the necessary speed and scale partially due to a gap in institutional understanding around barriers contractors face in providing and servicing these technologies. Small businesses in this market must mitigate risk around high-performance building technologies, limiting their opportunities in the market and impacting the rate of adoption. The Building Business Network (B-Biz) aims to provide high-performance building technology solutions to underserved customers by collaborating with local small businesses that provide and service high-performance building technologies in communities with the lowest rates of adoption. This research explores the current market, the importance of business models, and the opportunity to utilize small businesses to address market gaps in underserved communities.

B-Biz↗
DOE OSTI2024

INL High-Performance and Sustainable Building Strategy

High-performance buildings are reliable, cost effective, and sustainable structures that minimize energy and water use, reduce solid waste and pollutant emissions, and limit the depletion of natural resources. High-performance buildings also provide a thermally and visually comfortable working environment that increases productivity for building occupants. As Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is the nation’s premier nuclear energy research laboratory, the physical infrastructure requires continual updating and repurposing to help accomplish that mission. INL’s infrastructure must incorporate high-performance sustainable design features to be fiscally responsible and reflect an image of innovation to the public and prospective employees. INL is a large consumer of energy with annual energy costs exceeding $16M. This High-Performance and Sustainable Building Strategy will help engineering and construction project teams design sustainable facilities, reduce life cycle operating costs, and support the INL net-zero plan while providing INL employees with a safe and healthy working environment. With these goals in mind, the recommendations described in this document are intended to form INL’s foundation for sustainable and high-performance building standards. This strategy incorporates the latest federal and Department of Energy (DOE) orders and directives, including DOE Order 436.1A, “Departmental Sustainability,” the DOE Sustainability Plan (SP), the INL Site Sustainability Plan (SSP), and Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). This document identifies the requirements of the “Guiding Principles for Sustainable Federal Buildings” (Guiding Principles) and briefly highlights the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification. LEED Gold certification can be used to meet many of the requirements of the Guiding Principles.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2019

INL High-Performance and Sustainable Building Strategy

High-performance buildings are reliable, cost-effective, and sustainable structures that minimize energy and water use, reduce solid waste and pollutant emissions, and limit the depletion of natural resources while also providing a thermally and visually comfortable working environment that increases productivity for building occupants. As Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is the nation’s premier nuclear energy research laboratory, the physical infrastructure requires continual updating and re-purposing to help accomplish that mission. INL’s infrastructure must incorporate high-performance sustainable design features to be fiscally responsible and reflect an image of innovation to the public and prospective employees. INL is a large consumer of energy with annual energy costs exceeding $9M. In the current fiscal reality and with energy costs constantly increasing, this High-Performance and Sustainable Building Strategy will help engineering and construction project teams design facilities that are sustainable and will help to reduce life-cycle operating costs while providing INL employees with a safe and healthy working environment. With these goals in mind, the recommendations described in this document are intended to form INL’s foundation for sustainable and high-performance building standards. This strategy incorporates the latest federal and Department of Energy (DOE) orders and directives including Executive Order (EO) 13834, “Efficient Federal Operations” and its associated implementing instructions, DOE Order 436.1, “Departmental Sustainability,” the DOE Sustainability Report and Implementation Plan (SRIP), the INL Site Sustainability Plan (SSP), and Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). This document identifies the requirements of the Guiding Principles for Sustainable Federal Buildings (Guiding Principles) and briefly highlights the requirements of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) Gold certification. LEED Gold certification, while optional, can be used to meet many of the requirements of the Guiding Principles.

13834↗
DOE OSTI2023

Eco-Friendly High-Performance Carbon Building Material Development from Coal

The development of eco-friendly high-performance building materials based on coal-derived materials is greatly beneficial for promoting environmental sustainability and the coal industry. This project focused on advancing technology to create innovative and scalable construction materials from two domestic sources: (1) coal-derived pyrolyzed char (PC), and (2) solvent-extracted coal deposit, extracts, and residue (CDER). It aimed to simultaneously develop and produce two types of coal-derived building products: (1) char-based concrete bricks (CCB) for wall construction in buildings, and (2) carbon-based structural units (CSU) intended as alternatives to traditional wood, concrete, or steel framing structures. The project team has successfully developed methods for manufacturing CCB samples. Extensive experiments were conducted to assess various manufacturing techniques for these samples. This included measuring their physical properties such as thermal conductivity (ranging from 0.26 to 0.38 W/mK) and bulk density (ranging from 0.85 to 1.15 g/cm 3 ), along with their mechanical properties (e.g., compressive strength ranging from 14 to 16 MPa at 28 days) for samples with a PC composition of 70%. Quality assurance and quality control tests, focusing on density and compressive strength, were also performed on samples selected randomly from pilot-scale production, and cured for a long term (over three months). The average long-term compressive strength of two randomly selected CCB samples was measured as 15.1 MPa, which was higher than the required target strength of 14 MPa. This indicates that the manufactured CCB samples from the preliminary pilot scale production run have good quality control and long-term strength performance.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
DOE OSTI2019

Pyrazine-Flanked Diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP): A New Polymer Building Block for High-Performance n-Type Organic Thermoelectrics

n-Doped conjugated polymers usually show low electrical conductivities and low thermoelectric power factors, limiting their applications in n-type organic thermo- electrics. Here, we report the synthesis of a new diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) derivative, pyrazine-flanked DPP (PzDPP), with the deepest LUMO level in all the reported DPP derivatives. Based on PzDPP, a donor-acceptor copolymer, P(PzDPP-CT2), is synthesized. The polymer displays a deep LUMO energy level and strong interchain interaction with a short π-π stacking distance of 3.38 Å. When doped with n-dopant N-DMBI, P(PzDPP-CT2) exhibits high n- type electrical conductivities of up to 8.4 S cm -1 and power factors of up to 57.3 μWm -1 K -2 . These values are much higher than previously reported n-doped DPP polymers, and the power factor also ranks the highest in solution-processable n-doped conjugated polymers. Furthermore, these results suggest that PzDPP is a promising high-performance building block for n-type organic thermoelectrics and also highlight that, without sacrificing polymer interchain interactions, efficient n-doping can be realized in conjugated polymers with careful molecular engineering.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2024

B-Biz: Building Business Network

The Building Business Network (B-Biz) aims to provide high-performance building technology solutions to underserved customers by collaborating with local small businesses that provide and service high-performance building technologies in communities with the lowest rates of adoption.

BTO↗
DOE OSTI2022

Building Envelope Campaign – Program Design and Stakeholder Engagement

Building envelope technologies impact approximately 30% of the primary energy consumed by residential and commercial buildings. The Building Envelope Campaign (BEC), which is part of the Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Program, is a market transformation effort to help building owners and managers invest in high performance building envelope technologies for both new and existing commercial buildings. The success of the Campaign has depended on constructing a compelling program design plus organizing a technical team with ability to effectively recruit Participants and Supporters from across industry and keep them engaged.The design of the campaign included developing a strategy to leverage other technology campaigns within the Better Buildings program, identifying stakeholders (including diverse member groups that may have been underserved by previous technology campaigns), recruiting Supporters and Participants, and providing technical assistance in the form of a campaign-specific Building Envelope Performance tool and metric to help benchmark various building envelope options.Engagement had to overcome three main challenges – securing the Campaign Supporters/Participants, helping participants to use the envelope tool to evaluate project options, and getting those participants to submit successful envelope projects for evaluation and recognition by the program. The concepts are simple but program design/implementation and, in particular, sustaining stakeholder engagement can be challenging. This paper will highlight the approaches taken in: program design, engaging industry members, identifying and reaching underserved stakeholders, demonstrating benefits of high performance building envelope technologies and making the case for engaging in this campaign.

McLeod, Hayley↗
DOE OSTI2022

A high-fidelity building performance simulation test bed for the development and evaluation of advanced controls

We present an open-source building performance simulation test bed, the Advanced Controls Test Bed (ACTB), that interfaces high-fidelity Spawn of EnergyPlus building models, with advanced controllers implemented in Python. Additionally, the ACTB leverages the Building Optimization Testing and Alfalfa platforms for managing simulations, providing an external clock, a representational state transfer (REST) application programming interface (API), and key performance indicators for evaluating the effectiveness of control strategies. The REST API allows the development of external controllers programmed in languages such as Python, which provides flexibility and a rich choice of scientific libraries for designing control sequences. We present three test cases based on the U.S. Department of Energy's Reference Small Office Building to demonstrate the ACTB's capabilities: (a) rule-based controls compliant with ASHRAE Guideline 36 control sequences; (b) an economic model predictive control implemented using do-mpc; and (c) a deep Q-network reinforcement learning agent implemented using OpenAI Gym.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2026

Resources for Homeowners: Home Efficiency Upgrades

A fact sheet to support small business building contractors in communicating with homeowners about potential benefits of home efficiency strategies and suggestions for navigating home upgrades. This work was developed under the Building Business Network (B-Biz) program, which aims to improve adoption of high-performance building technology solutions by collaborating with organizations that support small business contractors that provide and service high-performance building technologies.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2025

National Energy Education Development Project (NEED Project) (CRADA Final Report)

The U.S. Department of Energy Building Technologies Office (BTO) funds student competitions that introduce students to careers in the building sciences and increase public awareness around high-performance buildings to support the goal of developing, demonstrating, and accelerating the adoption of cost-effective technologies, techniques, tools, and services that enable high-performing, energy-efficient and demand-flexible residential and commercial buildings in both the new and existing buildings markets. The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon® (DOE/SD) is a flagship, high-visibility international competition started in 2002 that advances the goals of BTO by introducing students to building science careers; educating students and the public about the latest technologies and materials in high-performance buildings; encouraging student-led projects and research centered around building science; and demonstrating to the public the comfort and savings of homes that combine energy-efficient construction, home systems, appliances and innovative design with onsite renewable energy production. SD is a collegiate competition, comprising 10 contests, that challenges student teams to design and build highly efficient and innovative buildings powered by renewable energy. The winners will be those teams that best blend architectural and engineering excellence with innovation, market potential, building efficiency, and smart energy production. Solar Decathlon is comprised of two Challenges – Design Challenge (annual) and Build Challenge (biennial). The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) provides competition management for Solar Decathlon. NREL and Participant establish this CRADA to enable the success of the overall Solar Decathlon program by managing sponsorship funds and creating a K12 education program. Participant is to act as an Education Partner to Solar Decathlon, which includes: 1) accepting and dispersing sponsorship funds for DOE/SD; and 2) providing K12 education program to support Solar Decathlon Competition Events in April each year.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2020

BEEAM (Building Electrical Efficiency Analysis Model) [SWR-20-107]

Modern high-performance buildings exhibit an increasing number of building loads that use direct current (DC) electricity internally, rather than alternating current (AC), due to the advent of low-cost computing and advanced power electronics. Powering DC devices from the AC grid requires AC/DC power conversion, which introduces energy losses and reduces efficiency. As DC loads proliferate, the cumulative wasted energy associated with hundreds of millions of AC/DC converters has become one of the broadest energy savings opportunities in buildings. DC power distribution systems have been proposed as an elegant and transformative solution to the problem of DC devices. In a DC distribution system, the building's wires carry DC electricity, rather than AC; and a few centralized, highly efficient AC/DC converters replace the many smaller, less efficient converters that serve individual DC loads. Unfortunately, the trade-offs associated with DC distribution systems are not well understood. Reported energy savings associated with DC power distribution differ widely and have not been well validated. The Building Electrical Efficiency Analysis Model (BEEAM) is a Modelica library that simulates the efficiency of building electrical distribution systems using harmonic power flow. BEEAM can model a wide variety of building distribution topologies, including three-phase AC, single-phase AC, unipolar DC, bipolar DC, and hybrid networks under both balanced and unbalanced load conditions. BEEAM accurately models power electronic converter losses, provides granular estimates of losses throughout the distribution system, and properly models efficiency at part load conditions. Users can package BEEAM within a functional mockup unit (FMU), enabling co-simulation with other modeling platform, such as EnergyPlus. In summary, BEEAM provides a tool suite for fair and accurate comparison of the efficiency of building electrical distribution systems, including AC, DC, and hybrid systems.

Frank, Stephen↗
DOE OSTI2021

Advancing Construction through the Buildings Workforce: Preprint

Buildings are America's energy hogs, consuming over 70 percent of all electricity and over 50 percent of all natural gas produced across the country. Achieving a clean energy future requires us to reinvent how buildings manage energy resources and how consumers demand it. The U.S. Department of Energy is investing in a range of technological advancements that are paving the way to a future where buildings are no longer simply energy consumers, but rather are part of an integrated system that help manage energy resources in a way that supports the electricity grid. This paradigm shift presents an opportunity to increase the efficiency of the built environment, but will only be realized if we build a knowledgeable workforce to design, construct, and operate these high-performance buildings in step with the rate of technological advancement.

ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION↗
DOE OSTI2023

Operational Energy Life Cycle Data Development for the National Institute of Standards And Technology (NIST) Building Industry Reporting and Design for Sustainability (BIRDS) Neutral Environmental Software Tool (NEST)

For this analysis, regionalized life cycle assessment (LCA) results for environmental impacts (using the Tool for Reduction and Assessment of Chemicals and Other Environmental Impacts [TRACI] 2.1) and cumulative energy demand (using the Federal Life Cycle Analysis Commons Elementary Flow List [FEDEFL] Inventory Methods v1.0.0) were evaluated for the production and utilization of electricity, natural gas, fuel oil, and propane as commodities within residential and commercial buildings. These results can used as a framework for future research into net zero, high-performance buildings, such as done here for the Building Industry Reporting and Design for Sustainability (BIRDS) database by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Engineering Laboratory. The geographical results were assigned to each United States (U.S.) Zone Improvement Plan (ZIP) code based on the ZIP code location and corresponding Balancing Authority Area, natural gas basin, and Petroleum Administration for Defense Districts (PADDs). Additionally, previously developed models were utilized to develop future life cycle profiles. Projections were based on data available from the U.S. Energy Information Administration Annual Energy Outlook 2022 through 2050 (AEO 2022). Electricity LCA models were updated based on AEO 2022 projected annual generation mixes, while the natural gas baseline model was updated based on projected shares of natural gas types (conventional, shale, tight, and coalbed methane). Projections of crude oil production rates and export rates were applied to the petroleum baseline model in five-year increments to investigate their effects on the life cycle profile of fuel oil and propane. While only 100-year Global Warming Potential (GWP-100) with climate carbon feedback (CC-FB) and Cumulative Energy Demand are shown in Section 4: Results, the complete results, including Acidification Potential, Eutrophication Potential, Freshwater Ecotoxicity Potential, GWP-100 without inclusion of CC-FB, Human Health Impacts Potentials (Cancer, Non-Cancer), Ozone Depletion Potential, Particulate Matter Formation Potential, and Photochemical Smog Formation Potential, are tabulated for each ZIP code in the Excel worksheets that accompany this analysis. For the Excel spreadsheet tools associated with this report, please go to https://www.netl.doe.gov/energy-analysis/details?id=f8890fac-be55-44ac-aaa9-e2888bfabe93

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2022

Smart Ventilation Controls for Occupancy and Auxiliary Fan Use Across U.S. Climates

Smart Ventilation has been developed as a way to reduce the energy associated with ventilation by changing when ventilation happens and how much ventilation occurs at any given time. In high performance buildings with low envelope and appliance related loads, ventilation is becoming a bigger part of the total building energy use and needs to be addressed if performance targets are to be met. This work explores the development and performance of smart ventilation controls based on occupancy and auxiliary fan operation that provide annual dwelling unit ventilation equivalence to ASHRAE Standard 62.2-2016. A prototype high performance home compliant with U.S. DOE Building America Zero Energy Ready program requirements was simulated using the REGCAP tool with and without smart controls across 15 U.S. DOE climate zones. Balanced and unbalanced IAQ fans were independently simulated, and all smart controlled fans had airflows double the reference 62.2-2016 airflow. Three idealized occupancy patterns were examined: 1st shift (a typical daily work/school absence), an extended 1st shift with more time spent out of the home evenings and weekends and 3rd shift (night work). The Occupancy controller turns the IAQ fan off during unoccupied periods, and it resumes ventilation upon their return. While unoccupied, contaminants are allowed to accumulate in the space, because occupants are not exposed to these contaminants. When occupants return home, they are exposed to these higher contaminant concentrations, and the controller increases the ventilation rate sufficiently to ensure equivalence with a continuous IAQ fan. Accounting for pollutant emissions that occur during unoccupied periods (as required by ASHRAE 62.2-2016), sharply distinguishes our occupancy controls from past Demand Controlled Ventilation systems. This new accounting method results in equivalent contaminant exposure, as well as lower reductions in average ventilation rates and lower energy savings. Smart controls were demonstrated that saved HVAC energy (i.e., avoided heating/cooling load, as well as fan energy)—averaging between 6 and 46% of ventilation-related energy use depending on the control strategy and occupancy pattern assumptions. The greatest savings were in the combined Auxiliary Fan + Occupancy control. Energy savings increased with climate heating demand and longer unoccupied time periods. The 3rd shift occupancy pattern had better performance, due to the thermal benefit of reducing the ventilation rate during the cold nighttime hours. This same effect provided a cooling energy benefit in hotter locations for the 1st shift. Overall, savings from occupancy-based smart controls were low, because of the recovery period required after occupants return home, during which the airflow is double the 62.2 reference. This recovery is required to maintain equivalence with the ASHRAE standard. Occupancy-based control performance was improved when combined with sensing auxiliary fans and when providing a pre-occupancy flush out of one- or two-hours. Performance was similarly improved if the ASHRAE Standard were to recognize that pollutant emissions are lower during unoccupied periods, iii allowing a lower target ventilation rate during unoccupied periods (not currently in the standard) (see Full vs. Half AEQ in this report). Finally, over-sized unbalanced fans that are cycled on-and-off by a smart controller (or timer) were found to substantially increase annual average air exchange and energy use relative to a continuous unbalanced fan due to the effects of superposition with natural infiltration.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2022

Pathway to Zero Energy Windows: Advancing Technologies and Market Adoption

As of 2021, buildings account for 39.1% of total U.S. primary energy use and 75% of total U.S. electricity use. Much of this energy is used to maintain a comfortable indoor environment. The building envelope consists of transparent and opaque elements that serve as a controllable barrier to help maintain the indoor environment regardless of external conditions. The envelope also allows the exchange of light and air, as well as other transfers with the external environment when it is beneficial for the building occupants. By leveraging desirable external environmental conditions (e.g., fresh air and natural light) and mitigating the influence of undesirable conditions (e.g., moisture, hot or cold temperatures, wind), the building envelope can reduce the need for space conditioning and electric light, and thus reduce energy use associated with lighting and heating, cooling, and ventilation equipment. In turn, high-performance building envelopes can reduce the substantial CO 2 emissions associated with energy use to satisfy heating, cooling, and lighting needs in buildings. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Building Technologies Office's (BTO's) Emerging Technologies program supports R&D for technologies, systems, and software tools that can contribute to reductions in building energy use. Emerging Technologies funding is distributed competitively through solicitations (e.g., Funding Opportunity Announcements and National Lab Calls, which in general are open to applications from industry, academia, national laboratories, and other entities) and other mechanisms. This document focuses on R&D for windows and window system technologies and will provide guidance for BTO's investments in developing the next generation of high-performance, affordable, cost competitive windows, as well as integrated daylighting and shading technologies in partnership with industry and researchers. This document also addresses areas where DOE invests in software and design tools that translate sophisticated and complex physics into easy-to-use energy performance and optimization methods used by industry and other stakeholders for implementation.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2019

Final Energy Savings Analysis of the Proposed NYStretch-Energy Code 2018

In 2017, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) developed its 2016 Stretch Code Supplement to the 2016 New York State Energy Conservation Construction Code. Since2017, NYSERDA has continued to develop the 2018 edition, as part of the efforts to achieve a statewide Net Zero Energy Code by 2028. To support this effort, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)conducted energy simulation analysis to quantify the energy savings of proposed commercial provisions of the NYStretch-Energy Code 2018 compared to ANSI/ASHRAE/IES1 Standard 90.1-2013. Specifically, PNNL collaborated with New Buildings Institute (NBI), and developed energy-efficiency measures (EEMs) from national model codes and standards, high-performance building codes and standards, regional energy codes, and measures being proposed as part of the ongoing NYStretch-Energy code development process. PNNL analyzed these measures using whole building energy simulation for selected prototype commercial and multifamily buildings representing buildings in New York State.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2019

Final Energy Savings Analysis of the Proposed NYStretch-Energy Code 2018

In 2017, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) developed its 2016 Stretch Code Supplement to the 2016 New York State Energy Conservation Construction Code. Since 2017, NYSERDA has continued to develop the 2018 edition, as part of the efforts to achieve a statewide Net Zero Energy Code by 2028. To support this effort, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) conducted energy simulation analysis to quantify the energy savings of proposed commercial provisions of the NYStretch-Energy Code 2018 compared to ANSI/ASHRAE/IES1 Standard 90.1-2013. Specifically, PNNL collaborated with New Buildings Institute (NBI), and developed energy-efficiency measures (EEMs) from national model codes and standards, high-performance building codes and standards, regional energy codes, and measures being proposed as part of the ongoing NYStretch-Energy code development process. PNNL analyzed these measures using whole building energy simulation for selected prototype commercial and multifamily buildings representing buildings in New York State. This report describes the analysis methodology, explains detailed specifications of the EEMs, and summarizes the results of individual EEMs and EEM bundles by building type and climate zone. As shown in Figure ES.1, significant energy saving could be achieved by adopting the NYStretch-Energy Code 2018.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2024

Ambient energy for buildings: Beyond energy efficiency

The following Key Messages comprise the salient findings of this study: 1. Ambient energy (from sun, air, ground, and sky) can heat and cool buildings; provide hot water, ventilation and daylighting; dry clothes; and cook food. These services account for about three-quarters of building energy consumption and a third of total US demand. Biophilic design (direct and indirect connections with nature) is an intrinsic adjunct to ambient energy systems, and improves wellness and human performance. 2. The current strategy of electrification and energy efficiency for buildings will not meet our climate goals, because the transition to an all-renewable electric grid is too slow. Widespread adoption of ambient energy is needed. Solar-heated buildings also flatten the seasonal demand for electricity compared to all-electric buildings, reducing required production capacity and long-term energy storage. In addition, ambient-conditioned buildings improve resilience by remaining livable during power outages. 3. National policies, incentives, and marketing should be enacted to promote ambient energy use. Federal administrative priorities should reflect the importance of ambient energy for buildings. Use of ambient energy should be encouraged through existing and new building codes and standards. 4. Ambient energy system design tools are needed for architects, engineers, builders, building scientists, realtors, appraisers, and consumers. PVWatts is used over 100 million times per year for photovoltaic system design. A similar, simple, and accessible tool for ambient design is crucial. 5. Training on ambient energy is needed throughout secondary, post-secondary, and continuing education for workforce development. Currently, only about 10% of colleges teach courses on passive heating and cooling systems. 6. Ambient-conditioned buildings should be demonstrated in all US climate zones. Performance should be monitored and reported, with quantitative case studies made widely available. 7. While current technology is sufficient to build high-performance ambient buildings now, research is needed to develop new technologies to harness ambient energy more effectively and more economically. Such advancements will facilitate adoption of ambient energy technologies in a wider range of buildings, including retrofits. Examples include windows with much lower thermal losses, use of the building shell as thermal storage, alternative light-weight thermal storage systems, sky radiation cooling systems, automated controls for solar gains and passive cooling, and ground coupling.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗