WASHINGTON, DC -- The Department of Energy (DOE) today announced the selection of 13 projects to make America’s commercial and residential buildings more energy efficient. DOE’s investment of $20.4 million will be combined with over $10 million being contributed by industry partners.
The projects, to be completed within three years, will introduce new technologies to reduce costs, lower emissions and save energy by improving today’s lighting systems, air heating and cooling equipment, windows, water heaters, appliances and other building components.
“These new technologies will save enormous amounts of energy in homes and commercial buildings,” Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham said. “The projects cover nearly the full range of building construction: lighting sources, air conditioners and ventilation systems, windows -- and even everyday household appliances. This investment supports President Bush’s National Energy Plan.”
The project winners are: Brown University, Providence, R.I.; General Electric Global Research, Niskayuna, N.Y.; Astronautics Corporation of America, Madison, Wisc.; TIAX, LLC, Cambridge, Mass.; Aspen Aerogels Inc., Marlborough, Mass.; Rockwell Scientific Company, LLC, Thousand Oaks, Calif.; SAGE Electrochromics Inc., Faribault, Minn.; United Technologies Corporation, East Hartford, Conn.; Cermet Inc., Atlanta, Ga.; Cree Lighting Company, Goleta, Calif.; Dust Inc., Berkeley, Calif.; Georgia Tech Research Corporation, Atlanta, Ga.; and OSRAM Opto Semiconductors Inc., San Jose, Calif.
America’s buildings use over 30 quadrillion Btus (quads) of energy per year. A quad of energy is enough power to run all the residential refrigerators in the U.S. for one year. Without energy-conservation technologies energy use could reach about 40 quads by 2020.
Buildings provide ample opportunities for significant energy savings. Lighting America’s residential, industrial and commercial buildings use approximately 14 percent of building energy use while heating and cooling buildings uses nearly 40 percent; windows, walls, roofs and other envelope equipment influences over 50 percent of building energy use; and improving water heating and building appliances further provides an opportunity to significantly decrease energy consumption in buildings.
The projects announced today fall into four broad areas of interest outlined by DOE:
- Lighting – Aggressive research into new and evolving lighting technologies is designed to conserve 50 percent of the energy consumed through lighting by 2010. A wide range of light sources falls into this category, including solid state light sources such as light emitting diodes (LEDs) and conventional light sources such as incandescent, fluorescent and high-intensity discharge systems. Advanced fixtures and controls also are covered.
- Space Conditioning Equipment – Providing thermal comfort and adequate indoor air quality can be improved by efficiently distributing thermal energy. Research projects focus on energy-conversion efficiency of heating and cooling systems and effective distribution, storage, control and system integration to reduce losses and improve system interaction.
- Building Envelope – Substantial energy savings can be realized by improving the materials, components, and systems that make up building envelopes (the envelope consists of windows, walls, roofs, foundations and other elements that comprise building exterior and/or enclose conditioned spaces), the primary factor in determining the heating, cooling and ventilation requirements of a building.
- Other Areas – Improving performance of water-heating systems and appliances (electronic equipment, refrigeration equipment, cooking equipment, laundry appliances, etc.) which, combined, consume 40 percent of the nation’s energy in buildings.
Building Project Profiles
Brown University, Providence, R.I. – will extract light from microscopic nanomaterials and change these materials to produce a light that has a longer lifespan, uses less energy and is about three times more efficient than standard fluorescent lights used in office buildings. By improving silicon wafers or media that produce light, the project integrates nano-structured active materials into synthetically grown crystals to increase light emissions, and combines novel optical, chemical and physical methods to enhance photons, which increases efficiency. DOE share: $900,000; applicant share: $229,033; project duration: 18 months. Partner contact: Arto Nurmikko, 401/863-2869, arto_nurmikko@brown.edu.
General Electric Global Research, Niskayuna, N.Y. – GE proposes to develop novel hybrid phosphor systems to increase the efficiency of fluorescent lamps by approximately 10 percent to 30 percent, thereby reducing the nation’s fluorescent energy lighting bill by $6.5 billion per year and slashing carbon emissions by 4.1 billion kilograms per year. By concentrating on creating new phosphors and phosphor-coating technologies, the project could improve the entire lighting industry which accounts for 22 percent of U.S. total yearly energy use. DOE share: $1.75 million; applicant share: $1.17 million; project duration: 36 months. DOE contact: Joel Chaddock, 304/285-0958, joel.chaddock@netl.doe.gov. Partner contact: Alok Srivastava, 518/387-7535, srivastava@crd.ge.com.
Astronautics Corporation of America, Madison, Wisc. – will advance magnetocaloric air conditioning to the point where it is less costly and uses 40 percent less energy than conventional vapor-cycle air conditioners. By using better and less expensive materials in an efficient and reliable prototype, the new system could reduce residential energy use by $2.9 billion per year along with 1.8 million tons per year of carbon dioxide. In addition, magnetocaloric air conditioning does not use ozone-depleting warming gases and operates quietly at low pressures. DOE share: $1.48 million; applicant share: $493,383; project duration: 18 months. Partner contact: Carl Zimm, 608/243-8020, C.Zimm@astronautics.com.
TIAX, LLC, Cambridge, Mass. – will design, build and test a system that maintains good indoor air quality by supplying fresh make-up air to air-conditioned buildings. Work focuses on a rooftop unitary air conditioner with an integrated dedicated outdoor air system. Fresh make-up air dilutes indoor air pollutants, including carbon dioxide and volatile organic compounds. DOE share: $808,911; applicant share: $202,999; project duration: 18 months. Partner contact: John Dieckmann,
617/498-5818, dieckmann@tiax.biz.
Aspen Aerogels Inc., Marlborough, Mass. – will develop a low-cost approach of making a better type of aerogel, a material that increases the energy efficiency of windows (aerogels have a great capacity to resist heat and transmit solar energy and light), making prototype aerogel panes to be used in highly transparent, insulated windows available to customers at affordable prices. Aerogel sales have the potential to represent a multi-billion-dollar industry. DOE share: $789,996; applicant share: $200,000; project duration: 36 months. Partner contact: Wendell Rhine,
508/481-5058, wrhine@aspensystems.com.
Rockwell Scientific Company, LLC, Thousand Oaks, Calif. – will help commercialize “smart” window devices that may be more than 80 percent efficient in preventing solar heating. The smart window device glazes over in direct sunlight creating a mirrored surface on the glass, thereby effectively reflecting solar heat. Benefits include reduced glare control, enhanced occupancy comfort, and reduced energy consumption. DOE share: $1.19 million; applicant share: $300,000; project duration: 18 months. Partner contact: Morgan Tench,
805/373-4509, mtench@rwsc.com.
SAGE Electrochromics, Inc., Faribault, Minn. – will improve production costs, processes and throughput efficiencies related to making insulated windows, doors and skylights for new buildings by using electrochromic (EC) smart window technology. EC windows can be lightened or darkened electrically to minimize solar heat gain and block glare while maintaining daylighting and occupancy view. SAGE will work to remove barriers on all levels technical and cost related. DOE share: $1.2 million; applicant share: $300,000; project duration: 24 months. Partner contact: Neil Sbar, 507/333-0078, nsbar@sage-ec.com.
United Technologies Corporation, East Hartford, Conn. – will speed up the penetration of commercial heat pump water heaters into the American market. By using the low temperature of carbon dioxide as an environmentally friendly refrigerant, researchers can develop systems that are four times more efficient than gas or electric counterparts, and that have higher water-delivery temperatures and a wider operating range than today’s heat pump systems. Work will emphasize compressors and charge leakage because of their historic reliability issues. DOE share: $1.49 million; applicant share: $374,463; project duration: 30 months. Partner contact: Tobias Sienel, 860/610-7181, sienelth@utrc.utc.com.
Cermet Inc., Atlanta, Ga. – will explore novel growth techniques using new, state-of-the-art facilities to push the manufacturing envelope of novel, lattice-matched materials that are robust enough to be engineered into finished devices like light emitting diode (LED) devices. The work focuses on growing conventional materials on novel substrates that possess unique physical properties that: (1) possess less internal strain, potentially increasing efficiency; (2) have emissions that can be adjusted by carefully applying potentials across the substrate, and (3) can be made to behave like a phosphor, absorbing photons of one color and emitting new ones that are of a different color. While this approach is not new, it has never successfully been used to produce practical materials. If successful, this project will encourage the development of even more novel systems and practical devices that produce light-emitting devices. DOE share: $3.7 million; applicant share: $926,352; project duration: 36 months. Partner contact: Jeff Nause, 404/351-0005, jnause@cermetinc.com.
Cree Lighting Company, Goleta, Calif. – will push the envelope of existing nitride materials up to four-fold while appreciably increasing current densities and reducing life-cycle costs. Most white light-emitting diodes [LEDs] manufactured today are made by growing crystalline nitride materials on substrates that possess desirable but not ideal optical and electrical properties. Reaching these aggressive goals will encourage the use of devices made by using this technology for general illumination applications where significant energy conservation can be achieved. DOE share: $1.41 million; applicant share: $473,194; project duration: 36 months. Partner contact: James Ibbetson, 805/968-9460,
James_Ibbetson@cree.com.
Dust Inc., Berkeley, Calif. – will demonstrate that wireless control connections can be reliably made between environmental sensors, control switches and lighting loads or ballasts. Energy consumed by lighting in U.S. buildings can be dramatically reduced by adjusting lighting loads, and by taking advantage of available sunlight. One key obstacle is in connecting controls to the lighting system without the need for complex, expensive and cumbersome control wiring. This project will also address key economic and controls protocol issues to encourage the widespread adoption of wireless control technology. DOE share: $905,000; applicant share: $250,000; project duration: 18 months. Partner contact: Kris Pister, 510/548-3878, kpister@dust-inc.com.
Georgia Tech Research Corporation, Atlanta, Ga. – will produce new knowledge of the roles various materials have on light-emitting diode (LED) properties and efficiencies and a more detailed understanding of the fundamental chemical process behind light production. This information may make it possible to develop new, much more efficient green (and ultraviolet) LEDs that could, in turn, produce a new LED device capable of complete color-spectrum white light. DOE share: $428,799; applicant share: $130,346; project duration: 36 months. Partner contact:
Russell Dupuis, 404/894-2688, russell.dupuis@ece.gatech.edu.
OSRAM Opto Semiconductors Inc., San Jose, Calif. – will demonstrate the potential of white Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs) for use in general lighting applications. Today OLEDS typically are used for small displays such as those found in new cell phones and personal display devices. The demonstration device will use proven methods to increase polymer light production efficiency, and a number of other methods to produce full spectrum white light will be explored simultaneously. As a final deliverable, a 12-inch square OLED device will be constructed that is approximately an order of magnitude better than today’s level of performance for commercial OLEDs, and whose life will be at least 3,000 hours. DOE share: $4.65 million; applicant share: $4.65 million; project duration: 36 months. Partner contact: Homer Antoniadis,
408/456-4004, homer.antoniadis@osram-os.com.
For more information on DOE’s buildings programs please visit http://www.eere.energy.gov/building.html.
Media Contact(s):
Chris Kielich, 202/586-5806
