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  1. Research
  2. Sustainable Energy
  3. Energy Efficiency

Energy Efficiency

Revolutionizing buildings
as energy assets

  • Electric Grid Modernization
  • Energy Efficiency
    • Appliance and Equipment Standards
    • Building Energy Codes
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    • Building and Grid Modeling
    • Commercial Buildings
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    • Grid Resilience and Decarbonization
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  • Explainer Articles

In our view, buildings are more than the facilities we work in, sleep in, or eat at. Buildings account for about 40 percent of our nation's energy use and they consume 75 percent of our nation’s electricity, but there are significant opportunities to improve the way buildings function.

With more than three decades of experience in building energy research, PNNL is central to the nation’s efforts to improve the energy efficiency of homes and buildings while making them more comfortable. Our research teams have delivered energy savings via building energy codes, by supporting dramatic acceleration of highly efficient solid-state lighting products, and by developing advanced building controls.

Continuing advances in efficient and “smart” technologies, as well as onsite renewable energy, are changing the way power is used in buildings. Our researchers are developing and evaluating advanced building controls that, when deployed, could cut energy consumption in buildings by nearly 30 percent, while also advancing technologies such as next-generation electric heat pumps. We have created tools, including the Building Energy Asset Score and Rooftop Unit Comparison Calculator, that help building owners and managers assess efficiency and consider the value of making changes to building operational systems. We are also investigating control strategies that enable coordination of building assets—such as water heaters and air conditioning systems—with the electric grid. PNNL is taking energy management one step further through building-grid integration on our primary campus in Richland—a living laboratory where our buildings are energy-aware, self-commissioning, and ready to engage with the electricity grid.

Other unique laboratory assets include a pair of research homes that allow us to evaluate technologies that can be added to a home after construction to improve efficiency. PNNL’s lighting facilities—the Connected Lighting Testbed, the Lighting Metrology Lab, and the Lumen Maintenance Test Facility—allow us to independently test and evaluate advanced lighting systems. Our Integrated Building Assets provide coordinated, systematic capabilities to study new building control concepts and technologies. Another resource, the Advanced Building Controls Laboratory, enables HVAC control research.

Efficient buildings, effectively integrated as energy assets into the grid, can become a key component for grid resiliency. We will continue to explore these buildings and homes, experimenting with them and developing technologies that make them more efficient and better places to eat, sleep, and work.

View Energy Efficiency at PNNL brochure.

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Recent News

FEBRUARY 21, 2023
Staff Accomplishment

Ján Drgoňa Receives Best Paper Award

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FEBRUARY 17, 2023
Staff Accomplishment

Wilkerson “Lights Up” LEUKOS Editorial Board

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JANUARY 23, 2023
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Good Karma: Sawyer Named Distinguished Gilbreth Speaker

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Research Highlights

JANUARY 16, 2023
Spotlight

PNNL Pens Market Success Report

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JANUARY 10, 2023
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PNNL Researchers Advance Germicidal Ultraviolet Technologies

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DECEMBER 20, 2022
Spotlight

“Simple” Solution Ciphers Building Savings

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Facilities

Advanced Building Controls Laboratory Building Operations Control Center Connected Lighting Test Bed Environmental Chambers Integrated Building Assets Lab Homes Lighting Metrology Laboratory Lumen Maintenance Test Facility Power Electronics Laboratory Systems Engineering Building Thermal Energy Storage System

Related Divisions

Electricity Infrastructure and Buildings Division

Related Links

What is the Smart Grid?What are Green Buildings?What is Transactive Energy?Transactive Systems ProgramBuilding Energy Asset ScoreClean Energy and Transactive Campus ProjectEconomic DispatchEnergy Efficiency at PNNL brochureIntelligent Load ControlPNNL's Expertise for Efficient Buildings - Accomplishments and Staff Q&As (2021)Rainwater Harvesting ToolResidential Load FlexibilityTransforming the Market for Residential Electric Heat Pump Technologies - FlyerVOLTTRON

Contacts

Dennis Stiles
Sector Lead, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
dennis.stiles@pnnl.gov
Shannon Bates
Advisor
shannon.bates@pnnl.gov

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