PNNL has developed a decision tool that provides contractors and installers with the information they need to properly select and install cold climate heat pumps, which are a key technology for achieving decarbonization.
Tennessee State University received Department of Energy funding to establish an academy focused on preparing students and professionals to work in an emerging field: clean energy systems. PNNL is helping with that effort and others.
Researchers from PNNL have been assessing installation and use of electric heat pumps in an Alaskan community that relies on fuel oil for heat. The resulting information could advance electrification in cold rural areas across the nation.
PNNL helps deliver efficiency-related rules and requirements that steadily improve performance of America’s buildings, saving energy and costs and reducing carbon emissions.
Mandy Mahoney, director of the DOE Building Technologies Office, visited PNNL in late November. One key agenda item involved meeting with staff for a discussion of effective equity and justice integration in buildings-related research.
A larger HVAC workforce with training on modern heat pump technology will be pivotal to achieving the mass-scale electrification of household HVAC systems needed to meet building decarbonization goals.
Leaders from the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy visited PNNL October 19–20 for a firsthand look at capabilities and research progress.
PNNL is at the midpoint of a study focused on the installation of electric heat pump water heaters in New Orleans homes. The efficient water heaters offer a unique capability that could help speed the transition from fossil fuels.
The PNNL-managed Building America Solution Center translates research into actionable considerations for homeowners and builders to provide two solutions in one: increasing energy efficiency while also enhancing disaster resistance.
A PNNL team’s analysis of new-housing data concludes that single-family homes in lower-income counties are less energy-code-compliant than in higher-income counties, a finding that could shape strategies for enhanced code adoption.
Staff at PNNL recently completed a report highlighting commercial products enabled through projects funded by the Department of Energy’s Building Technologies Office.
The Simple Building Calculator, developed at PNNL, meets a need for a quick, interactive, and economic method to evaluate energy use—and potential savings from efficiency measures—in simple commercial buildings.
The Department of Energy has issued updated energy conservation standards for manufactured homes. The effort to establish the standards, supported by PNNL, is expected to result in a range of benefits for the manufactured housing sector.
PNNL worked with the Department of Energy on the Commercial Packaged Boiler rule, which will help reduce energy use, enhance the environment, and save dollars.
Researchers at PNNL examined heat pump water heater (HPWH) operation in Pacific Northwest residences, gaining insights into HPWH electricity use patterns. Part of the study captured trends during a COVID-19 stay-at-home order.
PNNL’s energy-efficient dehumidifier may reduce energy consumption by up to 50% in residential A/C systems and increase the range of electric vehicles by up to 75%. The system has been licensed to Montana Technologies.
