Windows and Building Envelope Facilities

1/2 LBNL's Advanced Windows Testbed
This outdoor test facility contains three, thermally-isolated chambers that have been instrumented to measure thermal, daylighting, and occupant impacts of advanced window technologies. In this setup, LBNL staff are evaluating a heat recovery/ ventilation unit (left), a switchable electrochromic window (middle), and a spectrally-selective low-emittance window (right).
Photo courtesy of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
2/2 ORNL's Building Technologies Research & Integration Center
ORNL's facility contains a Large-Scale Climate Simulator (pictured above)—a huge apparatus that can enclose building components, such as roof or wall sections, within a highly customizable micro-climate. While most large-scale test facilities can control temperature, the LSCS offers researchers the added benefit of controlling relative humidity, sunlight, rainfall and other variables—ensuring a higher reliability of test results.
Photo courtesy of Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

LBNL’s has three facilities specifically dedicated to windows: the Optical Properties Laboratory, the Infrared Thermography Laboratory, and the Mobile Window Thermal Test Facility (MoWiTT). These facilities include the following capabilities:

  • Accurate modeling of innovative fenestration materials and systems
  • Tools that enable derivation of optimized designs based on solar and thermal control, daylighting, energy and demand minimization, visual comfort, energy cost using Radiance, Dymola/Modelica, EnergyPlus, GenOpt
  • Tools that enable comprehensive assessments of building energy performance and human factors (comfort, indoor environmental quality (IEQ), occupant satisfaction and acceptance of technologies) for emerging window technologies
  • Outdoor testbed facilities that enable testing, model validation, and debugging and evaluation of full-scale prototypes using the MoWiTT facility, the Advanced Windows Testbed, and FLEXLAB. 

During FY14, this core work will a) accomplish the technology optimization tool, FaçadeOpt, to improve speed and accuracy, and b) field test of prototype technologies in collaboration with industry. The core work will enable related technology R&D projects to achieve their goal of bringing innovative technologies to market. Find out more about LBNL's windows facilities -->

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

ORNL's Building Technology Research & Integration Center user facility is the premier U.S. research facility devoted to the development of technologies that improve the energy efficiency and environmental compatibility of residential and commercial buildings. BTRIC’s mission is to identify, develop, and deploy energy-efficient building system technologies by forming partnerships between DOE and private industry for technology development and analysis, well-characterized laboratory and field experiments, and market outreach. BTRIC has four Centers of Excellence—the Building Envelope Center for Excellence focuses on cost-effectively improving the energy efficiency, moisture durability, and environmental sustainability of building envelopes. The research group explores new and emerging materials, components, and systems as well as the fundamentals of heat, air, and moisture transfer. Find out more about ORNL's building envelope facilities -->