BTO Releases BENEFIT 2022/23 Funding Opportunity for Innovations that Electrify and Optimize Building Operations

Today, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Building Technologies Office (BTO) announced its Buildings Energy Efficiency Frontiers & Innovation Technologies (BENEFIT) – 2022/23 funding opportunity announcement (FOA). This FOA will fund up to $45 million across five topic areas to research and develop high-impact, cost-effective technologies and building retrofit practices that will improve flexibility and resilience, and lower energy costs. BENEFIT 2022/23 will spur innovations in air conditioning, space heating, water heating; thermal and battery storage; plug loads and lighting; and the building envelope that have significant potential for carbon savings, through building electrification, energy efficiency, and demand flexibility with utmost affordability at its core.

Residential and commercial buildings are the single-largest energy-consuming sector of the U.S. economy, representing approximately 39% of U.S. total energy consumption and 74% of its electricity use. It is estimated that one-third or more of the energy used by buildings is wasted, and with it as much as $150 billion annually. To change this, BTO works to reduce the energy intensity of homes and commercial buildings by applying cost-effective technologies and practices, and this FOA will drive innovations that can lead to the deployment of energy-efficient technologies.

BTO has issued the BENEFIT FOA on a regular basis since 2014. The 2022/23 BENEFIT FOA will fund up to $15.35-$45.2 million to allow all interested parties to pursue innovations in the following topic areas.

• Topic 1: Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning and Water Heating: Technologies with improved materials, components, equipment design and engineering, lower cost manufacturing processes, and easier installation.
• Topic 2: Thermal Energy Storage (TES): Development and validation of next-generation plug-and-play TES products with improved cost and performance and ease of installation to accelerate adoption of TES in HVAC applications.
• Topic 3: Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS): Development, validation, and demonstration of product innovations that reduce the cost of BESS integration, improve the coordination between distributed BESS and the electrical grid.
• Topic 4: Plug Loads/Lighting: Integration of plug load controls with connected lighting systems in commercial buildings with minimal cost and complexity to support building electrification.
• Topic 5: Opaque Building Envelope: Development, validation, and demonstration of high-impact, affordable. opaque building envelope retrofit and diagnostic technologies.

To apply to this FOA, applicants must register with and submit application materials through EERE eXCHANGE, EERE’s online application portal. Applicants must submit a concept paper by 5 p.m. ET on February 7, 2023 to be eligible to submit a full application.