Field Validation of Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) System Performance in Cold Climates

Lead Performer: Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnership (NEEP) – Lexington, MA  
Partners:
-- Vermont Energy investment Corp. – Burlington, VT
-- New York State Energy Research and Development Authority – Albany, NY
-- Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance – Portland, OR
-- Massachusetts Clean Energy Center – Boston, MA
-- Bonneville Power Administration – Portland, OR
-- Mitsubishi – New York, NY
-- Daikin – Houston, TX
-- WinnCompanies – Boston, MA
DOE Total Funding: $493,989
Cost Share: $244,500
Project Term: June 15, 2020 through June 15, 2023
Funding Type:  Advanced Building Construction FOA Award Cooperative Agreement

Project Objective

The project will focus on generating high-quality data on energy performance and refrigerant leakage, as well as effectively communicating these results to key audiences (i.e., building engineers, large commercial building developers, state/local housing agencies, program administrators, and municipalities) that directly impact HVAC technology selection in commercial, institutional, and multifamily buildings. 

To achieve these objectives, this project will:

•  Leverage its expertise and diversity, as well as existing VRF performance measurement practices, to inform the development of measurement protocols for measuring in-field performance of VRF systems in cold climates (energy and efficiency refrigerant leakage).
•  Leverage its extensive stakeholder networks to identify and confirm 5-10 existing VRF installations in occupied buildings for equipment performance measurement. The team will seek sites that represent a variety of common building types. The team will then conduct infield performance measurements on those VRF systems over the course of a 12-month period in accordance with the previously established protocols.
•  Culminate with the development of a report that will include the analytical results of the infield performance research and a presentation of implications and recommendations for how the information should be utilized by HVAC market actors. The team will conduct a communications campaign to ensure full dissemination to key HVAC market influencers.

Project Impact

This project will establish a greater level of confidence in VRF performance across the commercial HVAC market and supply chain, particularly in cold climates, and this will drive increased levels of market adoption. Greater adoption of VRF in the commercial, institutional, and multifamily markets will help U.S. businesses, multifamily tenants, and local/state governments achieve a number of benefits such as significantly reducing energy usage compared to other incumbent HVAC technologies, increasing energy cost savings, and improving comfort and productivity for building occupants.

Contacts

DOE Technology Manager: Charles Llenza, Charles.Llenza@ee.doe.gov  
Lead Performer: David Lis, Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnership