Building America Update: New Webinars and Deadline for Funding Opportunity
Welcome to the Building America Update, a monthly newsletter. Read this month's feature story, or select the other newsletter topics below for more information. You can also Subscribe to receive the email version of Building America Update or browse newsletter archives.
See us at the 2017 NAHB International Builders' Show this week? If so, let us know at building.america@ee.doe.gov.
February Deadline for Funding Opportunity
To move the industry toward higher efficiency and more innovation, the Department of Energy (DOE) Building Technologies Office (BTO) released a funding opportunity announcement (FOA), Building America Industry Partnerships for High Performance Housing Innovation – 2017.
The full application submission deadline is February 1, 2017, by 5 p.m. ET.
This work will contribute to achieving BTO's goal of reducing the energy use intensity of new homes by at least 60% and existing homes by at least 40%, relative to the 2010 average for homes in each of the seven climate zones, with a focus on reducing heating and cooling loads. The Building America Research to Market Plan is available as an additional resource.
This FOA has two topics.
- Topic 1: Building America Technology to Market Roadmaps: Selected Objectives
- Topic 2: Baseline Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Field Study in Occupied New U.S. Homes
Read more about the Building America Program and sign up for future newsletters.
High-Performance HVAC: Low-load and Plug-n-Play HVAC Systems Webinar
New home construction practices are delivering the most thermally improved homes in history. Low-load homes are a hit with builders marketing energy efficiency, and with homeowners seeking lower energy bills. Field observations tell us, though, that residential air distribution systems are still plagued by installation and performance issues and recent research shows residents want to be more comfortable. The industry continues making strides to improve the efficiencies of space conditioning equipment, but have duct systems been left behind?
As part of Building America's Technology-to-Market Roadmap for Optimal Comfort Systems for Low-Load Homes, IBACOS has been conducting research on a game-changing small-diameter duct system to deliver comfort that could revolutionize residential air distribution the way PEX systems impacted plumbing. The duct system has a simple home-run layout, is more readily integrated within the thermal envelope, and is installed with less cost, error, and waste than conventional systems.
During this Building America webinar, Andrew Poerschke will provide an overview of IBACOS' emerging "Plug-n-Play" duct system and its straight-forward configuration methodology, sharing results from extensive modeling, lab tests, and field installations.
Tuesday, February 21, 2017
3 p.m. ET
Stump the Building Science Chump (Builder Panel) Webinar
This new webinar series from the DOE Building America Program, Stump the Building Science Chump, challenges professionals in the residential construction industry to ask building science questions that stump the building science experts! We want to know what problems are most vexing to you and your teams. It's our program goal to help provide solutions—or develop them where they don't already exist.
Our first expert was Dr. Joe Lstiburek, the founding principal of Building Science Corporation. Our next chumps will be builders, so continue to submit your questions to building.america@ee.doe.gov.
We will feature the best questions during the upcoming webinar. Our experts will answer your questions and provide resources to help you solve the toughest building science challenges.
Your questions should be clear and concise and should focus on challenges related to the building science of achieving high levels of energy performance in new and/or existing homes.
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Time: 3 p.m. ET
ResStock – Evaluating Home Performance Upgrades Across the U.S. Residential Building Stock Webinar
This Building America webinar will provide an overview of ResStock, a data-driven analytical framework supporting residential energy efficiency at scale. ResStock can be used to identify home performance upgrades with the highest potential for cost-effective savings in a particular state or region, as well as help identify customer segments for targeted marketing and deployment. A recent ResStock analysis evaluated the cost-effectiveness of 50+ measures and packages across the U.S. single-family detached housing stock, accounting for the diversity of housing stock characteristics and climates. Maps and other visualizations provide actionable results for policymakers and program designers. Eric Wilson, engineer at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, will be the featured speaker.
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Time: 3 p.m. ET
Keep current on upcoming Building America webinars by visiting the Meetings webpage.
BASC Case Study Library Features Innovative Approaches by Home Builders
For builders looking for innovative approaches to solving design and construction problems, other builders can be a great source of ideas. One place to see what other builders are doing is the case study library in the Building America Solution Center. With a current stack of 274 and growing, the case studies provide a treasury of stories of what builders have done to construct high-performance homes in climate zones across the United States. Building projects vary greatly from multifamily-affordable and single family entry-level production through luxury custom homes.
Many of the case studies feature award-winning homes certified through the DOE Zero Energy Ready Home Program. There are write-ups on several retrofit and gut rehab projects, as well as technology and research case studies highlighting DOE-sponsored field research and laboratory research on specific energy-efficiency measures. You can browse the case study library by clicking on "Case Studies" in the left navigation bar. To narrow your choices, use the filters on the right, including keyword, author, organization, etc. Many of the topic-specific installation guides in the Solution Center also link to related case studies.
The Building America Solution Center is a free web tool to help builders construct, renovate, and sell more efficient, comfortable, durable, and healthy homes.