Midwest Urban Envelope Retrofit and Tri-Function Air-Water Heat Pump Installation

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Project Information

Team Partners

Team Lead: Frontier Energy
Research Member: GTI Energy
Implementation Member: Blacks in Green
Industry Member: Tom Bassett-Dilley Architects

Location

Chicago, Illinois

Anticipated Completion

Mid-2028

Challenge to Solve

This Building America Retrofit Solutions team is focusing on barriers and opportunities for improving the energy efficiency of low-rise, urban residential buildings.

Through a field study in an affordable, multifamily building in the Woodlawn community of Chicago, the team will examine:

The annual energy savings, peak demand reduction, carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas reduction, and cost-effectiveness of a non-invasive exterior insulation and weatherization retrofit.
Potential energy and cost impacts.
Any changes to residents’ comfort.
Technical and market barriers, along with potential solutions.

Approach and Impact

The team will complete a replicable retrofit project that includes building envelope improvements and the potential for electrifying space heating, cooling, and domestic hot water without increasing electrical service more than 100 amperes. The team will compare pre- and post-project energy consumption and utility costs to help identify barriers and opportunities for solutions to scaling this work.

The team will:

Model, design, and implement a weatherization and external insulation retrofit on a two-unit apartment building to significantly reduce heating and cooling loads.
Design a tri-function air-water heat pump system with domestic hot water in two apartments.
Collaborate with the neighborhood’s community-based environmental and economic development organization to produce a scalable development plan.

Low-income communities may benefit from the team’s work to:

Increase access to energy innovation technology.
Decrease residents’ energy costs.
Improve residents’ comfort.
Reduce energy consumption and associated greenhouse gas emissions.
Increase quality jobs and business opportunities.

About Building America Retrofit Solutions

As part of a Building Technologies Office initiative, the nine cross-sector Building America Retrofit Solutions teams are working on one- to three-year community-focused field validation and demonstration projects that will address hard-to-solve technical challenges of increasing efficiency, affordability, and comfort of existing homes.