Building Energy Systems Projects

We design, implement and evaluate rigorous field experiments to understand the real-world effectiveness of new and emerging technologies in both commercial and residential buildings.

• Design rigorous field experiments to deliver maximum value and insight
• Recruit and manage buildings for pilots, including large samples of households
• Deploy comprehensive, reliable data acquisition solutions
• Perform behavioral analysis to assess peoples’ use and acceptance of building technologies
• Evaluate the impact on energy consumption, peak demand, and indoor environmental quality
• Analyze large data sets field tests to rigorously evaluate field experiments
• Apply building energy models to extend field-test results to other contexts

Project examples include:

• Residential Buildings
• DOE Building America - Using Communicating Thermostats to Scale Home Energy Assessments
• DOE Building America - Programmable Thermostats Project
• NYSERDA Thermostats Project
• Net Zero Energy Homes Project
• Commercial Buildings
• Living Lab at 5 Channel Center Street: Systems, Features Partners
• thyssenkrupp Net-Zero Energy Elevator Demonstration Project
• SHINES/SunDial
• ESTCP Demonstration Projects
• COOLNOMIX

We develop algorithms that use existing and emerging building data sources to identify operational and retrofit energy savings opportunities.

• Apply machine-learning algorithms to emerging data sets (e.g., electric interval data, communicating thermostats) to develop new insights into building performance and energy-saving opportunities
• Develop Non-intrusive load monitoring (NILM) algorithms to disaggregate electricity consumption
• Apply optimization techniques to optimize building performance

Project examples include:

• DOE Building America - Programmable Thermostats project
• Non-Intrusive Load Monitoring
• SHINES/SunDial
• Smart meter data analytics: Prediction of enrollment in residential energy efficiency programs

Fraunhofer performs technology assessment projects for government and industry to help decision makers accurately evaluate the full potential of new and emerging building technologies and identify high-impact opportunities.

• Quantify the energy savings potentials and demand impacts of new and emerging technologies using whole-building energy modeling
• Evaluate the current and future cost effectiveness in different applications
• Evaluate commercialization barriers at different stages of the building development, deployment, and operations processes
• Identify the most promising applications and markets for emerging technology platforms
• Prioritize research, development, and demonstration activities

Examples of building technologies assessed include:

• Building Enclosures
• Controls and Diagnostics
• Consumer Electronics / Information & Communication Technology
• HVAC
• Miscellaneous and Electronic Loads

We characterize the energy consumption of different end uses in buildings to provide high-quality data to support regulatory decisions.

• Apply a combination of primary (field testing, surveys) and secondary research to model and quantify the per-device, state, and national energy consumption by different devices and end uses
• Model device usage patterns and power draw by mode
• Conduct scenario analyses to project the future energy consumption of different devices and end uses
• Identify emerging energy-saving opportunities

Examples of end uses characterized include:

• Consumer Electronics / Information & Communication Technology
• Miscellaneous and Electronic Loads
• Medical Equipment

Project examples include:

• Energy Consumption of Consumer Electronics