Projects

Our projects investigate a broad array of topics related to occupant health and building energy use through simulation, laboratory testing, and field measurements. Our end goal is the widespread deployment of cost-effective strategies that will improve residential indoor environmental quality while reducing energy consumption.

  • ASHRAE Standards

    Computer simulation of infiltration models to predict expected levels of ventilation from infiltration (due to varying weather conditions) in residential homes throughout the United States and Canada.

  • Costs of Deep Energy Retrofits

    Berkeley Lab is gathering information to better understand the costs and challenges of deep energy retrofit (DER) projects. We are interested in DER projects that use a comprehensive, whole-home approach to drastically reduce energy use. We are looking for home performance contractors to submit cost data from past DER projects. We are also conducting a survey of the home performance market. Your contribution will help us broaden the adoption of deep energy retrofits and unleash the vast energy savings potential in existing U.S. homes. 

  • Deep Energy Retrofits

    This project is measuring high time resolution individual end use data from homes that have been retrofitted to save more than 70% of their energy. The data are being analyzed to identify practices that work (and those that don't) that can be used to provide recommendations for home owners and contractors.

  • Healthy Efficient Homes

    An interagency agreement between HUD, EPA and DOE with the goal of developing scientific guidance for a health-risk-based residential ventilation standard. This project is focused on determining the ventilation rate needed to control concentrations of continuously-emitted pollutants and to ensure that concentrations of these pollutants do not exceed health-based standards or guidelines for chronic exposure in the vast majority of homes under reasonable use conditions.

  • Home Energy Saver

    The Home Energy Saver project creates web-based energy analysis tools, web services, and social media for consumers and home energy professionals. The tools utilize the best-available energy modeling and data to characterize baseline energy needs and upgrade opportunities across all end uses and U.S. climates. The tools support "operational" modeling, incorporating home-specific utilization and behavioral factors as well as standardized "asset" modeling for the purposes of home energy rating. This family of web sites garners approximately one million user visits each year.

  • HVAC Filtration

    This project is measuring performance changes in residential HVAC systems due to filter fouling. The focus is on fan power use, but also includes changes in airflow and the resulting impacts on heating and cooling equipment performance. This project is also acquiring data on rates of filter fouling and in a cooperative effort with an ASHRAE research project (by Research Triangle Institute) looking at the materials deposited on filters. The results of this project will be used in energy codes and ventilation standards when setting acceptable and recommended filter ratings.

  • RESAVE

    Residential Energy Savings from Air-Tightness and Ventilation Excellence (RESAVE) is a California Energy Commission (CEC) Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) program. The overall goal of this program is to facilitate the reduction of energy and peak power spent in homes to condition air that enters from outdoors. Infiltration, the uncontrolled exchange of air through leaks and penetrations, typically accounts for over one-third of the total space conditioning energy. New homes typically spend the same fraction of energy on mechanical ventilation. This program aims to reduce ventilation and infiltration related peak load and energy costs by 25-50%.

  • Residential Leakage Database

    The Energy Performance of Building group is collecting residential data from diagnostics tests to characterize the energy use and indoor air quality of the U.S. housing stock. Our goal is to compile a national database that contains measurements of air leakage, ventilation, and indoor air contaminants.

  • RIVEC

    The Residential Integrated Ventilation Controller (RIVEC) is an LBNL developed system that aims to monitor and control the operation of whole-house residential ventilation systems to reduce their total energy use while providing a good indoor environment for the building occupants.

  • Support for Codes, Standards and Training

    This project is providing technical support to bodies that produce codes, standards, and training and certification for the building industry. Partners in this effort include the CEC, ASHRAE, ASTM, CSA, the Consortium for Energy Efficiency (CEE), RESNET and BPI.

  • Deep Energy Retrofit Cost Data

    Berkeley Lab is currently conducting a study to benchmark the cost of actual DER projects in the U.S. We are seeking home performance contractors and deep energy retrofit programs to submit cost information and related documents from past projects from 2010 onwards.

  • Deep Energy Retrofit Survey: Market Drivers, Opportunities and Challenges

    This survey will clarify market drivers, opportunities and challenges to broaden the adoption of deep energy retrofits. We are interested to learn: