Variable air volume (VAV) HVAC systems dominate the commercial building market but have widely varying performance, with a well-documented performance gap between best-practice and typical operation. Two recent studies by Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and the California Energy Commission (CEC)...
One of the greatest underutilized opportunities for energy savings in buildings through retrofits and retro-commissioning is optimized HVAC system sequence of operations (SOO). A recent EPIC Best In Class research project funded by the California Energy Commission showed that implementation of...
The laboratory evaluation of a commercial, whole-building, integrated control system project aims to achieve whole-building energy and demand reduction, load flexibility, improved occupant comfort, and reductions in control system installation costs by integrating control of multiple building...
A new energy-saving product called an air management system (AMS) has been developed as a drop-in replacement for compressed air filter-regulator-lubricator (FRL) assemblies. The AMS saves energy by reducing pressure to large pneumatic end-uses during idling and cutting off air supply during...
This field demonstration project in a full service restaurant involves pre-retrofit energy monitoring of existing domestic hot water systems, the installation of single-pass air-source heat pumps (HPs) and other efficiency measures, and post-monitoring of optimized systems. Hot water is primarily...
The California Plumbing and Energy Codes do not mandate master mixing valves (MMV) for temperature control of domestic hot water (DHW) recirculation systems. Prior lab or field studies has not investigated the energy savings potential of MMV in recirculation systems. While some applications such as...
Water heating for food service applications represents 340M therms of gas consumption in California, and thus presents a significant opportunity for electrification, as well as significant efficiency improvements in retrofits and new construction applications. Public-facing design guides specific...
The proposed project evaluates the current state and anticipated future of Residential Energy and Automation (REA) systems. REA systems are a new category of residential appliances that combine the features of Home Energy Management Systems (HEMS). HEMS energy savings potential have been estimated...
Home space heating, space cooling, and domestic hot water heating loads can be served efficiently by contemporary air to water heat pump technology. Higher operating efficiencies and a shift of loads from peak to non-peak demand periods can be achieved through a shared network of hydronic piping...
Heat pump space conditioning and water heating can greatly reduce energy consumption compared to existing electric resistance or natural gas combustion options. Requirements for electrical service upgrades add cost and installation delays for customers considering heat pumps for space conditioning...