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 California Air Resources Board and Southern California Edison recognized the need for robust primary research among key decision-makers to help California achieve the state’s ambitious climate goals – specifically through the adoption of zero-emission appliances such as heat pump water heaters,...

The proposed technology is a residential/ small commercial heat pump (~3-5 tons capacity) that cascades a thermoelectric (TE) heat pump with a conventional air-source heat pump. This heat pump will (a) Boost capacity and COP at colder outside air temperatures, (b) Reduce peak demand by eliminating...

Building electrification initiatives are resulting in an explosion of electrified heating and cooling (heat pump) systems being installed in residential and commercial buildings. Electrifying the building sector is a critical step toward meeting California’s decarbonization goals; however, the...

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...

University of Maryland (Prime), EPRI, Sunamp, Heat Technologies, ORNL, Rheem is developing a technology consisting of a dual-purpose (heating and cooling) thermal battery with room temperature storage integrated with heat pump(s) (HP’s), for both residential and commercial applications. The thermal...

VEIC proposes to conduct a market study to assess the market opportunity and technology performance of variable speed, high-efficiency in-unit/window heat pumps in multifamily buildings for use for direct replacement of inefficient window and packaged terminal air conditioning (PTAC) units for...

This project evaluates the performance of a production prototype residential three-function heat pump (TFHP) system. TFHPs are called “three function” systems as they utilize a single compressor to serve indoor heating, indoor cooling, and domestic hot water loads. The system evaluated in this...

Using swimming pools as heat sinks for air conditioner waste heat has been estimated to reduce air conditioner energy use in California by 25-30% (Harrington and Modera, 2012). There are two primary advantages of rejecting waste heat to an air conditioner instead of ambient air: 1) swimming pool...

This project is an open source supervisory control technology development and demonstration of ASHRAE Guideline 36 (G36), ASHRAE 2021. The promise of G36 is that the standardization of the sequence of operations (SOO) allows manufacturers to program and centrally test the control logic and then...