10/27/2010

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NIST’s Building Energy Research Program

William M. Healy

Leader, Heat Transfer & Alternative Energy 

Sy p stems Group

Building and Fire Research Laboratory

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Gaithersburg, Maryland

Energy/Climate Change-Driven Challenges

• U.S. spends $508 B/year in energy costs for 

operation and use of constructed facilities

• Building g (p ) s are the largest contributor (37 percent)

of CO2 emissions in end-use operations, followed 

by the transportation and industrial sectors

• An additional 7-8 percent of U.S. CO2 emissions 

are attributable to cement production

– 1 ton of cement produces 1 ton of CO2 

– 130 million tons of cement are used in construction each 

year

• CO2 emissions associated with buildings may be 

reduced through

US Carbon Dioxide Emissions by Sector, 1990-2030 (million metric tons)

Data Source- EIA Annual Energy Outlook 2007 with Projections to 2030

8000

9000

Industrial

– Energy conservation measures

– Substitution of renewables for fossil-fueled generation

– Efficiency improvement and/or CO2 sequestration in 

fossil fired power plants

– Substitution of flyash for calcinated material

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

1990 2005 2010 2020 2030

Year

Million Metric tons

Transporation

Buildings
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NIST Energy Success Stories

 Renewable Energy

 Developed testing and rating procedures used throughout the solar thermal 

industry. 

 Energy Efficiency

 Development and Maintenance of Test Procedures for all Covered 

Appliances*.

 Provides Thermal Conductivity Traceability for Building Insulation through 

SRMs.

 Led the Search for Alternative Refrigerants used in Heating/Cooling 

Equipment.

 Developed First Draft of ASHRAE’s “Energy Standard for Buildings Except 

Low-Rise Residential Buildings”. 

 Developed Methodology (adopted by ASTM) to Assess Air Tightness of 

Commercial Buildings.

 Played Major Role in the Development of Communication Standards for 

Building Automation and Control Systems (BACnet)*. 

 Support of IEA through leadership/participation in Annexes 17 25 40 42 and Support of IEA through leadership/participation in Annexes 17, 25, 40, 42, and

47*.

 Assessment Tools

 Developed NBSLD, a Pioneering Building Energy Simulation Tool that Laid 

the Foundation to DOE-2, BLAST, TARP, and Energy 10*. 

 Instrumental in U.S. Green Building Council’s (LEED) Building Rating System.

 Development of Building Life-Cycle Cost (BLCC) and Building for 

Environmental and Economic Sustainability (BEES) Methodologies*.

* Denotes Support from DOE

Improved Efficiency Appliance Standards

For over two decades, NIST has supported the DOE program

by developing and maintaining test and rating procedures for

• Heat pumps and air-conditioners

• Water heaters

• Refrigerators/freezers

• Dishwashers

• Washers/dryers

• Transformers

• Transformers/Electric Motors

Energy Efficiency of Appliances enabling

Infrared imaging shows regions 

of heat loss from a water heater 

(a) top of tank, (b) side of tank.

Energy Efficiency of Appliances – enabling

energy savings, reduced operating costs, and 

consumer awareness via standard DOE testing 

and rating procedures.
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Photovoltaic Measurements and Models

NIST Provides Data for Photovoltaic

• Technology Comparisons

• Improvement/Validation of Simulation Models

•Imp q roved Measurement Techniques 
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Automated Fault Detection and Diagnostics

for Residential Heat Pump

NIST is developing Fault Detection and Diagnostic methodologies for residential air-conditioning

and heat pump systems that ensure a quality initial installation and sustained efficiency 

throughout the lifetime of the equipment. 

Goals:

Quality initial installations

Greater thermal comfort

Reduced refrigerant emissions

Increased energy efficiency

Reduced life-cycle operating costs

Indoor 

Unit

Outdoor 

Unit

System analysis and fault classifier Residential split-system heat pump

Simulation Tools for HVAC Equipment

NIST develops software tools 

that facilitate designing 

optimized equipment.

Goals:

I d ffi i

REFLEAK predicts a composition shift of 

zeotropic refrigerant mixtures due to sequential 

leaking and recharging. Composition shifting 

typically results in degradation of efficiency. 

EVAP-COND predicts the performance of 

finned tube heat exchangers. 

Increased energy efficiency

Lower cost products

Faster time to market 

Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) is used to 

characterize the air flow distribution through 

finned tube heat exchangers. 

Simulation of an entire air-conditioning system 

to estimate the effect of design changes upon 

efficiency. 
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Thermal Insulation Measurements

Since 1912, NIST has provided thermal resistance measurements to the 

thermal insulation industry. 

•1-m Guarded Hot Plate (GHP) Apparatus

•0.5 m GHP designed to test from 90 K to 900 K

•Vacuum Insulation Panels tested in calorimeter

•NIST Standard Reference Database 81 (http NIST Standard Reference Database 81 (http://srdata ://srdata nist gov/insulation/) .nist.gov/insulation/)

Fuel Cell Performance Ratings

NIST is developing rating methodologies to help consumers 

gauge the performance of fuel cell systems for building 

applications .

•Residential Fuel Cell Units

•Emergency Backup Fuel Cell Units

•Combined Heat and Power Applications
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Sensors for Improved Building Monitoring

NIST is exploring novel sensor technology that could be 

used as part of monitoring systems to determine energy 

consumption in buildings:

• Radar to evaluate integrity of thermal envelopes

• Wireless sensors

• Data management issues

HVAC Commissioning Tools

Click on a specific day to

make a detailed analysis

NIST provides technical leadership 

in International Energy Agency 

Annexes addressing technical 

- Fault detected with

indication of causes

- Operating modes

barriers to effective commissioning 

of building control systems

• Information Modeling

• Automated Commissioning tools

• Cost-benefit analysis and persistence 

measurement methodologies

Temperature graph for one

day Control graph for one day

Prototype AHU commissioning tool developed by NIST and CSTB

IEA Annex 40 - Commissioning of Building HVAC 

Systems for Improved Energy Performance

IEA Annex 47 - Cost Effective Commissioning of 

Existing and Low Energy Buildings
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HVAC Fault Detection and Diagnostics

NIST has pioneered the 

development of embedded 

measurement and analysis measurement and analysis

techniques to detect faults in 

HVAC equipment and controls

• APAR – Air Handler Performance 

Assessment Rules

• VPACC – VAV box Performance 

Assessment Control Charts

• Unique laboratory facilities to 

NIST Virtual Cybernetic Building Testbed Facility – Used to 

conduct research in automated fault detection and other 

aspects of integrated building control systems

emulate building systems 

• Collaboration with control system 

manufacturers to test results in 

commercial products

Energy Impacts of Envelope Airtightness

For over two decades, NIST has pursued energy savings 

opportunities through improvements in commercial building 

envelope airtightness.

• Development of test procedures

• International database of airtightness measurements

• Desigg p g n guidance for envelope airtightness

• Simulation of energy impacts

• Technical support of air barrier requirements in energy 

efficiency standards

Envelope airtightness versus year of construction; 

shows no trend towards newer buildings being tighter.
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Energy Efficient Ventilation Strategies

NIST has been developing simulation methods, design 

guidance and tools, technology assessments of strategies, 

and standards to provide adequate ventilation in an energy 

efficient manner.

• Carbon dioxide based demand controlled ventilation

• Natural and hybrid ventilation

• Dedicated outdoor air systems

• Displacement ventilation

Sustainability Assessment Tools

• BEES 3.0 

– 22,000 users 

– 530,000 BEES website “hits” since 2003 

• BEES is major element of two federal preferred 

procurement programs procurement programs

– USDA Bio-Preferred Program created by 2002 Farm 

Bill 

– U.S. EPA Environmentally Preferable Purchasing 

Program created by Executive Order

– Major “green building” rating systems incorporating 

BEES approach (LEED, Green Globes) 

Sustainability Assessment – enabling 

science-based selection of cost-effective, 

i t ll f bl b ildi

The BEES (Building for Environmental and 

Economic Sustainability) software brings a powerful 

technique for selecting cost- effective, 

environmentally-preferable building products. 

environmentally preferable building 

products through incorporation in major 

U.S. “green building” rating systems
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Contact Information

A. Hunter Fanney, Chief

Building Environment Division

Hunter.Fanney@nist.gov

www.bfrl.nist.gov/863/bed.html

William Healy, Leader

Heat Transfer and Alternative Energy 

Systems Group

William.Healy@nist.gov; 301-975-4922

www bfrl nist gov/863/heat transfer group/index htm www.bfrl.nist.gov/863/heat_transfer_group/index.htm

Steven Bushby, Leader

Mechanical Systems & Controls Group

Steven.Bushby@nist.gov; 301-975-5873

www.bfrl.nist.gov/863/bc.html

Mark Palmer, Leader

Computer Integrated Building Processes Group

Mark.Palmer@nist.gov; 301-975-5858

cic.nist.gov/

Piotr Domanski, Leader

HVAC & R Equipment Performance Group

Andrew Persily, Leader

Indoor Air Quality & Ventilation Group

Piotr.Domanski@nist.gov; 301-975-5877

www.bfrl.nist.gov/863/HVAC/HVACIndex.htm

Andrew.Persily@nist.gov; 301-975-6418

www.bfrl.nist.gov/863/iaq.html