DOE awards $82.6M for 44 building energy efficiency, energy bill cutting projects
As part of the Biden administration’s larger emissions reduction push, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) authorized $82.6 million in funding awards for 44 projects working on energy efficient building technologies, thermal energy storage, lighting, heating, and more.
The projects are spread out across 20 states, and all could improve building energy efficiency at large. Efforts to aid their development will be coupled with offers of training, educational programs, and other technical support from DOE.
“Americans spend about $100 billion every year on wasted energy from buildings, heating and cooling units, and more – increasing energy bills and needless emissions that dirty our air and worsen the climate crisis,” Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said. “By pursuing advancements that make both existing and newly constructed buildings more energy efficient, we can save consumers money and reduce the climate impacts of the places we live and work.”
The DOE notes that residential and commercial buildings account for more than one-third of the carbon pollution released by the United States each year. These buildings also consume 40 percent of the nation’s energy and 75 percent of its electricity demand, meaning that innovations in energy efficiency could be a cost-effective means of reducing energy consumption.
The projects selected include:
- Creation of a novel absorption material to store thermal energy by North Dakota State University
- The design, prototype, installation, testing, and review of a high-performance residential wall retrofit that could push heating and cooling savings to at least 30 percent, according to the New Jersey Institute of Technology
- Development of training resources on various electrified building systems to help workers educate consumers of technological benefits of such systems, as created by the Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance
“Technology serves as the third economic wave in our state’s economic growth, and today’s funding to North Dakota State University will be used to advance innovative ways to store energy,” U.S. Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) said of the news. “Investments in research to develop cost-effective, more efficient technologies is key to meeting our growing energy needs while leveraging existing resources and with improved environmental stewardship.”
All projects chosen for funding were selected by DOE’s Building Technologies Office, following competition offered by the Buildings Energy Efficiency Frontiers & Innovation Technologies (BENEFIT) funding opportunity.
