The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced $38.8 million in funding for 25 projects across 17 states to research and develop high impact building technologies and practices for decarbonizing, reducing peak demand on the electric grid, enhancing resilience, and lowering energy costs.
Advancements made with this funding from the Buildings Energy Efficiency Frontiers & Innovation Technologies (BENEFIT) opportunity support applied research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) activities for high-priority building technologies, including next-generation retrofits for building envelope, lighting, and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC). Additionally, the funding will support technologies improving the resilience of buildings during extreme weather events and allowing them to function as assets to the electrical grid.
"The BENEFIT 2024 projects will accelerate our progress toward DOE's building decarbonization blueprint goal of reducing 65% of building emissions by 2035 and 90% of building emissions by 2050,” said Jeff Marootian, principal deputy assistant secretary for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
The 25 projects selected for the 2024 BENEFIT funding opportunity support deep decarbonization of the U.S. building stock through innovations across four topic areas. These projects will equitably benefit building owners and occupants across all building types, sectors, and geographies. The products and practices developed through BENEFIT funding opportunities are integral to are saving consumers money on their energy bills and building technology purchases.
The latest additions to the BENEFIT project cohort at BTO are:
- GTI Energy (Des Plaines, Illinois) – High Efficiency, Oil Free Compressor/Expander for CO2 Heat Pumps. GTI Energy is designing and developing a novel oil-free CO2 compressor/expander to advance CO2 heat pump technology and in turn, improve market adoption of natural refrigerant equipment. (Award amount: $2 million)
- Effecterra, Inc. (Reno, Nevada) – CO2 Heat Pump POC Development. Effecterra will build a working proof-of-concept 25-ton commercial roof top unit (RTU) heat pump that uses a CO2 refrigerant. This demonstration highlights the market application potential for CO2 refrigerants with ultra-low global warming potential in RTU heat pumps, which can exceed the performance operation of the current best-in-class commercially available equipment. (Award amount: $1.2 million)
- Champaign County Regional Planning Commission (Champaign, Illinois) – COBotics for Attic Technical Testing and Infiltration Control (COBATTIC). The Champaign County Regional Planning. Commission in partnership with GTI Energy, Hearth Labs, FLX Solutions, and the Community and Economic Development Association of Cook County will develop, evaluate, and train a collaborative robotic (cobotic) and artificial intelligence-enhanced thermal diagnostic system to identify moisture damage and air leakage locations in attic spaces. (Award amount: $1.5 million)
- Stepwise Electric, Inc. (Buffalo, New York) – Low Wires and Modular Electric Service Upgrade. Stepwise Electric will extend its product line for electric vehicle charging to heat pumps and heat pump water heaters. Their product is a modular electrical component that installs between the electrical panel and the end use while monitoring whole-building power draw to ensure coincident electrical loads do not exceed the service capacity of the building. (Award amount: $1.4 million)
