Design and Evaluation of a Net Zero Energy Low-Income Residential Housing Development in Lafayette, Colorado

This abbreviated report outlines the lessons learned and sub-metered energy performance of an ultra low energy single family ranch home and duplex unit, called the Paradigm Pilot Project and presents the final design recommendations for a 153-unit net zero energy residential development called the Josephine Commons Project

Projected Benefits of New Residential Evaporative Cooling Systems: Progress Report #2

The use of conventional evaporative cooling has rapidly declined in the United States despite the fact that it has high potential for energy savings in dry climates. Evaporative systems are very competitive in terms of first cost and provide significant reductions in operating energy use, as well as peak-load reduction benefits. Significant market barriers still remain and can be addressed through improved systems integration. This report investigates the first of these approaches, exploring innovative components. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Building America research teams are investigating the use of two promising new pieces of residential cooling equipment that employ evaporative cooling as a part of their system design. The OASys unit, which is a combination of direct and indirect evaporative cooling stages developed by Davis Energy Group (DEG) and manufactured by Speakman CRS, is used to ultimately provide outside air to the living space. The outdoor air provided is indirectly and directly evaporatively cooled in two stages to a condition that can be below the wet-bulb (wb) temperature of the outside air, thus outperforming a conventional single-stage direct evaporative cooler

Evaluation of a High-Performance Solar Home in Loveland, Colorado: Preprint

Building America (BA) partner McStain Neighborhoods built the Discovery House in Loveland, Colorado, with an extensive package of energy-efficient features, including a high-performance envelope, efficient mechanical systems, a solar water heater integrated with the space-heating system, a heat-recovery ventilator (HRV), and ENERGY STAR appliances. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Building Science Consortium (BSC) conducted short-term field-testing and building energy simulations to evaluate the performance of the house. These evaluations are utilized by BA to improve future prototype designs and to identify critical research needs. The Discovery House building envelope and ducts were very tight under normal operating conditions. The HRV provided fresh air at a rate of about 35 l/s (75 cfm), consistent with the recommendations of ASHRAE Standard 62.2. The solar hot water system is expected to meet the bulk of the domestic hot water (DHW) load (>83%), but only about 12% of the space-heating load. DOE-2.2 simulations predict whole-house source energy savings of 54% compared to the BA Benchmark. The largest contributors to energy savings beyond McStain's standard practice are the solar water heater, HRV, improved air distribution, high-efficiency boiler, and compact fluorescent lighting package

Evaluation of a High-Performance Solar Home in Loveland, Colorado

Building America (BA) partner McStain Neighborhoods built the Discovery House in Loveland, Colorado, with an extensive package of energy-efficient features, including a high-performance envelope, efficient mechanical systems, a solar water heater integrated with the space-heating system, a heat-recovery ventilator (HRV), and ENERGY STAR? appliances. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Building Science Consortium (BSC) conducted short-term field-testing and building energy simulations to evaluate the performance of the house. These evaluations are utilized by BA to improve future prototype designs and to identify critical research needs. The Discovery House building envelope and ducts were very tight under normal operating conditions. The HRV provided fresh air at a rate of about 75 cfm (35 l/s), consistent with the recommendations of ASHRAE Standard 62.2. The solar hot water system is expected to meet the bulk of the domestic hot water (DHW) load (>83%), but only about 12% of the space-heating load. DOE-2.2 simulations predict whole-house source energy savings of 54% compared to the BA Benchmark [1]. The largest contributors to energy savings beyond McStain's standard practice are the solar water heater, HRV, improved air distribution, high-efficiency boiler, and compact fluorescent lighting package

Dew Point Evaporative Comfort Cooling: Report and Summary Report

The project objective was to demonstrate the capabilities of the high-performance multi-staged IEC technology and its ability to enhance energy efficiency and interior comfort in dry climates, while substantially reducing electric-peak demand. The project was designed to test 24 cooling units in five commercial building types at Fort Carson Army Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado

The Systems Analysis and Improvement Approach: specifying core components of an implementation strategy to optimize care cascades in public health.

This work was supported from grants from the National Institutes of Health, including R01MH113435 (SAIA-SCALE), F32HD088204 and R34AI129900 (SAIA-PEDS), R21AI124399 (mPCAT), K24HD088229 (SAIA-FP), R21MH113691 (SAIA-MH), P30AI027757 (CFAR), R21DA046703 (SAIA-Naloxone), R01HL142412 (SAIA-HTN), 1UG3HL156390-01 (SCALE SAIA-HTN) R01HD0757 and R01HD0757-02S1 (SAIA), K08CA228761 (CCS SAIA) and T32AI070114 (UNC TIDE), Support was provided by the Implementation Science Core of the University of Washington/Fred Hutch Center for AIDS Research, an NIH-funded program under award number AI027757 which is supported by the following NIH Institutes and Centers: NIAID, NCI, NIMH, NIDA, NICHD, NHLBI, NIA, NIGMS, and NIDDK. This work was also supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Rita and Alex Hillman Foundation (SAIA-JUV), and the Thrasher Foundation (SAIA-MAL). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Rita and Alex Hillman Foundation, or the Thrasher Foundation. © 2023. The Author(s). Publisher Copyright: © 2023, The Author(s). © 2023. The Author(s).BACKGROUND: Healthcare systems in low-resource settings need simple, low-cost interventions to improve services and address gaps in care. Though routine data provide opportunities to guide these efforts, frontline providers are rarely engaged in analyzing them for facility-level decision making. The Systems Analysis and Improvement Approach (SAIA) is an evidence-based, multi-component implementation strategy that engages providers in use of facility-level data to promote systems-level thinking and quality improvement (QI) efforts within multi-step care cascades. SAIA was originally developed to address HIV care in resource-limited settings but has since been adapted to a variety of clinical care systems including cervical cancer screening, mental health treatment, and hypertension management, among others; and across a variety of settings in sub-Saharan Africa and the USA. We aimed to extend the growing body of SAIA research by defining the core elements of SAIA using established specification approaches and thus improve reproducibility, guide future adaptations, and lay the groundwork to define its mechanisms of action. METHODS: Specification of the SAIA strategy was undertaken over 12 months by an expert panel of SAIA-researchers, implementing agents and stakeholders using a three-round, modified nominal group technique approach to match core SAIA components to the Expert Recommendations for Implementing Change (ERIC) list of distinct implementation strategies. Core implementation strategies were then specified according to Proctor's recommendations for specifying and reporting, followed by synthesis of data on related implementation outcomes linked to the SAIA strategy across projects. RESULTS: Based on this review and clarification of the operational definitions of the components of the SAIA, the four components of SAIA were mapped to 13 ERIC strategies. SAIA strategy meetings encompassed external facilitation, organization of provider implementation meetings, and provision of ongoing consultation. Cascade analysis mapped to three ERIC strategies: facilitating relay of clinical data to providers, use of audit and feedback of routine data with healthcare teams, and modeling and simulation of change. Process mapping matched to local needs assessment, local consensus discussions and assessment of readiness and identification of barriers and facilitators. Finally, continuous quality improvement encompassed tailoring strategies, developing a formal implementation blueprint, cyclical tests of change, and purposefully re-examining the implementation process. CONCLUSIONS: Specifying the components of SAIA provides improved conceptual clarity to enhance reproducibility for other researchers and practitioners interested in applying the SAIA across novel settings.Peer reviewe

Development of an Energy-Savings Calculation Methodology for Residential Miscellaneous Electric Loads: Preprint

In order to meet whole-house energy savings targets beyond 50% in residential buildings, it will be essential that new technologies and systems approaches be developed to address miscellaneous electric loads (MELs). These MELs are comprised of the small and diverse collection of energy-consuming devices found in homes, including what are commonly known as plug loads (televisions, stereos, microwaves), along with all hard-wired loads that do not fit into other major end-use categories (doorbells, security systems, garage door openers). MELs present special challenges because their purchase and operation are largely under the control of the occupants. If no steps are taken to address MELs, they can constitute 40-50% of the remaining source energy use in homes that achieve 60-70% whole-house energy savings, and this percentage is likely to increase in the future as home electronics become even more sophisticated and their use becomes more widespread. Building America (BA), a U.S. Department of Energy research program that targets 50% energy savings by 2015 and 90% savings by 2025, has begun to identify and develop advanced solutions that can reduce MELs

Method for Evaluating Energy Use of Dishwashers, Clothes Washers, and Clothes Dryers: Preprint

Building America teams are researching opportunities to improve energy efficiency for some of the more challenging end-uses, such as lighting (both fixed and occupant-provided), appliances (clothes washer, dishwasher, clothes dryer, refrigerator, and range), and miscellaneous electric loads, which are all heavily dependent on occupant behavior and product choices. These end-uses have grown to be a much more significant fraction of total household energy use (as much as 50% for very efficient homes) as energy efficient homes have become more commonplace through programs such as ENERGY STAR and Building America. As modern appliances become more sophisticated the residential energy analyst is faced with a daunting task in trying to calculate the energy savings of high efficiency appliances. Unfortunately, most whole-building simulation tools do not allow the input of detailed appliance specifications. Using DOE test procedures the method outlined in this paper presents a reasonable way to generate inputs for whole-building energy-simulation tools. The information necessary to generate these inputs is available on Energy-Guide labels, the ENERGY-STAR website, California Energy Commission's Appliance website and manufacturer's literature. Building America has developed a standard method for analyzing the effect of high efficiency appliances on whole-building energy consumption when compared to the Building America's Research Benchmark building