Buildings News
Explore our archive of buildings news stories.
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buildings research.
Dec. 28, 2021
DOE is accelerating emerging technologies from lab to market through its Technology Commercialization Fund (TCF). With an overarching goal to increase the number of commercialized energy technologies developed at national laboratories, the TCF Program awarded funding to support two NREL Buildings projects.
Dec. 14, 2021
A new report and online dashboard by NREL is the first comprehensive characterization and segmentation of the U.S. building stock, providing a national typology of buildings.
Nov. 19, 2021
Commercial buildings generate 16% of all U.S. carbon dioxide emissions.
Nov. 5, 2021
Like many others, Luigi Gentile Polese was drawn to NREL by its mission and values. With a passion for energy and the environment, this innovator did not see an ambiguous job posting as a deterrent.
Nov. 2, 2021
Incorporating energy efficiency measures can reduce the amount of storage needed to power the nation's buildings entirely with renewable energy, according to analysis conducted by researchers at NREL.
Oct. 28, 2021
The data set released by NREL researchers, in collaboration with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory, is critical for utility planners, regulators, state energy offices, researchers, and building owners to understand ways to best manage energy use.
Oct. 27, 2021
A new study from NREL compares load profiles from potential EV charging stations against those of big-box retail grocery stores to assess how the electricity demands of specific sites may change by adding EV charging.
Oct. 22, 2021
A true living laboratory, NREL added a small but noticeable splash of color to its cafeteria building. Five quantum dot windows were installed this summer as a demonstration project evaluating innovative windows technologies, in collaboration with UbiQD and the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator program.
Oct. 19, 2021
NREL is partnering with the USDA-Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) to design, build, and evaluate energy use models to increase energy efficiency in broiler houses.
Aug. 27, 2021
The American-Made E-ROBOT Prize Phase 1 winners are transforming existing U.S. homes and buildings with a sweeping portfolio of advanced robotics innovations.
Aug. 18, 2021
NREL researchers are developing strategies to prevent construction from gobbling up resources with BREX—shorthand for Building Materials' Reduce, Reuse, and Recycling.
July 29, 2021
This year, NREL joined the Department of Energy's Energy Storage Grand Challenge (ESGC) in celebrating just a few of the women making significant contributions within energy storage programs.
July 26, 2021
In November 2020, multinational powerhouse Emerson acquired a startup company, 7AC. It was a big deal in the world of cleantech startups—a fairy-tale ending for a startup company whose technology had made it to the HVAC commercial market.
July 14, 2021
NREL researchers have crafted a guide to using federal energy performance contracting to transform U.S. General Services Administration buildings into tomorrow's energy-efficient, grid-interactive facilities.
April 21, 2021
NREL will bring cross-cutting technical assistance to remote and island communities seeking resilient energy solutions as part of the DOE-funded, multi-lab, multi-partner Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project (ETIPP).
March 16, 2021
The new architecture for the cells increases the area exposed to the sun by putting the metal contact layers side by side on the back of the cell.
Feb. 16, 2021
The future of buildings is affordable, comfortable, and energy efficient. However, the current reality is that buildings consume 39% of all U.S. energy and 74% of all U.S. electricity at an annual cost of more than $400 billion.
Feb. 11, 2021
Scientists from NREL have developed a simple way to better evaluate the potential of novel materials to store or release heat on demand in your home, office, or other building in a way that more efficiently manages the building's energy use.
Jan. 5, 2021
It had been almost 30 years since Jack Hébert visited his old home site in Northern Alaska's Brooks Range. In that time, Jack had become an award-winning home builder and founded the Cold Climate Housing Research Center to come up with more sustainable ways to build. Today, he is a senior advisor at NREL.
