News

Researchers, government agencies, and roofing manufacturers from around the world gathered in Berkeley last month (July 28-29, 2011) to discuss the latest research on cool roofs. These solar reflective materials reduce energy use, and help cool the planet by reflecting sunlight to outer space. Their use has begun to soar in markets around the world thanks to their economic and environmental... Read more

Recently, EETD's Thomas Kirchstetter, and Tim Dallman and Robert Harley of the University of California, Berkeley, presented the results of a study on the emissions of PM (particulate matter) and NOx (nitrogen oxides) from trucks at the Port of Oakland. The occasion was an August 4th hearing in Oakland, California, convened by Alameda County supervisors to discuss requirements that trucks... Read more

The Department of Energy has awarded up to $1.9 million to a research team led by EETD's Eric Masanet to develop "total cost of ownership" models for low- and high-temperature stationary fuel cell systems up to 250 kilowatts. The work will support research and development efforts for fuel cells by assessing the impact of state-of-the-art manufacturing technologies, system designs, and deployment... Read more

If you read the Doonesbury comic strip on Sunday, August 7, you might have seen Michael Doonesbury and Bernie discussing cool white roofs. Cool roofs are an energy-efficient technology developed here in the Environmental Energy Technologies Division of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). The characters also mention in passing a global initiative to help cool the earth by... Read more

Real-time control and continuous high-quality building performance data are the keys to reducing building energy use during day-to-day operations, and to maintaining energy-driven services and occupant comfort. Next-generation highly energy-efficient buildings will be dynamically controlled and monitored.Energy information systems (EIS) are one type of commercially available system that provides... Read more

Click here to read the "Doonesbury" comic that is all about white roofs.... Read more

EETD scientists conduct research to analyze energy use in India, evaluate energy efficiency opportunities in its economy, and develop road maps to promote lower-carbon-emitting, sustainable economic development. They also work with their Indian colleagues on joint research, and provide technical consulting in a variety of areas such as energy-efficient building design and operation.Here are a few... Read more

The International Workshop on Advances in Cool Roof Research is a two day workshop that is focused on the specific protocols, standards, & policies for accelerated aging.Doubletree Hotel at the Berkeley Marina, in Berkeley CaliforniaThursday, July 28th - Friday, July 29th.Click here to download presentationsWorkshop topicsAccelerated soiling and weathering methods for roofing... Read more

The U.S. Department of Energy has released six fact sheets to assist American Reinvestment and Recovery Act grantees and end-users in benchmarking energy efficiency upgrade costs and expected annual savings. The fact sheets are directed at municipal, state, and federal government buildings, healthcare facilities, universities, colleges, and K-12 schools. The fact sheets provide information on the... Read more

The smart grid is a global phenomenon and we can learn from pioneers wherever they are. (Even the nation-state of California!) Here is our globe-trotting roundup of five projects that are charting new territories.... Read more

What: International Radiance Workshop 2011When: Wednesday, August 24 through Friday, August 26Where: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CaliforniaRADIANCE is a highly accurate ray-tracing software system for daylighting and electric lighting simulation that is licensed at no cost in source form. It is intended to improve building energy efficiency and lighting quality by predicting... Read more

Despite a trying year in which wind power capacity additions declined significantly compared to both 2008 and 2009, the U.S. remained one of the fastest-growing wind power markets in the world in 2010—second only to China—according to a report released today by the U.S. Department of Energy and prepared by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab).... Read more

Christopher Payne, an EETD scientist, will give a live webcast on energy-efficient product procurement for the federal government on August 4, 2011 from 1:30 to 3 pm EDT for the Federal Energy Management Program. He is joined by Amanda Sahl of FEMP.Energy-Efficient Product Procurement outlines how to meet executive order and Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) requirements on purchasing... Read more

What: International Workshop on Advances in Cool Roof Research: Protocols, Standards & Policies for Accelerated AgingWhen: Thursday, July 28 - Friday, July 29Where: Doubletree Hotel at Berkeley Marina, Berkeley, CaliforniaThis two-day workshop is sponsored by the Heat Island Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Concordia University, and the US... Read more

Heat Island Group researchers Dev Millstein and Surabi Menon publish a paper on the increasing prominence of cool roofs and photovoltaic arrays, as well as their effects on regional climate. Read the full article here.... Read more

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will present a live webcast titled Labs, Data Centers, and High-Tech Facilities on July 7, 2011, from 1:30 to 3:00 pm EDT.Experts Dale Sartor and Paul Mathew of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Will Lintner of DOE's Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP), will present best practices to meet Federal mandates to improve the energy performance of... Read more

An antifogging coating technology developed by researchers in the Environmental Energy Technologies Division at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has won a 2011 R&D 100 award. The developers of Nanostructured Antifogging Coating are EETD's Sam Mao, Vasileia Zormpa and Xiaobo Chen.The coating provides a durable, nontoxic, antifogging and self-cleaning coating for architectural glass,... Read more

The National Center for Atmospheric Research has published the following press release. One of the authors, a researcher in the Environmental Energy Technologies Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, participated in this work while a graduate student at Cornell University.BOULDER—Everything has its price, even the weather. New research indicates that routine weather events such as... Read more

Ongoing research at national laboratories and in the lighting industry is focusing on improving the light output, lifetime, and durability of LEDs, as well as driving their costs down. Many lighting experts expect that LEDs will eventually be used widely in general lighting applications, replacing inefficient incandescent bulbs, as well as energy-efficient fluorescent lamps (both the linear and... Read more

Berkeley Lab Researcher Played Significant Role In Its DevelopmentJune 15, 2011—A significant new standard to help organizations save energy, "ISO 50001 Energy management systems- Requirements with guidance for use," was released today by the International Organization for Standardization.ISO 50001 can be used by any organization to manage its energy use. Targeting broad applicability across... Read more

A paper by William Fisk, Anna Mirer, and Mark Mendell has received a "best paper" award from the editors of the journal Indoor Air.According to the citation, "Quantitative relationship of sick building syndrome symptoms with ventilation rates," was "one of the top papers published in the journal during the years 2008-2010."The authors were honored at one of the plenary sessions of the Indoor Air... Read more

"California's Energy Future - The View to 2050" looks a generation ahead at what's required to reach the goal of reducing the state's greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent below the 1990 level by 2050. Several researchers in the Environmental Energy Technologies Division participated in developing this study, the result of a multi-institutional partnership to examine energy futures to reduce... Read more

A benchmarking tool to help dairy owners and operators use energy and water as efficiently as possible in their facilities was released today by scientists at the Environmental Energy Technologies Division of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.The BEST-Dairy allows a user to calculate energy and water use intensity and obtain a benchmarking score for the selected plant, as compared with the... Read more

Fuel cells as a power generator simply look too good to be true. They're quiet, they don't produce criteria pollutants, and they're efficient electricity producers. They can be placed right next to a building without adding miles of transmission lines, and they won't bother passers-by any more than a fire hydrant or a dumpster—less than a dumpster.But they're not the perfect power source, not... Read more

The European Patent Office bestowed the European Inventor Award on Berkeley Lab scientist Ashok Gadgil for UV Waterworks, an innovative portable water purification device based on ultraviolet light. Along with co-inventor Vikas Garud, Gadgil received the award at a ceremony in Budapest today. The two were selected as winners in the non-European category. The lost-cost device has been licensed by... Read more