The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently declared a $74 million grant to support the R&D of cutting-edge energy-saving building technologies, aiming to combine the research capabilities of national labs, universities, and businesses to jointly study, develop, and test flexible, high-efficiency energy-saving construction and system technologies. This initiative is intended to enhance the energy efficiency of structures and electrical grids, thereby diminishing nationwide building energy consumption. Specifically, $47.7 million is allocated for the research on "Frontier Technology Innovations in Building Energy Efficiency", and $26.3 million is designated for the "Advanced Energy-saving Building Technologies and Practices" research project. The detailed contents are as follows:

I. Frontier Technology Innovations in Building Energy Efficiency

1.Resilient Building Technology

Develop adaptive model predictive control architectures based on reinforcement learning to ensure safe and near-optimal closed-loop operations under identified network fault scenarios, enhancing the adaptive cyber-physical resilience of building control systems.

Create new network defense systems (real-time building platforms with network attack immunity) to ensure the security of energy-efficient buildings (GEB) interconnected with the network through multi-level prevention, detection, and adaptivity.

Use safety-constrained optimization and safety risk detection (BUILD-SOS) technologies to develop integrated network threat awareness, layered defense, and attack-resistant control solutions for building energy management systems.

Generate publicly accessible high-fidelity datasets to assess the overall load flexibility performance of a set of common commercial building HVAC and thermal storage equipment.

Measure the performance of building equipment and its impact on energy efficiency using advanced testing techniques based on cutting-edge modeling tools.

Generate datasets on efficient building equipment performance interconnected with grids and networks using new customer-centric control algorithms.

Develop a compact thermal energy storage system for building heating, which uses thermochemical salt hydrate compounds as the heat storage medium.

Investigate a low-cost, scalable new technology to encapsulate novel salt hydrate compound phase change materials with thermal storage functionality.

Improve the performance and reliability of this thermal storage material using low-cost, high energy-density salt hydrates and various additives for storing and modulating thermal energy in buildings.

Develop multi-functional thermal energy storage systems for buildings using phase change materials and encapsulation technologies based on inorganic salt hydrates.

Develop bio-based thermal energy phase change materials extracted from squid tooth proteins (PCM) to produce new thermal energy storage materials.

Develop a solid-state energy storage composite phase change material and heat exchanger.

2. Innovative Building Technologies

Develop new sealing agent formulas that can be integrated and pre-installed into prefabricated components, reducing the sealing time between on-site panels and modules.

Introduce a new integrated process for the off-site design, manufacture, and assembly of panel-type wall building systems, aiming to decrease costs and construction time while enhancing the performance of zero-energy single-family homes.

Implement enhanced factory automation and integrated IT systems in the modular manufacturing of home production facilities.

Develop additive manufacturing processes for reinforced concrete structures with integrated insulation materials to enhance energy efficiency.

Create high-performance vacuum insulation panel modular building systems.

Develop an advanced Zero Energy Modular (ZEM) home building system, which includes a ZEM factory design and a ZEM multi-family affordable housing unit design.

Assess and field-test new methods for providing space heating and cooling in homes, ensuring increased energy efficiency, durability, and indoor air quality without added costs.

3. Integration of Advanced Technologies

Establish a nationwide collaboration organization comprised of builders, construction teams, and other stakeholders to accelerate the development, demonstration, and standardization of innovative high-performance construction technologies, focusing especially on modular, off-site, and prefabricated technologies to enhance energy efficiency.

Conduct on-site verification of the energy efficiency performance and refrigerant leaks of Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) systems in cold climates.

Develop and validate advanced controls for existing hybrid heat pump and furnace systems in cold-climate homes to enhance energy efficiency and grid benefits.

Offer interactive labor training programs focusing on advanced technologies, building science, and design and construction knowledge.

Perform stock analysis and technology verification of advanced energy-saving technologies in single-family homes in Chicago.

Conduct on-site validation of energy data in large commercial buildings and complex mechanical systems.

Verify the climatic boundary and its impact on the grid with the increasing adoption of ductless air-source heat pump technology in home energy renovation programs.

Field-test Ultra-High Efficiency (VHE) heat pump HVAC systems and domestic hot water technology in multi-family homes to validate their primary performance indicators and explore risk mitigation methods.

Compare commercial and multi-family modular construction technologies with traditional construction methods, followed by on-site evaluations.

Carry out technical analysis and on-site validation of buildings with integrated connected lighting, automatic shading, and smart storage.

Establish protocols to perform virtual energy assessments and provide technical assistance for prefabricated and modular construction methods.

Design an interactive occupational map for tracking construction workers' careers to foster talent in the building energy-saving industry.

Launch an apprenticeship program in building energy-saving and control to increase the number of graduates in building energy-saving and control technologies.

Develop a nationally accessible online platform offering lifelong learning opportunities for construction workers, ensuring sustainable workforce development.

Create a building science curriculum for high school students, provide a "New Skill Training Institute" for veterans, introduce a two-year community building management program for home construction workers, and offer continuing education programs focused on energy-saving.

The Smart Energy Assistance Center will equip lecturers at community colleges with equipment to educate the next-generation workforce about the latest building energy efficiency technologies and relevant industry standards.

The entire text is sourced from the "Advanced Energy Technology Strategic Intelligence Research Center".