News
December 7, 2023
The United States aims to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions economy-wide by 2050. Getting there depends on meeting clean electricity objectives by 2030 and achieving deep energy efficiency and electrification in the buildings sector. These ambitious goals also entail replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy such as wind and solar. Around 20% of all electricity for the U.S. grid is...
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December 5, 2022
From single-family and multifamily housing to commercial buildings and university campuses, groups of buildings offer untapped potential to boost energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Through its Connected Communities program, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently launched nine demonstration projects across the country to explore this potential. DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley...
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September 23, 2021
Having good room ventilation to dilute and disperse indoor air pollutants has long been recognized, and with the COVID-19 pandemic its importance has become all the more heightened. But new experiments by indoor air researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) show that certain circumstances will result in poor mixing of room air, meaning airborne contaminants may not be...
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July 30, 2020
Commercial building retrofits present a prime opportunity to improve building energy efficiency, and numerous industry and policy stakeholders are increasingly pushing for these retrofits to happen. However, a recent study by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) found that most commercial building retrofits are actually simple upgrades of...
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May 13, 2020
FLEXLAB®, the world’s most advanced building simulator and testbed, will be used to simulate office and school heating, ventilation, and air conditioning configurations. (Credit: Berkeley Lab)As society prepares to reopen indoor spaces and ease back into some sense of normalcy during the COVID-19 pandemic, a team of researchers at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National...
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January 3, 2020
The 2019 fiscal year has been one of the busiest yet for FLEXLAB, an advanced integrated building and grid technologies testbed at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab).The facility recently marked its fifth anniversary and has supported a wide range of projects, from testing emerging technologies to developing and validating new strategies to integrate...
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November 25, 2019
Following an international search, Robert Kostecki has been appointed director of the Energy Storage and Distributed Resources (ESDR) Division in the Energy Technologies Area (ETA) at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab).Kostecki has extensive leadership experience and is a renowned scientist known for his pioneering research in electrochemical systems...
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November 19, 2019
Outstanding work in the field of residential ventilation -- which ultimately resulted in making millions of homes healthier and more comfortable -- has resulted in ETA's Residential Ventilation Team being honored with a Societal Impact Award by Berkeley Lab Director Mike Witherell. Brett Singer, Iain Walker, Brennan Less and Woody Delp (pictured, left to right), were recognized for their...
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October 30, 2019
Cutting-edge technologies from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) to detect radiation, make buildings more energy efficient, and accelerate neuroscience research were honored with R&D 100 Awards by R&D World magazine.Also recognized was Spack: A Package Manager for HPC Systems, a project led by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and which includes the National Energy...
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July 24, 2019
When Hannah Moring was growing up she loved tinkering around with her Dad in his woodworking shop, and learning how things worked and were put together, a fascination that flourished throughout high school, where she excelled in math and science.Today that experience has led her to a prestigious internship this summer at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). Moring is one of nine...
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July 18, 2019
In summer 2014, FLEXLAB® opened for business as the world’s most advanced integrated building and grid technologies testbed, helping a range of organizations—including companies, utilities and government agencies—evaluate technologies for maximum energy efficiency.Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab’s) pioneering history of energy efficiency research meets real-world...
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May 2, 2019
A select audience recently gathered for the 2019 Art Rosenfeld Symposium on Energy Efficient and Grid Interactive Buildings. The day was dedicated to the ongoing scientific discoveries and research inspired by Rosenfeld, a Berkeley Lab Senior Scientist, UC Berkeley Professor and former Commissioner of the California Energy Commission.Berkeley Lab Director Mike Witherell greeted the audience with a...
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April 3, 2019
A grid communications model that began as a research project at Berkeley Lab has now become an international standard, paving the way toward smart grid improvements around the world.The standard, OpenADR, aids in demand response, the practice of managing energy demand from customers with signals based on price or reliability. OpenADR offers a common language energy customers and grid operators can...
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July 19, 2018
After serving four years as Berkeley Lab's Associate Director for Energy Technologies, Ramamoorthy Ramesh will be returning to his research in ultra low-power electronics while also helping to lead a major Berkeley Lab research initiative in next-generation, energy-efficient microelectronics.This new initiative has been dubbed "Beyond Moore's Law," as it seeks the solution to what will happen when...
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July 19, 2018
Ravi Prasher has been appointed Associate Laboratory Director for Energy Technologies at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). The announcement follows an international search.Prasher, an internationally renowned scientist in the field of thermal energy science and technologies, has been director of Berkeley Lab's Energy Storage and Distributed Resources...
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September 29, 2017
A group of officials from the Clean Energy Leadership Institute (CELI) recently visited Berkeley Lab to tour FLEXLAB® and meet with scientists about ongoing research.The visitors were brought here by Sam Fernandes, program manager in Building Technology & Urban Systems. Fernandes was part of the first San Francisco CELI Fellowship cohort and completed the leadership program at the Institute...
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May 20, 2015
The biotech company Genentech is cutting the ribbon on a new building designed to maximize energy efficiency and employee comfort, thanks to some help from FLEXLAB® at Berkeley Lab.FLEXLAB provides a facility for testing and optimizing building systems under real-world conditions, allowing Genentech to make the best possible choices for its new 255,000-square-foot office building. Armed with a...
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July 10, 2014
The world’s most advanced energy efficiency test bed for buildings is open for business, launched today by U.S. Department of Energy Deputy Secretary Daniel Poneman. DOE’s FLEXLAB® at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) is already signing up companies determined to reduce their energy use by testing and deploying the most energy efficient technologies as integrated systems...
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A Q&A with Cindy Regnier, Manager of the Facility for Low Energy eXperiments in Buildings (FLEXLAB®)
August 26, 2013
Special Focus: FLEXLAB®The Facility for Low Energy eXperiments in Buildings (FLEXLAB®) is designed to be a national focal point for developing, simulating and testing energy-efficient technologies and strategies for buildings. FLEXLAB users will conduct research and develop technologies at FLEXLAB on single components as well as whole-building integrated design and operation aimed at...
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November 16, 2012
Today marks the opening of the first two testbeds of FLEXLAB®, the Facility for Low Energy eXperiments in Buildings at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). Constructed within an existing building, Berkeley Lab researchers and their partners will study and demonstrate energy-efficient lighting and plug load systems, and collaborate in the design of the next generation of...
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