As a part of the Obama Administration’s effort to support greater energy efficiency through the Better Buildings Initiative, the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Institute of Building Sciences (Institute) today announced new Better Buildings Workforce Guidelines . The Better Buildings Workforce Guidelines, developed with feedback from industry experts, will help enhance and streamline commercial building workforce training and certification programs. “As building technologies become more advanced, professionals need better training and certification options to increase the quality and scalability of our nation’s energy workforce,” said Kathleen Hogan, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency. “Employers, building owners and program administrators can also use these established guidelines to identify qualified workers who are trained to deliver energy savings.” The guidelines provide a national framework for certification agencies across the country to roll out consistent programs. Up until now there have been no national guidelines for energy efficiency-related professional credentials, posing a...

The Energy Department announced today $6 million for 11 projects aimed at improving potential buyers’ experiences with alternative fuel and plug-in electric vehicles, supporting training, and integrating alternative fuels into emergency planning. By removing barriers to market growth, these projects will expand Americans’ transportation options, minimize fuel costs, reduce carbon pollution, and increase the nation’s energy security. Since 1993, the Energy Department’s Clean Cities program has supported community-led efforts to help fleets and consumers find the alternative fuel or fuel-efficient solutions that meet their needs. Through the Clean Cities program, these projects address many of the challenges limiting the use of alternative fuel and plug-in electric vehicles, particularly in these three areas: on-the-road demonstrations, safety-related training, and emergency preparedness. Five projects will enable consumers and fleets to drive alternative fuel vehicles for extended periods of time to help them better understand how these vehicles can meet their everyday needs. For example,...

Storage A storage water heater holds a reservoir of hot water and operates by releasing hot water from the top of the tank when you turn on the hot water tap. Cold water fills the bottom of the tank after use. Lasts 10-15 years. Lower purchase cost. Allows for simultaneous, multiples uses of hot water. Standby heat loss can occur, wasting energy even when a hot water tap isn't running. Tankless (a.k.a. Demand) Tankless water heaters, also known as demand-type or instantaneous water heaters, provide hot water only as it is needed, eliminating standby heat loss. Lasts about 20 years. 8%-34% more efficient than storage water heaters. Could save $100 or more annually with an ENERGY STAR qualified tankless water heater. Have lower operating costs. Higher initial cost. Hot water output limited to about 2-5 gallons per minute; multiple heaters may be needed if hot water demand is high. Solar Solar...

EERE offers webinars to the public on a range of subjects, from adopting the latest energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies, to training for the clean energy workforce. Webinars are free; however, advanced registration is typically required. You can also watch archived webinars and browse previously aired videos, slides, and transcripts. Upcoming Webinars March 10: Live Webinar on International Hydrogen Infrastructure Challenges Webinar Sponsor: Fuel Cell Technologies Office The Energy Department will present a live webinar titled “2nd International Hydrogen Infrastructure Challenges Webinar” on Tuesday, March 10, from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. This webinar will summarize the second international information exchange on hydrogen refueling infrastructure challenges and potential solutions, supporting the successful global commercialization of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles. The information exchange took place in May 2014 at Toyota’s Torrance, California, facility as a follow up to the previous June 2013 workshop in Berlin, Germany. Participants...

The Energy Department today announced final rules for a prize competition to make it faster, cheaper, and easier for Americans to install solar energy systems and spur solar deployment nationwide.  The SunShot Prize: Race to 7-Day Solar competition challenges innovators around the country to develop solutions to reduce the time and processes involved in installing solar energy systems, decreasing costs and improving customer experience so more Americans can choose solar energy to meet their electricity needs. The rate of solar energy installations across the U.S. has soared over the past few years, reaching more than 17 gigawatts of installed capacity—enough to power the equivalent of more than 3.5 million average American homes. Despite tremendous gains in deployment and steady cost reductions for solar technologies, the process to install a solar energy system remains time-consuming and complex due to high non-hardware "soft costs," which currently make up more than half the cost...

The Energy Department has awarded the Virginia Polytechnic and State University Advanced Research Institute nearly $2 million to continue research and development of its Building Energy Management Open Source Software (BEMOSS) for small and medium-sized commercial buildings. Currently, small and medium buildings make up over 95% of the floor space and about 50% of the energy consumed by commercial buildings in the U.S. each year. Most commercial buildings in the U.S. are small (less than 5,000 square feet) or medium-sized (between 5,000–50,000 square feet), and fall outside the scope of most commercial buildings automation systems (BAS). The goal of this project is to develop an Open Source Solution (similar to Firefox, OpenOffice, or Ubuntu, for example) as a backbone for improving BAS systems, allowing for major building components to interconnect with each other. This includes HVAC, lighting, water heater, and significant ancillary loads. More interconnection among the systems will lead to...

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As part of the Energy Department's efforts to improve the energy efficiency of the nation's homes and buildings, lower energy costs, and enhance U.S. competitiveness in manufacturing, the Energy Department today launched the new Buildings Crowdsourcing Community website. Administered by the Department's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), the new site, buildings.ideascale.com , will help technology innovators collect, share and evaluate input from customers and other stakeholders about next-generation building technologies. Innovators including start-ups, designers, buildings scientists, and students can use the website to share ideas that could develop into new energy efficient technologies for homes and buildings.  Those interested in participating can register through the ORNL Buildings Crowdsourcing Community or they can vote on their favorite entries. The best ideas will be recognized during the Energy Department's Building Technologies Office Industry Day hosted at ORNL in September. Starting today, the ORNL Buildings Crowdsourcing Community will begin accepting new idea submissions, comments,...

The Energy Department and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) today recognized the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association (Tri-State) and San Isabel Electric Association (San Isabel) of Colorado as the 2014 WINDExchange Wind Cooperatives of the Year. The awards were presented at the NRECA TechAdvantage Conference and Expo in Orlando, Florida, to honor electric cooperatives that demonstrate outstanding leadership in advancing U.S. wind power. The two power providers were selected by a panel of judges from industry, government, and national laboratories and were evaluated for their corporate leadership, project innovation, and benefits to customers. Since 1998, Tri-State has integrated wind energy into the electricity it supplies to its 44 member distribution cooperatives, serving more than 1.5 million consumers across 200,000 square miles in four states. With over 140 megawatts (MW) of wind capacity online, and more under construction, Tri-State is using long-term purchases of new wind energy production to provide...

EERE offers webinars to the public on a range of subjects, from adopting the latest energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies, to training for the clean energy workforce. Webinars are free; however, advanced registration is typically required. You can also watch archived webinars and browse previously aired videos, slides, and transcripts. Upcoming Webinars March 3-5: Live Webinars on the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's FY2016 Budget Request Webinar Sponsor: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy The Energy Department's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy will present a series of live webinars on our Fiscal Year 2016 budget request from Tuesday, March 3 through Thursday, March 5. The webinars will feature our deputy assistant secretaries and technology office directors providing in-depth presentations of the budget proposal by sector, including specific technology office requests, and an opportunity for participants to ask questions.  Topics and registration details are below: Tuesday,...