News Release 10-192
Exploring Sustainability for Energy and Buildings
Engineering awards aim to advance energy storage and invigorate green building design
October 19, 2010
View a video on green roof research.
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The National Science Foundation (NSF) Office of Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) has announced 14 grants for fiscal year (FY) 2010, awarding nearly $28 million to 62 investigators at 24 institutions.
Over the next four years, teams of researchers will pursue transformative, fundamental research in two areas of great national need: storing energy from renewable sources; and engineering sustainable buildings.
Energy generated from renewable sources has long promised to satisfy demands for more and cleaner electricity. Because renewable sources, such as sunlight and wind, can produce greatly fluctuating amounts of energy, they are most effectual when excess energy can be stored until it's needed.
EFRI research teams will pursue creative new approaches to making large-scale energy storage efficient and economical. They aim to construct capacitors and regenerative fuel cells with unprecedented capabilities to harness the sun's thermal energy, to produce chemical fuel on demand, and to trap off-shore wind as compressed air.
"These four projects take radically different approaches to storing excess energy from intermittent sources," said Geoffrey Prentice, lead EFRI program officer, "and success in any one of them could guide the development of new processes for large-scale energy storage."
A second set of EFRI research teams will investigate the critical flows and fluxes of buildings--power, heat, light, water, air and occupants--to create new paradigms for the design, construction, and operation of our homes and workplaces.
These researchers aim to improve the ability to predict and control building energy performance and environmental impacts, and to design systems that respond intelligently, in real-time, to changing conditions and to occupant input and needs. The investigations will pursue methods for reducing water consumption; for distributed, integrated approaches to renewable energy production, storage, and use; and for moderating temperature shifts through passive building technologies and systems.
"These awards are significant in the extent to which the research teams are multidisciplinary," said lead EFRI program officer Richard Fragaszy. Engineers, architects, and physical and social scientists are pooling their expertise to conduct the basic research needed to design and construct future homes and offices that will greatly reduce reliance on fossil fuels and demand for potable water, while improving the health and productivity of their occupants."
"These researchers are undertaking bold investigations in order to achieve major leaps in knowledge," said Sohi Rastegar, director of EFRI. "If they are successful, their findings have the potential to significantly impact global warming and promote U.S. energy independence."
The FY 2010 EFRI topics were developed in close collaboration with the NSF Directorates for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE), Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS), and Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE), as well as with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and U.S. Environment Protection Agency (EPA). DOE and EPA also contributed financial support to the EFRI SEED projects.
EFRI, established by the NSF Directorate for Engineering in 2007, seeks high-risk interdisciplinary research that has the potential to transform engineering and other fields. The grants demonstrate the EFRI goal to inspire and enable researchers to expand the limits of our knowledge.
Summaries of the 4 Renewable Energy Storage (RESTOR) Projects
Summaries of the 10 Science in Energy and Environmental Design (SEED) Projects
Cecile J. Gonzalez, NSF, cjgonzalez@nsf.gov
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View Video
Jelena Srebric of Penn State will expand her green roof research by examining cities as a whole.
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On building exteriors, panels of biologically-inspired microlens arrays will collect solar energy.
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Case studies will help determine the life cycle impacts of high-performance buildings.
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Human cells will be the models for building skins that will adapt to changes in the environment.
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Understanding the ionic activity of membrane surfaces will aid the development of better fuel cells.
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Michael Carmanis and his team aim to integrate renewable energy sources using building microgrids.
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One team will investigate how organic chemicals degrade in order to treat and recycle wastewater.
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Smart technology will use occupant locations and activities to improve building efficiency.
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Media Contacts
Joshua A. Chamot, NSF, (703) 292-7730, email: jchamot@nsf.gov
Program Contacts
Sohi Rastegar, NSF, (703) 292-8305, email: srastega@nsf.gov
Related Websites
Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI): http://www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?org=EFRI
RESTOR Program Contacts: http://www.nsf.gov/staff/staff_list.jsp?orgId=5215&subDiv=y&org=EFRI&from_org=EFRI
SEED Program Contacts: http://www.nsf.gov/staff/staff_list.jsp?orgId=5216&subDiv=y&org=EFRI&from_org=EFRI
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