DOE and Stakeholders Consider Best Approach to Major HVACR Research Effort
Workshops solicit input regarding the needed technical focus
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Building Technologies Office (BTO) recently convened two workshops to discuss the potential launch of a major research effort for advanced HVACR technologies. DOE’s goal is to develop next-generation heating and cooling technologies that leapfrog the existing vapor compression solutions and result in dramatically improved efficiency while utilizing near-zero global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants or non-vapor compression approaches. To achieve this type of transformative progress will require a large, coordinated, and interdisciplinary approach. The two workshops were organized to solicit input from stakeholders regarding the needed technical focus as well as the overall structure and approach for the planned research effort.
The first workshop to discuss the initiative was held on Nov. 17, 2015 in conjunction with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ (ASME’s) International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition in Houston, and the second event was hosted by ASHRAE in Atlanta on Dec. 8, 2015. Approximately 100 people representing a wide range of stakeholders — including manufacturers, national laboratories, and universities — attended the workshops.