October 2006

BFRL Monthly Highlights

July 2006

August 2006

September 2006

October 2006

November 2006

PAST Highlights

---

BFRL Develops Representative Collection of U.S. Homes

In order to allow nationwide or regional analyses of ventilation and indoor air quality issues in residential buildings, BFRL has developed a collection or “suite” of homes to represent the housing stock of the United States. This collection of dwellings is based on two residential housing surveys, the U.S. Department of Energy Residential Energy Consumptions Survey and the U.S. Census Bureau American Housing Survey, both of which are conducted periodically to characterize the U.S. housing stock. Based on these datasets, just over 200 dwellings were defined that together represent 80 percent of the U.S. housing stock. These dwellings are grouped into four categories: detached, attached, manufactured homes, and apartments. Among the key characteristics addressed in defining these dwellings are age, floor area, number of floors, foundation type, and existence of a garage. In addition, multizone representations of the dwellings have been created in the airflow model CONTAM that are available at http://www.bfrl.nist.gov/IAQanalysis, along with floorplans of the buildings. These models will enable analyses of important energy, indoor air quality, and human exposure issues that yield conclusions that are valid on a nationwide or regional level.

CONTACT:
Andy Persily
301-975-6418

GSA and Pennsylvania Adopt NIST Fault Detection Tools for HVAC Systems

The Mechanical Systems and Controls Group of BFRL’s Building Environment Division has developed algorithms to detect mechanical failures such as stuck, broken, or leaking valves, dampers, or actuators; control problems related to failed or drifting sensors; poor feedback loop tuning or incorrect sequencing logic; degraded performance caused by heat exchanger fouling; design errors; or inappropriate operator intervention. These “faults” often go unnoticed for extended periods of time. By identifying and diagnosing faults to be repaired, fault detection and diagnostic techniques can benefit building owners by reducing energy consumption, improving operations and maintenance, and increasing effective control over environmental conditions in occupied spaces. BFRL is fostering commercialization of the algorithms through CRADAs with four manufacturers of commercial building automation systems. The General Services Administration Region IX has begun work to implement these algorithms at a number of federal buildings in California, Arizona, and Nevada.

CONTACT:
Jeffrey Schein
301-975-5874

 

Privacy Policy/Security Notice  |  Disclaimer  |  FOIA NIST is an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce