Desirability, convenience, and cost are the three greatest barriers to deep energy building retrofits. The goal of this planned FOA is to fund research that enables faster renovation and construction of affordable, appealing, and energy efficient buildings. This FOA directly supports goals of a carbon-neutral building economy no later than 2050 by focusing on three specific topics areas in need of desirable, convenient and affordable solutions to transform the United States’ building stock. This FOA builds on BTO’s current Advanced Building Construction work: https://www.energy.gov/eere/buildings/advanced-building-construction-initiative. Information about the latest ABC goals and strategic organization can be found in the factsheet: https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2021/03/f83/bto-abc-fact-sheet-030321.pdf
The ABC Initiative uses a multi-pronged approach to address research, development, and market challenges with the goal of integrating highly efficient and low-carbon innovations into the construction industry’s broader modernization efforts. Through competitively awarded R&D projects and cutting-edge building technologies research at DOE’s national laboratories, and the establishment of an ABC Collaborative with key industry partnerships, workforce training, and other strategic activities, the ABC Initiative works to not only drive development of new technologies, practices and approaches but also ensure that these solutions are widely deployed in the market – thus helping the U.S. expand job opportunities, develop a stronger building infrastructure, improve energy affordability.
A key objective of the planned 2021 Advanced Building Construction FOA is to fund R&D that will benefit underserved communities by contributing to the following goals:
- Highly energy-efficient buildings with low-carbon footprints and lower energy bills
- Faster renovation and construction, with less disruption to building occupants
- Affordable to developers and consumers
- Improved indoor air quality, improved comfort, and reduced maintenance.
As part of a forthcoming FOA, BTO will be seeking applications aimed at developing deep energy retrofit and new construction technologies suitable for environments with extremely high or low temperatures that tackle a combination of envelope, heating, cooling, and water heating issues, and hold appeal for both building owners and occupants. Priority shall be given to those with prior experience serving low-income residents living in extremely hot or cold environments.