From the Lab to the Marketplace
Making America's Buildings More Energy Efficient

Introduction

Bringing New Technologies to Market

As part of the DOE national laboratory system, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has acted as a catalyst in the energy-efficiency marketplace for two decades, providing an extraordinary rate of return on the federal research investment. From the outset, our approach was not one of belt-tightening, but rather a coordinated technological and deployment-oriented strategy for doing more with less energy and, at the same time, saving money. Partnerships with industry, utilities, government agencies, universities, and others are an integral part of that strategy. LBNL's accomplishments in the building sector provide an example of how the national laboratories can serve the nation today and into the next century.

With a $500 billion per year national energy bill and more than half of our oil supplied by foreign sources, U.S. energy use has become a matter of strategic importance. There is little disagreement that wise management of our energy consumption is a national priority, and we are making substantial progress toward that goal. Thanks in part to new technologies and policies focusing on the efficient use of energy, leveraged by research and development (R&D) at the DOE national labs, the national energy bill is about $100 billion lower today than it would otherwise have been.

Programs addressing energy and the environment promise relief for some of the most pressing issues of our time: the rising national energy bill, industrial competitiveness, international security, urban and indoor air pollution, and the specter of global climate change. At the same time, it is recognized that energy-saving objectives must be coupled with goals of enhanced comfort, quality, productivity, and safety in the built environment.

LBNL's interdisciplinary research programs are positioned to guide new technologies from the lab to the marketplace. Research and development plays an important leveraging role in the marketplace by accelerating the commercialization and consumer acceptance of new technologies, while ensuring the quality of the indoor environment. This work is rooted in collaborations with equipment manufacturers, building professionals, utilities, and other national laboratories active in the energy sector. New technologies nurtured at LBNL with multimillion-dollar research programs are yielding multibillion-dollar savings nationally as they successfully capture market share.

Four Highlights

In the following pages we present four case studies along with a discussion of future directions in each area:
The electronic ballast, a technology that improves the efficiency of fluorescent lighting systems by up to 30% and enhances their quality and flexibility. The current market share of electronic ballasts is 23% of all ballasts sold. Other LBNL efficient lighting breakthroughs are also entering the marketplace.

Advanced energy-efficient window coatings--largely invisible to the human eye-- that offer a one-third efficiency advantage over ordinary double-glazed windows by selectively blocking unwanted heat gain or loss. The current market share is 36% of all windows sold.

Residential equipment and appliance standards development, in which LBNL provides the technical and economic analyses used by the government to set mandatory efficiency levels for household appliances and heating and cooling equipment. The current market share is virtually all major appliances, air-conditioners, and furnaces sold.

DOE-2, a powerful computer-based design tool for reducing energy use in buildings. Thanks to this computer software, building designers can now evaluate the energy implications of complex design alternatives. DOE-2 is currently used in the design of about 5% of all commercial buildings by floorspace. Users report that DOE-2 enables them to routinely identify an extra 20% energy-savings opportunity.
Each of the preceding four examples documents a different path to energy savings-- with, in each case, a different role for LBNL in capturing these savings. This report assembles the best available data and provides the framework for understanding how DOE's investment ultimately serves the U.S. consumer.

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