NYSERDA

Deep Energy Retrofits: The Net Zero Energy Retrofit Living Lab

For SyracuseCoE’s November 2023 Research & Technology forum, Professor Nina Wilson presented her team’s work at the Net Zero Energy Retrofit Living Lab, a three-year project at Syracuse University. This research effort is focused on the development of replicable approaches to deep energy retrofits to improve building energy efficiency, indoor air quality for human health, and thermal and visual comfort for thousands of existing multifamily buildings in New York’s cold climate.

SyracuseCoE and NYSERDA Host U.S. Dept. of Energy Student Business Plan Regional Competition

SyracuseCoE and New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) partnered to host twelve university-based student teams from the New York City Metro region in the EnergyTech University Prize (UP) business plan competition. In its second year, the mission of the competition remains the same: to invite university-affiliated student teams to present a business plan for an energy technology with market potential. The “Explore” phase of the competition is regional; the winning proposal for the NYC Metro Region was “Efficiency Boosting Thin Films for Solar Panels” from the Heliotrope team from New York University.

SyracuseCoE Hosts DOE’s EnergyTech University Prize Again: Students Encouraged to Submit

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Technology Transitions recently launched the second round of the American-Made EnergyTech University Prize (EnergyTech UP). This innovative prize asks student teams to identify an energy technology, assess its market potential, and develop a strategy for commercialization. Student teams will have the opportunity to compete for a total of $370,000 in cash prizes as they present their plans to a panel of industry judges. Any interested students or faculty are encouraged to start following EnergyTech UP to stay up to date on submission deadlines, requirements, prize rules, and more.

Winners Selected for the New York Tri-State Region EnergyTech University Prize Competition

15 student teams from the New York / Tri-State region competed in the Regional EnergyTech University Prize business plan competition, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Technology Transitions (OTT). The competition was hosted by SyracuseCoE, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and CenterState CEO’s CleanTech Center on February 18th.

Podcast: EPIC Buildings – Project Kickoff Webinar

SyracuseCoE held a kickoff webinar showcasing the new EPIC Buildings program based on a $750,000 award from the U.S. Department of Energy to accelerate development and commercialization of innovations for energy hardware innovations, in NYS.

SyracuseCoE Opens One-of-a-Kind BEST Lab

Two of Syracuse’s signature strengths—robust, four-season weather and expertise in green building technologies—have attracted an international team to conduct a project that will help improve energy efficiency in buildings through weatherization technologies.

Project partners include the Air Barrier Association of America (ABAA), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), the US Department of Energy (USDOE), the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), Syracuse University, and the Syracuse Center of Excellence (SyracuseCoE). The partners have committed more than $2 million to undertake the three-year project.

The project is being conducted at the new Building Envelope Systems Test (BEST) Laboratory—opened in April 2009—a unique SyracuseCoE research and development facility located on SyracuseCoE Platinum Partner Syracuse University’s South Campus. The project focuses on the performance of air barriers—systems that control unintended air movement between outdoors and indoors, which can have major impacts on a building’s energy use and indoor air quality. In heating climates, up to 40% of the energy use in a building can be attributed to air leakage.

The BEST Laboratory resembles a small, two-story house. In place of windows, the laboratory has 34 openings for test panels, each of which is four feet wide and nine feet high. ABAA has installed panels that represent various materials and air barriers, which are then subjected to identical outdoor and indoor conditions. Inside, ORNL will install instruments to measure temperature, moisture and air movement. ORNL will analyze the results.

The location of the BEST Laboratory in Syracuse recognizes the expertise and resources available through SyracuseCoE, such as Jianshun Zhang, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at SU, who is director of the world-renowned Building Energy and Environmental Systems (BEES) Laboratory in the L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science. Zhang, along with other SU faculty and students, will help manage the BEST Laboratory.

See a list of Professor Jianshun Zhang’s published research.

SyracuseCoE Team to Design High-Performance Homes

Thanks to $550,000 from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) awarded in February, a collaborative SyracuseCoE team will design and build up to six new energy-efficient “green” homes in Syracuse. CDH Energy leads the Home Performance Improvement Challenge (HomePIC). Additional members include the Building Performance Contractors Association, Camroden Associates, Northeast Green Building Consulting, and Syracuse University.

The HomePIC project team completed a similar NYSERDA sponsored project in 2007. The High Environmental Performance (HEP) house project developed a design for a new energy-efficient home built in Fayetteville, NY. The HomePIC project will extend the skills and experience deployed in the HEP house into the mainstream housing market. The goal of the HomePIC project is to work with builders that construct affordable homes of between 1,500 and 2,500 square feet and that are interested in achieving better energy performance from existing designs.

The NYSERDA grant will pay builders a $10,000 incentive to construct the first demonstration home of each design developed by the HomePIC team. In addition, SyracuseCoE has committed to provide up to $100,000 in incentives to build up to 10 new design homes in the Near West Side neighborhood. Design, construction, and performance data of completed homes will be available to builders and home buyers on the NYSERDA website.