Project: CBERD: Building Envelopes

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Measurement of performance of ceiling tiles made of new phase change materials in test bed, in naturally ventilated and forced ventilation modes. Source: LBNL.
Photo courtesy of
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Cool roofs weathering and aging experiments being conducted with industry partner St. Gobain in four different climate zones in India.
Photo courtesy of
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Screenshot of COMFEN- India, based on the LBNL tool COMFEN. This is an early design tool customized for India for selection of energy-efficient commercial fenestration.
Photo courtesy of

Lead Performer: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory - Berkeley, CA
Partners:
-- Oak Ridge National Lab, Oak Ridge TN
-- Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology - Ahmedabad, India
-- International Institute of Information Technology - Hyderabad, India
FY16 DOE Funding: $135,000
Cost Share: $30,000 per year
Project Term: FY13-FY17
Funding Type: Joint Clean Energy Research and Development FOA (DE-FOA-0000506)

Project Objective

The U.S.-India Joint Center for Building Energy Research and Development (CBERD) conducts energy efficiency research and development (R&D). One of its focus areas is Building Envelope R&D, encompassing building walls, roofs and windows. The research purpose is as follows:

  1. Advanced Building Materials
    • ​Develop experimental protocols and data on the benefits of adding phase-change materials (PCM) to building envelopes
    • Develop and test building PCM, which will help operate buildings in mixed mode operations
       
  2. Cool Roofs
    • ​Demonstrate and quantify the energy-saving impacts of cool roof technology and enhance the cool roof market in India through rigorous demonstration and quantification of cool roof benefits
    • Develop and test cool roof technologies, and advance the state-of-the-art technologies for both nations, ideally to the levels attained in the U.S.
       
  3. Windows and Daylighting - Achieve greater penetration of energy-efficient windows, window attachments, and overhead daylighting technologies in U.S. and India through:
    • utilization of enhanced modeling tools for product design and rating
    • improvement of test facilities for performance validation
    • development of open source software solutions to increase the availability of fenestration product databases
    • characterization and demonstration of high-performance glazing and daylight harvesting solutions, energy-efficient fenestration technologies and support the development of a rating system

Project Impact

  1. Advanced Building Materials
    • Development of PCMs with industry collaboration and evaluation of material performance in line with international standards
    • Develop industry consensus test protocols that can be employed in standards and codes for appropriate PCMs that can help promote mixed mode operations, to reduce cooling and heating demand in Indian and U.S. buildings
    • Further, assistance provided by ORNL to CEPT University for the design, construction, and commissioning of their new hygrothermal properties laboratories
       
  2. Cool Roofs
    • Science-based cool roof specifications (model code) for Energy Conservation Building Code, India
    • Calibration of the LBNL laboratory aging practice to Indian climates using the results from the weathering and aging experiment, supporting the development of Indian cool roof product rating system
    • Field experiments to demonstrate the impact of cool roofs in reducing energy use and improving thermal comfort (e.g., by reducing indoor air and radiant temperatures)
    • Database of radiative properties of roofing products that has been developed and is available for public use on the CBERD website; a Cool Roof calculator has also been developed and is available for public use
       
  3. Windows and Daylighting
    • COMFEN-India, an early stage modeling software tool, has been finalized and released, and public training webinars conducted
    • New testing equipment , e.g.. an Artificial Sky and Mirror Box measurement devices have been constructed, and training conducted at Indian University using matching grants. These would to support early design decisions about façade elements, windows, and attachments
    • Co-development of laser-cut fenestration panels using bi-directional scattering distribution for deep daylight penetration

Contacts

DOE Technology Manager: Karma Sawyer
Lead performer: Christian Kohler, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Berkeley CA

Related Publications

  1. Desjarlais, Andre, Kaushik Biswas, Rajan Rawal, Yash Shukla. “Design Specifications for Exterior Insulation Systems to Reduce Building Energy Demand.” 2014.
  2. Tetali, Surekha, Vishal Garg, and Jyotirmay Mathur. “The Effect of Roof Insulation on Energy Consumption of Office Buildings with Cool Roofs in India.” In Third Int. Conf. on Countermeasures to Urban Heat Island. 2014
  3. Rawal, R.; Shah, A.; Shukla, Y, Mulchandani, H.; and Curcija, C. 2015. “Daylight performance evaluation of laser cut panels in office buildings in India Context”. Building Simulation Conference 2015. Hyderabad, India. December 2015.
  4. Rathish Arumugam, Vishal Garg, V. Vinayaka Ram, Aviruch Bhatia, “Optimizing roof insulation for roofs with high albedo coating and radiant barriers in India.” Journal of Building Engineering, Volume 2, June 2015, Pages 52-58, ISSN 2352-7102
  5. Vishal Garg, Shikher Somal, Rathish Arumugam, Aviruch Bhatia, “Development for cool roof calculator for India.” Energy and Buildings, June 2015, ISSN 0378-7788

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