An Assessment of Selected Research Programs and Goals of the Engineering Laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology: Fiscal Year 2024 (2025)
Chapter: 6 Energy-Efficient, High-Performance Buildings Goal: Net-Zero Energy, High-Performance Buildings and Embedded Intelligence in Buildings Programs
6
Energy-Efficient, High-Performance Buildings Goal: Net-Zero Energy, High-Performance Buildings and Embedded Intelligence in Buildings Programs
The work within the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Engineering Laboratory (EL) on the Energy-Efficient, High-Performance Buildings Goal is aimed at enabling cost-effective, energy-efficient, grid-integrated buildings that have healthy and comfortable indoor environments and reduced environmental impacts through advances in measurement science and standards development.
ASSESSMENT OF TECHNICAL PROGRAMS
This work on the Energy-Efficient, High-Performance Buildings Goal is conducted under two programs: Net-Zero Energy, High-Performance Buildings Program and the Embedded Intelligence in Buildings Program.
Net-Zero Energy, High-Performance Buildings Program
The Net-Zero Energy, High-Performance Buildings Program’s objective is to develop and deploy advances in measurement science to move the United States toward net-zero energy, high-performance buildings while maintaining healthy indoor environments. The program has four technical focus areas:
- Whole-building metrics: this area approaches the building as a whole system and evaluates indoor environmental quality, water quality, energy consumption, and the cost-effectiveness and sustainability of whole buildings.
- Building load reduction: this area aims to reduce a building’s energy load. Space conditioning (including heating, cooling, cooling, and outdoor air ventilation) is the largest energy consumer in the United States. The goal is to reduce energy needs by improving the building envelope.
- Equipment efficiency: this area aims to increase space heating, space cooling, and water heating equipment efficiency through vapor compression heat pumps for energy-efficient buildings; evaluate low-global-warming-potential alternatives; and assess alternative air distribution methods in residential buildings.
- Onsite energy generation: this thrust examines the use of photovoltaics (PV) to generate energy for a building.
Buildings account for 40 percent of the primary energy consumption, 74 percent of the electricity consumption, and 39 percent of the CO2 emissions in the United States (NIST 2024). Reducing energy consumption from the building sector is an ambitious but important effort. This will save consumers and
businesses money and eliminate wasteful recurring annual energy costs due to inefficient building envelopes and heating and cooling equipment.
Decarbonization aims to reduce or eliminate CO2 emissions from building construction and operations. Decarbonization is achieved by switching to low-carbon energy sources. To decarbonize buildings and reduce building energy use, many leading organizations are working to reduce building energy use. One concept being pursued is the net-zero energy building, which generates as much energy as is consumed by the building. To achieve net-zero energy buildings, the building industry uses existing energy-efficient building technologies and emerging smart building technologies, develops new mechanical equipment to increase efficiency, and increases onsite energy generation.
Embedded Intelligence in Buildings Program
The Embedded Intelligence in Buildings Program seeks to develop and deploy advances in measurement science that will improve building operations, thus lowering operating costs; higher energy efficiency; and occupant comfort, safety, and security using intelligent building systems. The program provides measurement science to realize energy-efficient building operation through integrated sensors and building control systems with distributed, embedded intelligence that can optimize the performance of building systems, detect and respond to faults and operational errors, and enable the integration of building systems with smart grid technologies.
Intelligent controls used to regulate and operate heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems in buildings are a rapidly growing area of emphasis in the broader HVAC market. Eighty percent of a building’s energy use over its life cycle is associated with operating the building. While large commercial buildings in the United States use complex (in terms of interrelationships) and sophisticated (in terms of capabilities) building automation systems to manage the operation of their HVAC systems, most of these buildings are not properly commissioned, operated, or maintained, negating some of the benefits of these automation systems. It is possible that fully functional automated controls in these buildings could save more than 30 percent of the primary energy they currently consume annually (Fernandez et al. 2017; Sofos and Langevin 2018). Due to the large energy use associated with operating buildings, information on energy consumption in buildings can assist in the future stability and reliability of the electric grid.
Accomplishments
Net-Zero Energy, High-Performance Buildings Program
The Net-Zero Energy, High-Performance Buildings Program supports the move toward net-zero energy, high-performance buildings that have healthy and resilient indoor environments. Broad categories of work within the technical program include (1) research activities, (2) facilities, (3) outreach activities, and (4) engagement with professional organizations and groups. The program accomplishes its goals through work on metrics for indoor environmental quality, water quality, energy consumption, cost-effectiveness, and sustainability; reducing the building load on the grid and improving the building envelope and ventilation for contaminants; developing more efficient equipment such as heat pumps and low global warming potential alternatives; and investigating onsite energy generation such as PV technologies.
The Net-Zero Energy Residential Test Facility is unique and provides excellent opportunities to conduct research related to the operation of energy-efficient homes. It can test multiple mechanical systems, duct systems, and dedicated dehumidification systems. It also has excellent capabilities to support indoor air quality research including contaminant sources, air filtration, and assessing the long-term health impacts of contaminants such as formaldehyde, which is emitted by many building materials and poses health concerns. Additional highlights include the ability to assist in evaluating energy use, building envelope losses, and building control strategies. This test facility has assembled a portfolio of
research projects from more than 12 universities in areas such as indoor air quality, space conditioning equipment, air distribution, and demand-controlled ventilation. The work at this facility has led to important research products for multi-zone heating and cooling balancing issues; a comparison of desired and actual airflow levels in a room; and practical implications of mechanical system cycling for heating, cooling, and ventilation.
There are very few laboratories in the world that can calculate absolute spectral response, with EL being the only one in the United States. EL was the first to provide standards for indoor lighting conditions relevant to indoor building–integrated PV. This was an accomplishment specifically suggested in the 2021 assessment (NASEM 2021) that has since been achieved. The ability of this program to calculate absolute spectral response and provide reference test cells for other laboratories to calibrate their equipment is an invaluable service activity to ensure accurate measurements of record-breaking PV efficiencies. However, the program could benefit from looking into how it can make an impact in other areas relevant to PV, such as calibrations, measurement metrics, or procedures for increasing the diversity of PV technologies and uses.
Embedded Intelligence in Buildings Program
The Embedded Intelligence in Buildings Program has addressed the needs of intelligent building systems by supporting better communications protocol standards for integrated HVAC, lighting, energy management, and fire systems. Several ways this program has supported the needs of intelligent building systems include (1) a laboratory testbed used to emulate normal and fault conditions related to equipment failure and abnormal operations, (2) development of information models and software tools to improve design and commissioning and embedded building controls, and (3) advancing real-time communication of building systems with a smart grid.
A highlight of the program is standardizing interoperability between building systems, such as ASHRAE1 Standard 135-2016, BACnet: Intelligent Building Agents, and Semantic Interoperability for Building Data, work done on intelligent building agents, and semantic interoperability for building data. EL’s work on interoperability accomplishes activities that are often difficult to coordinate or for which it is difficult to build consensus among manufacturers and producers of equipment.
As intelligent building systems become more complex and interconnected, the need for distributed optimization and decision-making grows. The projects in this goal area have the aim of demonstrating data-driven advanced controls for commercial building systems optimization, commissioning, fault detection and diagnostics, the semantic interoperability of building information, and grid interactions. Research and the resultant publicly available data have the potential to drive innovation and catalyze new research across the nation. The investigations conducted by EL in this area are often difficult to justify and develop in private industry, so the result of this research has the potential to be rapidly and widely adopted. The quality of work maintains the high reputation and authority of NIST in measurement science. The work and experimental methodologies used by the projects in this goal have been used to support the funded projects by the Department of Energy’s Building Technologies Office project and to test ASHRAE-developed controls such as Guideline 36-2018, High-Performance Sequences of Operation for HVAC Systems. By leveraging EL’s cutting-edge capabilities, the goal team is well positioned to evaluate intelligent distributed decision-making approaches and generate valuable benchmarking data.
In the past 5 years, EL has focused research on the challenges of distribution grid control as outlined in the NIST Smart Grid Interoperability Framework 4.0.2 The scope of this research includes the challenge of integrating smart customer devices: loads, storage, and renewable generation.
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1 ASHRAE, formerly known as the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers.
2 The NIST Smart Grid Interoperability Framework 4.0 is available at https://www.nist.gov/publications/nist-framework-and-roadmap-smart-grid-interoperability-standards-release-40, accessed December 11, 2024.
The Transactive Energy for Effective Integration of Customer Flexibility project explores how the electric power system is changed by distributed energy resources (PV power generation, battery energy storage, and smart loads including electric vehicles) to the distribution grid. These new load, generation, and storage assets can respond to grid signals, including price signals. The move to distributed energy resources and the growth of both customer electricity generation and demand encourages utilities to engage with customer resources to provide grid services such as frequency and voltage support.
The NIST Transactive Energy Testbed, which will be ready by 2026, will collaborate with the energy industry and provide the scientific basis for the effective integration of customer-owned distributed energy resources into the grid using transactive methods. Simulation studies using the Transactive Energy Testbed are to be carried out to investigate how transactive exchanges can optimally engage the flexibility of different distributed energy resources to provide frequency and voltage stability support to the distribution grid while maintaining the customer’s control of their distributed energy resources. Furthermore, simulation results are expected to guide important research on the development of standards to provide a foundation for interoperable transactive energy solutions. Transactive Energy Flex also assesses the impact of dynamic prices on customer finances and distribution grid voltage by comparing two dynamic electricity pricing tariffs: day-ahead hourly prices versus 5-minute real-time prices. The study highlighted the potential benefits and negative impacts of dynamic prices. The results of this project will provide critical knowledge needed by utilities to support the development of the next-generation electric grid, by standards development organizations to create foundational standards for transactive energy methods, by utilities and regulators to develop new tariffs and transactive energy market regulations, and by appliance and building control system manufacturers to guide the development of their next generation of products and services.
Opportunities and Challenges
Strategy Planning, Strategic Direction, Industry Relevance, and Metrics
It was not clear to the panel how the strategies and strategic directions of the Net-Zero Energy, High-Performance Buildings Program, and Embedded Intelligence in Buildings Programs are set. The research projects presented appear to operate in a stand-alone manner, not as part of an integrated plan that establishes the strategic directions and goals necessary to meet the Building Energy and Environment Division’s mission and ensure that the individual projects all advance the work of the division toward its goals and mission.
It is also not apparent that the division’s work is structured to meet the needs of EL’s stakeholders, that is, industry. There appears to be a need to better understand the needs of industry and to incorporate stakeholder needs into the strategic planning process.
Appropriate metrics will help with strategic planning and ensuring stakeholder relevance in this division’s work. Metrics could include things such as achieving project milestones on schedule, on-time completion of work, software downloads, publications, citations, industry adoption of software, standards integration, report generation, patents and licensing, and recognition through awards. The panel is not saying these are necessarily the right metrics—determining that is a job for the division staff. Periodic project evaluations against the established metrics can help to evaluate project success, ensure that work remains aligned with the mission and stakeholder needs, and provide a tool to clearly communicate successes and, when appropriate, gaps to appropriators.
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
Artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and cloud-based applications, along with software tools for building management, comprise a very important area for the future of intelligent buildings and energy management. Increasing and strategic investment in AI and cloud-based services provide a significant opportunity for EL to expand in this area. EL lacks staff in AI, cloud computing, and software development, although the software is relevant to about 40 percent of research activities in the
Energy-Efficient, High-Performance Buildings Goal. Incorporating AI and ML into embedded intelligence projects is a transformative approach that can significantly enhance outcomes and strengthen the innovation and impact of EL’s program. EL also has an opportunity to articulate and demonstrate the ways that AI and ML can be used in intelligent building systems.
It is not clear how AI and ML are being leveraged in specific projects. For example, automated fault detection and diagnostics can take advantage of lightweight machine learning technology instead of expert rules technology. There is a significant opportunity to collaborate with other laboratories (such as national laboratories), other government organizations, industry, and academia for expertise in this area. The NIST Information Technology Laboratory would be a logical place to start.
Recommendation 6-1: The Engineering Laboratory should foster collaboration with other laboratories specializing in artificial intelligence and machine learning to leverage their expertise. The Information Technology Laboratory would be a good place to start.
Photovoltaic Cell Research
The Solar Photovoltaic Cells and Arrays Project has excellent resources that could contribute even further to usefulness and effectiveness with further cooperation with industry. This laboratory could provide electrical performance measurement services to calibrate other laboratories’ reference cells, in addition to providing ones for purchase as a standard reference material. Furthermore, continued engagement with the PV community via conferences and other meetings and workshops would give the laboratory opportunities to collaborate directly with stakeholders and ensure that the project objectives align with the field’s needs. A better dissemination plan is needed to share the outcomes of the research in particular software programs.
ASSESSMENT OF SCIENTIFIC EXPERTISE
Accomplishments
The work in this goal is supported by a high-quality research staff. The research staff produces a high level of accomplishment, such as creating numerous tools for helping the building community, for the small number of researchers and contractors involved, and are to be commended.
Many of the EL technical staff working on the Energy-Efficient, High-Performance Buildings Goal have demonstrated impressive and, in many instances, world-class expertise in critical and strategic research focus areas. The staff has unique expertise in indoor air quality, fault detection, measurement science, and research that identifies the issues and advantages of new energy efficiency and embedded building intelligence technologies.
The staff includes more than eight current and past ASHRAE fellows. The staff is active both as members and leaders in many standards bodies such as the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), ASHRAE, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), ASTM International, Bureau International des Poids et Measures (BIPM), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the Portable Generator Manufacturers’ Association (PGMA), and Underwriters Laboratories (UL). It is difficult to find equivalent international organizations that have a comparable track record of accomplishments. For example, work in the Building Energy and Environment Division has contributed to the success of the ANSI/ASHRAE BACnet Standard 135, which has been adopted internationally. The staff have also been involved in ASHRAE 223P, Designation and Classification of Semantic Tags for Building Data; ASHRAE 241, Control of Infectious Aerosols; and ASHRAE Guideline 36, High-Performance Sequences of Operation for HVAC Systems. In all, EL staff associated with this goal hold leadership positions in standards and technical committees including 2 with the ISO, 2 with the International Electrotechnical Commission standards activities, 2 with ASTM, 2 with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and 1 with the Organization for the Advancement of Structured
Information Standards. Staff also hold a number of leadership positions within ASHRAE, including 2 in society management, 7 in standards and guidelines activities, and 11 on technical committees. This listing is a sampling of their overall activity.
EL staff lead in indoor air quality research, ventilation performance work using CO2, air cleaner testing procedures, and transactive energy research. They participate in the Smart Grid Interoperability Panel, the Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity, and the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace.
The many awards won by staff in this goal area include the following (this list is not exhaustive):
- ASHRAE Distinguished Service Award
- ASME ECLIPSE Award
- ASTM Award of Appreciation
- ASTM Award of Merit
- Department of Commerce (DOC) Gold Medal Award
- DOC Bronze Medal Award
- Energy Storage and Conversion Horizons Conference Best Poster Award
- International Building Performance Simulation Association-USA Emerging Contributor Award
- NIST Edward Bennet Rosa Award
- NIST Judson C. French Award
- NIST Safety Award
- Purdue University Dave Tree Distinguished Service Award
Due to the one-of-a-kind, specialized equipment that is needed for measurement science research, the staff goes above and beyond to enable their work. For example, when there are unique issues with complex equipment that is not working due to age or issues with performance that are outside of the technical expertise of other support staff, the EL staff have become technical experts in operating and maintaining the specialized equipment they use and are committed to their work. This is also a challenge because it takes valuable time away from research experts fixing and solving equipment issues.
Opportunities and Challenges
About 39 percent of EL’s staff are eligible for retirement. This is a challenge for succession planning to hire, train, and prepare replacements for staff who retire. Specifically, the institutional knowledge of refrigerants needs to be transferred to the next generation of researchers. There are staff members who work beyond the retirement age. When hiring new people, it may be advantageous to consider staff experience and skills in agile development. This is also an opportunity to increase collaboration with low-global warming-potential refrigerant stakeholders. A well-defined succession plan is essential for ensuring the continuity and stability of NIST. Proactive planning allows flexibility for changes and encourages growth and development.
Information gathering and discussions with staff make it clear that long-term, in-person work is crucial for team collaboration and advancing research, especially for new staff members who need mentoring from senior researchers. Yet some balance of in-person and telework has proven crucial to staff recruitment and retention in many different places. Work flexibility is now a workforce expectation. The extent of this balance is the subject of much debate and a variety of policies across federal agencies and the panel did not engage in an in-depth investigation of this topic, so it is not in a position to make any specific recommendations. However, it is advisable for EL leadership to explore the proper balance of work to allow for the mentoring and development of newer, more junior staff.
NOTE: FY, fiscal year; NIST, National Institute of Standards and Technology; STRS, scientific and technical research services.
SOURCE: Courtesy of NIST Engineering Laboratory.
BUDGET, FACILITIES, EQUIPMENT, AND HUMAN RESOURCES
Budget
As can be seen in Figure 6-1, funding for the Energy-Efficient, High-Performance Buildings Goal has been largely flat for years. Funding for the work in this goal remains stagnant and is the lowest compared to other areas such as disaster resilience and advanced manufacturing. Given the United States’ commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50–52 percent below 2005 levels by 2030, funding for this goal does not seem to match its importance. The panel recognizes that, as a federal agency, NIST and its component laboratories must rely on appropriations, for which they make a budget request each year. If EL desires to put greater resources against the work on this goal, it would help greatly to provide better documentation of the contributions of this work to achieving greenhouse gas reduction goals and how it is impactful to justify a more favorable budget request to the administration and Congress.
Facilities and Equipment
Facility issues are becoming more prominent. The facility is old, but the staff is finding creative workarounds to meet project goals. However, the age of the facility may hinder the staff from working on projects that require the latest technologies and better equipment. Time spent by researchers on overcoming facility failures and maintaining older one-of-a-kind systems needs to be tracked and a comparison of that cost weighed against the cost of increased facilities funding or upgrading or replacing those systems.
Due to the significant amount of deferred maintenance, the research staff is spending their time and some of their budgets to address shortcomings and failings. As noted in the 2023 report Technical Assessment of the Capital Facility Needs of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NASEM
2023), researchers can lose between 10–40 percent of their time addressing facilities problems.3 It needs to be noted that EL cannot address its most pressing facilities issues on its own. Rather, they must submit their needs to the Office of Facilities and Property Management for inclusion in that office’s budget request to Congress.
Recommendation 6-2: The leadership of the Energy-Efficient, High-Performance Buildings Goal should clearly communicate their facility shortcomings and needs to the Office of Facilities and Property Management so those needs can be reflected in annual budget requests and in facility master planning activities.
The research staff are also spending their time nursing older one-of-a-kind equipment. While maintaining such systems may seem cost-effective in the short term, it’s important to consider the hidden costs associated with downtime, decreased productivity, and potential risks to research quality. Upgrading or replacing these systems may require a significant initial investment, but it can lead to substantial long-term savings by reducing maintenance requirements, improving equipment reliability, and enabling researchers to focus more on their core work. Moreover, modernizing laboratory equipment often brings additional benefits such as enhanced functionality, improved safety features, and compatibility with emerging technologies. By investing in state-of-the-art systems, laboratories can position themselves at the forefront of scientific innovation, attract top talent, and remain competitive in their respective fields. While the decision to upgrade or replace outdated laboratory systems requires careful consideration of costs and benefits, prioritizing efficiency and productivity is paramount. By investing strategically in equipment modernization, laboratories can optimize their resources, streamline operations, and empower researchers to achieve breakthrough discoveries more effectively.
Building technologies are evolving rapidly, so upgrading existing equipment and investing in new technologies is critical for the future. Not doing so poses the risk of falling behind as other global laboratories work on innovative technologies.
The Net-Zero Energy Residential Test Facility is a fully instrumented laboratory fit to accomplish exceptional research that would be difficult and expensive to do in a normal residential home. This facility can bring 20–30 people to evaluate various technologies to improve energy efficiency; it is a research house to facilitate research. The overhead of these kinds of laboratories is high, and the question, Is it worth it? inevitably arises. There is good evidence this facility is worth it; however, there is no clear plan about who will be responsible for maintenance. Based on current funding information provided to the panel, the maintenance would be in part funded through project money. If the maintenance is not done on this test facility, the value of the research will be reduced.
Also, the Net-Zero Energy Residential Test Facility may be underused at times. There appears to be a need to prioritize and coordinate testing schedules to achieve high usage. The facility staff may need to examine the facility’s readiness to accommodate changing industry trends, such as the use of flammable refrigerants.
Multiple environmental chambers need maintenance. This maintenance is being deferred due to a lack of funds, thus, compromising the quality of the research conducted in them. However, the chambers seemed to be underused. The use of a chamber schedule calendar shared among projects could allow the use of fewer chambers and reduce the fiscal burden of the needed deferred and ongoing maintenance costs.
It would be beneficial for the EL leadership to develop and communicate a long-term strategic plan and prioritization of allocated funds available to create a long-term facility that is flexible enough to adapt to changes in future program needs.
During a session with feedback from early-career staff, there were several comments related to obstacles to execution related to acquiring equipment quickly. EL management would benefit from identifying this and other related acquisition and approval issues.
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3 A summary of this report can be found in Chapter 1, Box 1-1.
Space Management
A space management plan and a system are needed to track the use of space and equipment to prioritize and improve the use of its resources (e.g., the use of environmental chambers by multiple projects). The panel noted the lack of a structured approach to space planning, which has resulted in opportunistic layouts, inefficient use of available space, and a disjointed overall experience for workers and visitors. The lack of systemic space planning presents a significant challenge in facilities supporting multiple research programs. It can result in cramped laboratories, obstructed workflow, inadequate storage, and a lack of functionality, hindering researchers’ comfort and daily routines. Ultimately, it may impact the overall working environment and lead to worker dissatisfaction or negatively impact outcomes. It is warranted to have a systematic approach to space planning, whether through professional consultation or collaborative efforts.
Within these challenges lies an opportunity for improvement. By reevaluating layout designs, implementing innovative storage solutions, and optimizing spatial arrangements, there’s the potential to transform underused spaces into purposeful spaces. Implementing a robust space use tracking system would offer an opportunity to optimize space and equipment use. Such a tracking system would enable researchers to view real-time data on the use of facilities, identify available slots for experiments or projects, and schedule their activities accordingly. Moreover, these systems can facilitate seamless communication and coordination among different research groups, allowing for the efficient sharing of resources among multiple projects, ultimately enhancing functionality and productivity, fostering creativity, and facilitating collaboration among research teams, providing for a more satisfying working experience.
Furthermore, scheduling software provides valuable insights into use patterns and trends, allowing laboratory managers to identify underused resources and prioritize improvements or adjustments accordingly. For example, if a facility or piece of equipment is found to be frequently idle during certain time slots, measures can be taken to optimize its use, such as opening it up to additional research projects or adjusting scheduling protocols. Additionally, implementing a tracking system for space and equipment use promotes accountability and transparency within the laboratory environment. Researchers can easily log their usage of facilities and equipment, providing a comprehensive record of activities for future reference or auditing purposes. By leveraging technology to track and manage space and equipment use, laboratories can streamline operations, enhance productivity, and maximize the return on investment in research infrastructure.
Recommendation 6-3: The Engineering Laboratory (EL) should develop and implement a space management plan that ties in with the strategic plan proposed in Key Recommendation 1. EL should use scheduling software where research laboratories can create central platforms to manage and monitor the availability and use of spaces and equipment.
Human Resources
As discussed in the “Opportunities and Challenges” section under “Adequacy of Scientific Expertise,” above, a well-defined succession plan is essential for ensuring the continuity and stability of EL’s work by identifying and developing potential leaders from within EL. This will foster a culture of growth and development, ensuring a pipeline of skilled resources. As a part of this, an important task is to develop a plan and budget to transfer skills and experience from mid and senior career staff to younger staff. There are mentoring opportunities and other opportunities to gain experience across the entire NIST organization, possibly including formal mentoring plans with clear objectives, and opportunities to work in other laboratories.
The team has some younger staff members in temporary positions. However, there is a significant imbalance between the number of federal staff members with more years of experience and the number of young researchers. There also does not appear to be enough mid-career people with sufficient expertise.
A recurring theme observed is the need for funding to replace retired personnel. Annual salary increases and flat funding leave less money for research every year, squeezing the budget available to conduct EL’s technical program work. Ongoing decreases in research funding negatively impact the morale of the team and, naturally, their work. The tight fiscal picture also negatively impacts the ability to hire subject-matter experts in needed areas (e.g., hiring experts in AI if the goal is to incorporate more AI into EL’s work). Collaboration with other organizations, such as other federal agencies, universities, and industry groups, might help to address this need.
Recommendation 6-4: The Engineering Laboratory leadership needs to develop and implement a long-term staffing plan to identify leaders and develop people in key areas. This plan should include elements such as the transfer of knowledge and experience from older workers to younger ones, formalized mentoring arrangements, and finding opportunities for EL researchers who show promise to work in other laboratories and divisions across the whole of the National Institute of Standards and Technology to develop them professionally.
An observation of the team is that there are few or even only one staff assigned to critical skills in fast-moving disciplines. The flexibility of staff to work across different related disciplines is a very important attribute of planning, hiring, and assignments. The integration of numerous disciplines, such as building science and engineering, HVAC mechanical equipment, AI, ML, building protocols, control languages for direct digital controls, semantic interoperability for buildings, and intelligent building agents has resulted in a complex multi-disciplinary technical environment that is fast changing.
An area that may benefit from improvement is employee performance evaluations. The metrics for individual employee performance evaluations do not appear to be referenced to a cross-laboratory standard (e.g., evaluation areas appear to be weighed on an individual basis). This makes it difficult to produce a performance measure to objectively reward exemplary employees and address those in need of support to improve performance.
The panel acknowledges its limited knowledge of federal government personnel regulations. EL management may have additional concerns to address, such as federal employees with relatively good stability and motivation but fixed salaries with specific opportunity areas. EL management needs to continue to attract people with competitive skills while the federal government is operating at a disadvantage when it comes to salaries.
EFFECTIVENESS OF DISSEMINATION EFFORTS
Accomplishments
As noted throughout this chapter, EL continues to be engaged with different standards organizations, and their staff are active in publishing and attending industry conferences and seminars. Since 2020, a non-exhaustive listing of publications associated with the staff working in this goal area includes 77 peer-reviewed journal articles, 46 conference papers, 39 NIST publications, 15 other publications such as books and software, and 3 contractor reports. 12 data sets for net-zero energy and high-performance buildings have been published. Software published includes modeling indoor microbial aerosols, natural ventilation, and QICO2 for CO2 concentration. There are also HVAC simulations (e.g., HVACSIM+), a BACnet data source; a BACnet performance test (i.e., FPTM); and ZandrEA, which gives real-time fault detection and diagnosis. Publications by staff across EL are discussed in more detail in Chapter 2.
The common dissemination paths for the results of work in this goal include the NIST website; presentations at ASHRAE conferences; publication through NIST Technical Notes and bulletins, and publication through ANSI, ASHRAE, ASME, ASTM, BIPM, ISO PGMA, Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), and UL standards. Dissemination of EL results can also occur through software
downloads and reference materials. Depending on the nature of the work, different groups naturally have different dissemination portfolios.
In particular, EL’s work in this goal area has contributed to developing highly impactful standards and disseminating the results of its work effectively and widely. the ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 135-2016, BACnet—A Data Communication Protocol for Building Automation and Control Networks, has nearly universal international adoption. ASHRAE Standard 223P, Semantic Data Model for Analytics and Automation Applications in Buildings, went through its first advisory public review in March 2024 and is a critical technology for the future of intelligent building communication. NIST is a strong advocate for Standard 223P in industry. ASHRAE Standard 241, Control of Infectious Aerosols, establishes minimum requirements aimed at reducing the risk of disease transmission through exposure to infectious aerosols in buildings and renovations. BSR/ASHRAE Standard 231P, A Control Description Language for Building Environmental Control Sequences, is meant to be an “open and interoperable standard for the description of the control logic used in building control systems” (BIG 2024). These standards will all work together to provide a unified approach to intelligent building control and operation.
Opportunities and Challenges
There are some opportunities regarding the dissemination of efforts. Dissemination activities are not uniform across all the projects in this goal area. It would be helpful for the staff to know the agreed success metrics for the effectiveness of dissemination. In terms of the publication of refereed papers, EL or goal-area leadership needs to clarify for its staff whether the number of papers or the number of citations of the papers is an important metric for the staff in this goal area. Additionally, the number of standards to which the projects in this goal area have contributed that have been adopted has not been tracked.
EL publishes technical reports that contain a great deal of detailed information. EL would do well to advertise these reports widely to ensure that parties that can benefit from them know they exist. This is true of EL broadly as well as of the projects in this goal area. It has been noted that industry does not always track peer-reviewed and technical publications closely. This can mean that important information is generated and missed by industry.
The Intelligent Agents Laboratory makes test data available to the public; they create different testbeds and test the control strategies for electrical and thermal load shifting. It would be very beneficial if the results from tests and control strategies were put into databases available to utility companies and researchers. If a test uses thermal energy storage, the thermodynamic model for that thermal energy storage could be incorporated into the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Modelica open-source model, which is publicly available for researchers to use.
Beyond simply tracking the number of standards published, number of patents, and number of downloads, there is the question of how to measure the traction and effectiveness of various dissemination products among the members of the stakeholder communities. Having collaborative partners is a good way to keep on the cutting edge. It is advisable for there to be a constant effort by the leadership in this goal area to identify and measure the effectiveness of the dissemination of the results of their work.
EL appears to be light on benchmarking and performance metrics. An opportunity for improvement is a focus on dissemination efforts. For example, it may be beneficial to define and communicate to the audience of interest for a particular research area. Identifying some specific targets and establishing benchmarking continuously will assist current and future projects. Although NIST does not have peer competitors, not in the sense that industry does, or even academics who compete for grants and other funding opportunities, it is still important to identify the actual benchmark numbers and record them, even if only for NIST to compare to itself. It is not sufficient to find that a program is unique or in an area of interest to the nation. It is more critical to understand if it is sustainable, meets important needs, and achieves important and impactful outcomes.
Recommendation 6-5: The leadership in the Energy-Efficient, High-Performance Buildings Goal area should define succinct metrics to measure dissemination. They should look for ways to go beyond counting numbers and look for ways to judge the impact of this goal’s work products.
REFERENCES
BIG (Building Intelligence Group). 2024. “ASHRAE 231P, A Control Description Language, Available for Public Review.” Updated February 2. https://www.buildingintelligencegroup.com/blog/2024/2/2/ashrae-231p-a-control-description-language-available-for-public-review.
Fernandez, N., S. Katipamula, W. Wang, Y. Xie, M. Zhao, and C. Corbin. 2017. “Impacts of Commercial Building Controls on Energy Savings and Peak Load Reduction.” PNNL-25985. https://buildingretuning.pnnl.gov/publications/PNNL-25985.pdf.
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NASEM. 2023. Technical Assessment of the Capital Facility Needs of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/26684.
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