In Washington, Rosenfeld will sit on President Clinton's National Science and Technology Council. He will also serve as national spokesperson for the Administration's "Cool Communities" program and will help steer through the political process a proposed new "government-sponsored enterprise"-- called EFFIE MAE for Energy Efficiency Mortgage and Loan Agency--that would guarantee loans for retrofitting energy-inefficient public buildings.

Rosenfeld spent the first twenty years of his professional life as a high-energy physicist before switching to the development of energy-efficient technologies for buildings in 1973 (after the OPEC oil embargo). For this work, he won DOE's 1993 Sadi Carnot Award in Energy Conservation. We look forward to his many contributions from "within" the government, and to having Art back at LBL after his stint in Washington.

Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions
As part of the Climate Change Action Plan effort to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions, researchers from the Center for Building Science's programs are working on five projects to improve energy efficiency in the residential sector. These multiyear projects are sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency's Global Change Division, which is developing voluntary "market- pull" programs that reduce pollution, including greenhouse gas emissions, by accelerating the penetration of new or underused energy-efficient technologies. This work builds on and complements the research at LBL supported by DOE.

Four of the projects focus on specific technologies developed by LBL, while the fifth will conduct market assessments of these and many other residential technologies to identify the most effective means of increasing their market shares. A component of all the projects is to help EPA design and implement programs to promote these technologies in the marketplace, a relatively new application of the Center's energy-efficiency expertise. The projects are:

Lighting

Lighting consumes about 10% of the electricity consumed in homes. The goal of the lighting project is to develop dedicated compact fluorescent fixtures and high efficiency incandescent lamps to reduce lighting energy use. LBL will also work with fixture and lamp manufacturers to commercialize these technologies, help design deployment programs, and identify the residential lighting applications most suitable for government and utility programs.

Windows

While many new energy-efficient window technologies have been developed during the past decade, not all manufacturers offer optimally cost-effective products, and consumers often lack information or are confused about the options available to them. This project will explore marketing strategies to identify and better define energy-efficient window products for specific applications.

Thermal Distribution Systems

The goal of this project is to develop and commercialize an aerosol-based sealing technology to reduce energy losses through residential duct systems. Project scientists will also estimate the carbon reduction potential of aerosol-based seals and identify the regions and market segments where promoting the technology will most likely lead to widespread market adoption.

Cool Communities

To reduce air conditioning energy consumption caused by the urban heat island effect (CBS News, Spring 1994), this project will develop and commercialize high-albedo roofing and paving products. Cool communities researchers will meet their implementation goals by working with manufacturers, builders, utilities, and other interested parties to promote the use of cool building materials.

Residential Market Analysis

To help the EPA design effective energy- efficiency programs, researchers are using a detailed, geographic information system-based model to identify the regions and market segments where energy-efficient technologies are technically feasible, cost-effective, and acceptable to consumers. EPA will use this information to design programs targeted at the most attractive market segments. Candidate programs include utility incentive and loan programs, product labeling, and partnerships with manufacturers, builders, realtors, or lenders.

Rich Brown

Lighting
Michael Siminovitch & Evan Mills
(510) 486-5863

Windows
Dariush Arasteh
(510) 486-6844

Thermal Distribution
Mark Modera
(510) 486-4678

Cool Communities
Hashem Akbari
(510) 486-4287

Market Analysis
Jonathan Koomey & Rich Brown
(510) 486-5974

LBL-Russia Collaboration on Lighting
In a newly minted collaboration, LBL and Russian researchers will explore a novel emerging technology for efficient lighting. Center researchers Michael Siminovitch, Evan Mills, and Francis Rubinstein will work with Dr. Julian Aizenberg of Russia's Lighting Research Institute to investigate "light pipes". These typically hollow tubes use highly reflective or light-conducting materials to transport and distribute light from a bright centralized source. Light pipes are a particularly promising technology for use with a new generation of small, highly efficient, high-output lamps now under development. A local Bay Area company, Peerless Lighting, will participate in the collaboration by helping to identify critical manufacturing and market- acceptance challenges.

The potential energy and non-energy advantages of light pipes include easier heat removal/recovery from lamps and ballasts, lower maintenance costs (fewer lamps and ballasts to replace), the ability to transmit daylight to non- perimeter offices, and greater safety when used in settings with an explosion hazard.

The project will begin with an assessment of the 30-year Russian research and deployment program on light pipes. Russia has much more experience with this technology than any other country. Researchers will then review the experience in eight other countries, and conclude with an examination of the technology's future directions and its applicability to the U.S. environment.

This collaboration comes at a time when hard economic conditions in Russia have placed the lighting research establishment in jeopardy. While not long ago 1,200 people worked in Aizenberg's institute, today only 400 remain and about two-thirds of the facility has been rented as office space to private enterprises. Many Russian lighting experts today work in banks.

--Evan Mills

Evan Mills
Center for Building Science
(510) 486-6787; (510) 486-5394 fax