BTRIC User Facility
The BTRIC User Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory is the premier U.S. research facility devoted to the development of technologies that improves the energy efficiency and environmental compatibility of residential and commercial buildings. The Center’s mission is to identify, develop, and deploy energy-efficient building system technologies by forming partnerships between DOE and private industry for technology development and analysis, well-characterized laboratory and field experiments, and market outreach.
BTRIC User Facility Questionnaire
Facilities and Equipment
The ORNL Building Technologies Research and Integration Center is made up of a cluster of six buildings with over 20,000 square feet of laboratory space. Within this complex are four major experimental apparatuses used primarily for building envelope research.
Existing BTRIC User Facilities
Planned New and Upgraded BTRIC Facilities
ORNL User Facilities Overview
Rotable Guarded Hot Box
Roof Thermal Research Apparatus(RTRA) and Envelope Systems Research Apparatus (ESRA)
Accessing the User Facility
Access to user facilities is a two-fold process. Prospective users submit research proposals directly to the facility of interest. Acceptance of proposals depends on scientific merit, suitability of the facility for the project, selection of a collaborator, and appropriateness of the work to DOE objectives. Concurrently, a contractual agreement is executed between ORNL and the user institution. This User Facility Agreement, which can be either proprietary or nonproprietary, stipulates the terms and conditions (including disposition of intellectual property) for the project. Some facilities are available for nonproprietary research at no cost, while some facilities must recoup the actual costs incurred for staff and equipment time. More information can be found on ORNL's Partnerships Directorate website.
For more information contact: Andre Desjarlais
- Efficiency improvement — Technology development for heating, cooling, water heating, and refrigeration equipment; building thermal envelopes; existing building retrofit research; weatherization; CHP; residential and commercial appliances
- Testing — Testing of energy-efficient building materials and roof, wall, and foundation systems; HVAC systems; and appliances in the BTC's unique facilities
- Modeling — DOE-2, BLAST, EnergyPlus, Power DOE (whole buildings), HEATING (heat transfer), MATCH, MOIST, WUFI ORNL/IBP Moisture-Expert (heat and moisture transfer), Heat Pump Design Model (HPDM), NEAT (building energy audits)
- Analysis — Analyzing advances in HVAC design, optimization, and control; benchmarking thermal performance of components, systems, and whole buildings; residential electric load
- Monitoring performance of buildings and facilities for technology demonstration
- Preparing facility/utility energy plans
- Quantifying energy savings and cost-effectiveness of retrofits
- Developing energy audit and management techniques
- Developing alternative (non-HCFC) refrigerants and blowing agents
- Identifying causes of building moisture problems and developing moisture control solutions
- Electric power systems technology — Transmission, distribution, automation, and control; high-voltage ac and dc equipment; distributed generation and storage
- Energy market assessment
