Energy and Environment Division

Through extensive publications and active participation in consensus organizations such as the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the American Society for Testing and Materials, and the Fully Integrated and Automated Technology Consortium, research results from the Division are disseminated to the private sector in a timely manner and provide the basis for many consensus standards used throughout the building industry.

News and Updates

A hospital room containing a nurse and patient exhaling aerosols carrying viruses. Air ducts and filters are depicted above and a portable air filter is shown in the room.

NIST Airflow Model Could Help Reduce Indoor Exposure to Aerosols Carrying Coronavirus

June 11, 2020

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have built an online tool that could help decrease the concentration of aerosols

A shower head with steamy water coming out.

NIST Identifies Critical Needs for Improved Plumbing

May 11, 2020

We don’t use water like we used to. In recent decades, concerns about cost, water shortages and environmental impacts together with changes in plumbing design

A view through a door window of N95 masks being decontaminated.

NIST Tool Could Help Hospitals Repurpose Rooms for Disinfecting N95 Masks

April 16, 2020

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals across the United States are disinfecting N95 masks by placing them in repurposed rooms or shipping containers

Two hands in purple gloves hold onto butane lighters, which are being used to light up two cigarettes poised in a metal device.

Butt Emissions: Study Finds Even Extinguished Cigarettes Give Off Toxins

January 29, 2020

Cigarette butts pile up in parks, beaches, streets and bus stops, places where all types of littering are frowned upon. An estimated more than five trillion

Industry Impacts

Photo of NIST scientist using Particle Image Velocimetry to measure the air flow distribution through a heat pump component.

Heat Pump Efficiency

High-efficiency heat pumps can save consumers money on heating and cooling homes and businesses—which often account for more than a quarter of their electricity

Projects and Programs

Commissioning Building Systems for Improved Energy Performance

Building systems commissioning processes applied at the design phase and throughout the building life cycle have been shown to effectively improve performance

Embedded Intelligence in Buildings Program

The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 established a national goal of achieving net-zero energy buildings by 2030. Industry groups including the

Illustrated cutaway showing the inside of the Net Zero Energy House

Net-Zero Energy, High-Performance Buildings Program

Buildings account for 40 % of the primary energy consumption, 74 % of the electricity consumption, and 39 % of the CO2 emissions in the United States. That

Space-Conditioning Options for Energy-Efficient Buildings

Space-conditioning equipment accounts for 32 % of electricity use in homes and 17 % in commercial buildings , annually costing $49 Billion and $21 Billion USD

Software

HVAC SIMulation PLUS other systems (HVACSIM+)

August 24, 2020

The first version of HVACSIM+, which stands for “HVAC SIMulation PLUS other systems”, was introduced by National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in

Tool for Evaluation of Vaporized Hydrogen Peroxide Disinfection of N95 Masks in Small Rooms

June 3, 2020

This spreadsheet tool estimates the vaporized hydrogen peroxide (VHP) concentration in air of rooms used for VHP mask disinfection systems. The tool employs a

The NIST Data Alignment Tool

June 18, 2019

The Data Alignment Tool (DAT) was built to assist with the analysis of data used in testing fault detection and diagnostics (FDD) tools and building

HVAC-Cx Building HVAC Systems Commissioning Tool

December 14, 2017

HVAC-Cx is a semi-automated commissioning software tool designed to facilitate performance analysis for heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC)

Tools and Instruments

Micro-Combined Heat and Power Device Test Facility

NIST has developed a test facility for micro-combined heat and power (micro-CHP) devices to measure their performance over a range of different operating

The Net-Zero Energy Residential Test Facility (NZERTF)

The Net-Zero Energy Residential Test Facility (NZERTF) is a unique laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), in Gaithersburg, Md