An Overview of Existing Projects on the Opaque Building Envelope at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

ABSTRACT: 
Buildings account for more primary energy consumption in the United States than both industry and transportation. Building energy-efficiency measures have enormous potential to reduce energy consumption, costs, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Progress can be made by installing commercially available technologies like ENERGY STAR* equipment; however, technology innovations are required to meet future energy efficiency targets.The US Department of Energy’s Windows and Building Envelope R&D ET Roadmap, published in 2014, identifies research opportunities for improving the energy efficiency and durability of new and retrofit residential and commercial buildings to meet DOE’s goal of a 50 percent reduction in building energy consumption by 2030.  The findings of this report have served as a launching pad for the research activities that are now underway at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Building Envelope Systems Research Group. The presentation will cover both product development activities as well as enabling technologies that assist building designers to make more informed decisions on the energy efficiency features they include in their projects. 

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

1. The development of a new insulation technology the has twice the thermal performance of traditional insulation products used today;
2. Research into a recladding system that adds approximately R10 to an existing building wall system but is only 1-inch thick;
3. A web-based tool that assists building designers to estimate the potential energy savings that would be enjoyed if an air barrier system was deployed;
4. Additional building owner cost savings for using cool roofing in northern climate zones;
5. User-friendly online tool that takes the guesswork out of complex high-performance wall design decisions.

SCHEDULE:

5:30 – 6:00 pm (Reception & Socializing) - We kindly request not to show up prior to 5:30

6:00 – 7:30 pm (Presentation) 

7:30 – 8:00 (Q & A) 

AIA CREDIT: YES

PRESENTER BIO:

André Desjarlais is the Program Manager for the Building Envelopes Research Program at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He has been involved in building envelope and materials research for over 40 years, first as a consultant and, for the last 22 years, at ORNL. He is active in the building industry, participating in ASHRAE, ASTM, Cool Roof Rating Council, SPRI, RCI Foundation, Roof Industry Committee on Weather Issues, Federal Roofing Committee, and the Building Environment and Thermal Envelope Council. Areas of expertise include building envelope and material energy efficiency, moisture control, and durability.

RSVP:

For BEC Chicago members, an RSVP invite will be sent out approximately 7 days in advance of event. For non-BEC Chicago members interested in attending, you may contact Jeff Diqui at jdiqui@stocorp.com to request an invite. The invitation will include a link to an RSVP. Please DO NOT contact the offices of Gensler.