by Brianna Crandall — May 12, 2014—At the recent Advanced Energy Conference in Albany, New York, Acting ARPA-E Director Cheryl Martin announced up to $30 million for a new program that promotes the development of innovative localized thermal management systems near a building’s occupants. These systems will cut the energy needed to heat and cool buildings and save facilities managers the need to juggle the often different comfort needs of various occupants.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), encourages America’s top scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs from different organizations, scientific disciplines, and technology sectors to form new projects teams for applications that leverage interdisciplinary and cross-organizational collaboration.
According to the Energy Information Administration, broadly speaking, space heating and cooling of buildings represents more than 12 percent of all energy used domestically. ARPA-E has created the Delivering Efficient Local Thermal Amenities (DELTA) to help reduce this amount.
The DELTA program will help develop innovative localized heating and cooling devices to expand temperature ranges within buildings—enhancing personal comfort while saving energy. While most of today’s heating and cooling systems are designed to heat and cool entire buildings, DELTA seeks to develop both installed and wearable devices that can regulate temperatures in close proximity to a building’s occupants.
The “disruptive technology” behind this localized thermal management will enable buildings to operate in wider temperature ranges while still ensuring occupant comfort, which would dramatically reduce the building’s energy consumption and associated emissions, says the Energy Department.
