On Sept. 3, 2024, DOE announced 123 awards totaling $142 million in research and development grants for small businesses in 34 states whose projects will address multiple mission areas across the Department.
September 12, 2024
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On Sept. 3, 2024, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced 123 awards totaling $142 million in research and development grants for small businesses in 34 states whose projects will address multiple mission areas across the Department. This year, the Building Technologies Office (BTO) is investing $3.5 million of that funding into three projects. This year’s Phase 2 Release 2 Small Business Innovation Research funding will pursue innovations in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems and energy rating decision tools.
American small businesses play a critical role in these DOE Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) awards, which transform DOE-supported science and technology breakthroughs into viable products and services, creating a bridge between the laboratory and the marketplace. The awards also support development of specialized technologies and instruments that aid in scientific discovery.
Small businesses that demonstrated technical feasibility for innovations during their Phase I grants competed for funding for prototype or processes development during Phase II. In addition, prior Phase II awardees competed for second or third Phase II awards to continue prototype and process development. Phase II awards are up to $1,150,000 over the duration of 12 to 24 months.
This year’s Phase II selections in BTO’s portfolio are:
TOPIC C50-08b: INNOVATIVE BUILDING ENERGY RATING DELIVERY MODELS
- Performance Systems Development of New York (Ithaca, New York) – “SuperCharging Standardized Asset Data using EnergyPlus.” Performance Systems Development (PSD) will expand its Heat Pump Toolkit to support envelope retrofits combined with heat pumps and heat pump water heaters for any weather location in the US. First developed with previously awarded SBIR/STTR funds for New York’s climate, the Heat Pump Toolkit allows contractors to enter a specific home’s data into DOE’s energy simulator (EnergyPlus) and calculate its current Home Energy Score, necessary home energy upgrades, and calculate the correctly sized heat pump for the home. Under SBIR, PSD has also developed patent pending approaches that provide contractors and utilities with low-cost, near real-time heat pump performance transparency. Combined, these tools help contractors, states and utilities manage the grid and customer outcomes of large scale decarbonization.
TOPIC C52-20c: NON-METALLIC HEAT EXCHANGERS (CABLE)
- T2M Global (Brookfield, Connecticut) – “High-Performance Lower-Cost Plastic Heat Exchangers.” T2M Global will improve the manufacturing process of their P-HEX plastic heat exchanger to enhance its quality at higher production volumes. Machines can manufacture plastic heat exchangers more affordably than conventional metal ones and fashion them into thinner tubes in any shape or size the application needs. This benefit allows engineers to design custom heat exchangers for all kinds of heating and cooling systems, boosting the system’s overall efficiency and performance.
TOPIC C56-10b: BUILDINGS DECARBONIZATION
- ADC Technology (Dublin, California) – “Advanced Microencapsulated Carbon Sorbents (MECS) for Distributed Carbon Capture in Buildings.” ADC Technology will install their previously developed carbon capture air filter prototype in the return air ducts of a real-world building to demonstrate its capabilities. By capturing carbon dioxide from indoor air through the return duct of a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system, the energy required to otherwise condition outdoor air can be lowered or even eliminated.