HI Cat is conducting focused research on leading-edge technologies in the residential market. Through HI Cat, DOE collaborates with leaders in the home improvement industry, manufacturers, and energy-efficiency program administrators to:
- Identify and demonstrate advanced technologies and solutions with scalable potential.
- Guide home improvement trade contractors in the adoption of these advanced technologies.
- Help homeowners achieve greater energy savings from work they are already planning.
High-Performance HVAC Installation
Heating and cooling systems that are installed without verification of performance can result in as much as 30% higher energy use. These tools support trades and program administrators in applying high-performing HVAC installation practices:
- HVAC Installation Practices: A Review of Research Findings: This systematic literature review documents and summarizes findings from available literature, research, and studies on better quantifying the benefits of improving current installation practices for the residential retrofit HVAC market. Read more on preliminary findings.
- HVAC SAVE Case Study: This case study describes how the Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (MEEA) partnered with gas and electric utilities in Iowa to establish the Iowa HVAC Systems Adjustment and Verified Efficiency (HVAC SAVE) program, take it to scale, and improve the performance and energy efficiency of HVAC systems, while helping local contractor businesses grow and gaining consumer trust.
- Advancing High-Performance HVAC with Installation Verification Tools: The DOE HI Cat Initiative developed a market snapshot of HVAC installation verification tools. The snapshot illustratively presents the categories and uses for the growing market of installation verification tools. The accompanying selection guide includes a cross-walk of tool categories with target user audience, benefits and features. This matrix can assist contractors, programs, utilities and others in selecting the appropriate resources to support installation and performance measurement.
Supporting Research Teams and Workshops
Explore related research across DOE in these research teams and workshops:
- Building America research teams are experts in the field of residential building science and have access to world-class research facilities, partners, and key personnel, ensuring successful progress toward DOE goals. These teams work with industry partners to design, test, upgrade, and build technologies and high-performance homes using strategies that significantly cut energy use.
- Emerging Technologies (ET) supports applied research and development (R&D) for technologies, systems, and models that contribute to building energy consumption. The ET Program provides R&D support in five core areas: Solid-State Lighting, Heating, Ventilation, & Air-Conditioning (HVAC; includes water heating and appliances), Sensors & Controls (includes transactive controls), Windows & Envelope, and Modeling & Tools.
- Stakeholder workshops are hosted to explore R&D needs further.
Planning Tools
Identifying and quantifying energy-savings opportunities is key in energy-efficiency planning. ResStock is a tool developed to assess and evaluate efficiency potential within national, regional, and local housing stocks.
- Technical Report: Gain insights from the national- and state-level results found in the NREL Technical Report, Electric End-Use Energy Efficiency Potential in the U.S. Single-Family Housing Stock.
- State Fact Sheets: These fact sheets presents the potential for economic energy and utility bill savings for each of the 48 contiguous U.S. states, with the top 10 energy-savings home improvements highlighted for each state.
- Interactive Web Visualizations: Explore state-level results that can be filtered to identify the savings potential in various segments of the housing stock, whether that is homes of a certain vintage, homes with a specific heating fuel type, or homes with a certain type of wall construction type.
- Analyze Your Scenario: Use the free and open-source software yourself to evaluate the potential of a specific technology, define your own cost-effectiveness equations, or plug in hyperlocal data to get a high-granularity picture of the potential in a city or utility service territory.
