There are many advantages to using a heat pump versus another heating and cooling system that uses fossil fuels—even in cold climates. This article, sponsored by Xcel Energy, describes how education, better training, and marketing programs can help heat pumps gain ground in cold climates. Andrew Kotila, Slipstream program manager, shared his recommendations on promoting this advancing technology.
Thank you to Xcel Energy and Building Performance Journal for the opportunity to share this article.
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Slipstream has received several questions regarding building systems and preventing the spread of Coronavirus. Below are answers from our research team about what you can do to prepare your building ventilation system.
Q: Does the coronavirus spread through the air? More
Cold climate heat pumps provide economic, environmental, and grid benefits
Can cold climate heat pumps deliver worthwhile results to homeowners and utilities? How do we design effective programs and product rebates to encourage heat pump adoption? We monitored residential centrally ducted, dual fuel air-source heat pumps in Michigan to find out. More
Texas A&M University chose Slipstream to partner on a two-year ASHRAE research project to optimize supply air temperature control for dedicated outdoor air systems (DOAS). The goal of this project is to develop optimal control strategies for commercial building dedicated outdoor air systems. This will help utilities achieve their energy saving goals and help government and facility managers save energy - and costs. More
Utilities: Consider load shifting to avoid cost and emissions in the Midwest
Advancing codes and standards. Measures reaching market saturation. It's getting more expensive and tougher for utilities to meet savings goals. More
Help your power systems support renewable energy resources with thermal energy storage
Cold thermal energy storage (CTES) can help utilities increase renewable energy production. CTES stores energy generated by solar or wind until it's needed by the utility.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison partnered with Slipstream to research CTES control strategies that maximize how much renewable energy can be used. More
Will smart valves help solve your building’s HVAC energy efficiency problem?
Roughly 25% of Midwest commercial buildings use either chilled or hot water for HVAC distribution. New code compliant hydronic systems are required to have both variable flow control and temperature control to prevent energy waste. In existing buildings, owners prefer to address this issue with a variable flow retrofit. More
Should phase change materials be a part of your commercial building energy efficiency plan?
Would you like to reduce peak electricity demand by 4-7% through a non-invasive retrofit? Perhaps you should consider phase change materials (PCMs) as one of your efficiency measures. More
In partnership with ComEd Emerging Tech, Slipstream researchers are looking into the potential energy savings of a different kind of motor. More
National Grid Rhode Island selected Slipstream to add innovation to their efficiency programs and increase their program savings potential by kilowatt hours and therms. Slipstream will assess three new emerging technologies. These include: More
Deep energy savings. Lower installation and commissioning costs. All commercial building types. It’s time to move beyond lighting replacements. More
We conducted research on residential heating and cooling systems in Minnesota homes to help improve installation and maintenance practices for furnaces, air conditioners, and heat pumps. The study is supported by the Minnesota Department of Commerce, Division of Energy Resources and will provide useful information for existing efficiency programs run by Minnesota’s electric and natural gas utilities.
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As COVID-19 spreads across the United States, this document helps building designers and operators understand how the virus is transmitted and how we can reduce the risk of being infected by properly operating air-conditioning and ventilation equipment.
Presentation by Peng Xu, PhD, PE, MBA, Professor, Tongji University, Shanghai, China. English translation by Slipstream. More
Slipstream’s team of researchers, with support from U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) grants, will illuminate the future of energy productivity - both inside buildings and on the evolving grid. By partnering with DOE, our team will be on the front lines of needed change in the flexible building technology space which includes heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and lighting. This research will: More
There are several benefits of dual fuel space heating instead of all-electric space heating. These include resiliency, allowing consumer-members to adapt to changing temperatures, and improving comfort while still providing an opportunity for beneficial electrification. Slipstream’s Justin Margolies contributed to an article titled, “Advancing Beneficial Electrification: The Role of Dual Fuel Home Heating Systems in Cold Climates.” Check it out to learn more about this technology and applications specifically for colder climates.
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Our Energy Engineer, Greg Marsicek, was interviewed by Carina Wallack of E4TheFuture for a recent blog post titled, “Smarter Energy Savings: Technology’s Expert Voices.” Greg was featured with several other experts in the field from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Google, and Mitsubishi Electric Trane HVAC US. Check out Greg’s portion of the interview below and head over to E4TheFuture for the full article. More
Reduce the cost of implementing geothermal heat pump systems on your building projects by going hybrid. A hybrid geothermal heat pump system can lower your costs by reducing the peak capacity of your ground loop and allowing you to install a smaller, less expensive ground heat exchanger. HyGCHP is a software module that can help you analyze this option! More
We conducted research on residential heating and cooling systems in Minnesota homes to help improve installation and maintenance practices for furnaces, air conditioners, and heat pumps. More
Application of air source variable refrigerant flow in cold climates
Variable refrigerant flow (VRF) systems use variable speed, split heat pumps to provide space heating and cooling to a building's conditioned areas. Air source VRF systems perform best in moderate climates, as they typically lose capacity and efficiency at low ambient temperatures—or moderately low wet bulb temperatures where defrost is required—and may be supplemented by an additional heat source. More
Energy savings and lessons learned from observed, practical approaches to demand control ventilation
Demand control ventilation (DCV) systems use sensors — generally either CO2 or occupancy sensors — to estimate the actual number of people in an area and supply only as much ventilation air as is needed at a given time. DCV has the potential to save a substantial portion of building energy use in extreme climates like the northern Midwest. More
RTUs are used in more than one third of U.S. commercial buildings, the highest of any cooling equipment type. Why? They are reliable and have a low capital cost, as well as established service and distribution networks. There is anecdotal evidence, however, that these systems operate inefficiently. To validate or refute this evidence, we conducted a multi-level field study sponsored by Minnesota Department of Commerce, Division of Energy Resources.
Resources: More
RTUs are used in more than one third of U.S. commercial buildings, the highest of any cooling equipment type. Why? They are reliable and have a low capital cost, as well as established service and distribution networks. There is anecdotal evidence, however, that these systems operate inefficiently. To validate or refute this evidence, we conducted a multi-level field study sponsored by Minnesota Department of Commerce, Division of Energy Resources. More
The building at 749 University Row is a highly energy efficient, multi-tenant office building constructed in Madison, WI in 2013.
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Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) systems have developed into a promising emerging technology. While popular in some places in the world, these systems are quite new to the upper Midwest. The systems are an innovative version of a simple split system air conditioner that utilizes variable speed compressors, multiple zone refrigerant distribution, heat recovery, and low energy fan coils to cool and heat commercial buildings more efficiently than standard split systems and heat pumps. More
Demand control ventilation (DCV) systems use sensors—generally either CO2 or occupancy sensors—to estimate the actual number of people in an area and supply only as much ventilation air as is needed at a given time. DCV has the potential to save a substantial portion of building energy use in extreme climates like Minnesota and other areas of the northern U.S. More
This white paper outlines the optimal control strategies for designing and operating air source VRF systems in cold climates.
Report number: 275-1 More
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