Sustainability

News and Updates

New NIST Framework Strives for Cleaner, More Secure Power Grid

February 18, 2021

Whether it’s a new set of solar panels glistening on a neighbor’s roof or a freshly installed smart thermostat at home, burgeoning renewable and smart

A shower head with steamy water coming out.

NIST Identifies Critical Needs for Improved Plumbing

May 11, 2020

We don’t use water like we used to. In recent decades, concerns about cost, water shortages and environmental impacts together with changes in plumbing design

A Lab-to-Market Tale: Icemaker Invention

April 7, 2020

Dr. David Yashar was always interested in finding ways to use practical application of science to improve real systems, so he studied mechanical engineering at

Industry Impacts

Low GHG Refrigerants

Hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants are potent greenhouse gases (GHG) that are being phased down by the U.S. and 196 other countries under the Montreal

Projects and Programs

Autonomous Materials Science

We use autonomous experimentation (the merger of automated synthesis, characterization, AI-driven decision-making) to elucidate the role of composition

Analysis and Modeling of Atmospheric Particles to Assess Effects on Climate

Atmospheric aerosol particles often have compositions and shapes that cannot be described as a single material phase within a simplified geometric form such as

Fluid Phase Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Spectroscopy

NMR spectroscopy is routinely used to analyze chemical mixtures in the liquid phase. It is far less common for these techniques to be applied to vapor-phase

Measurements, Standards, and Data for Energy Conversion Materials

The Measurements, Standards, and Data for Energy Conversion Materials Project provides the underpinning measurement science needed to support the development

Publications

Residential net-zero energy buildings: Review and perspective

May 1, 2021

Author(s)

Wei Wu, Harrison M. Skye

Advancements in residential net-zero energy buildings (NZEBs) could significantly reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. NZEB design considerations

Integrative Method to Whole-House Energy and Comfort Rating

December 4, 2020

Author(s)

Hyojin Kim, Han Yan, Anuradha Kadam

The purpose of this research is to investigate how thermal comfort dynamics are impacted by energy-efficient or thermal comfort improvements in a low-load house

Pool Boiling of R514A, R1224yd(Z), and R1336mzz(E) on a Reentrant Cavity Surface; Extensive Measurement and Analysis

December 4, 2020

Author(s)

Mark A. Kedzierski, Lingnan Lin

Developing Cost Functions for Estimating Solar Photovoltaic System Installed Using Historical Data and OLS Regression

November 20, 2020

Author(s)

David H. Webb, Joshua D. Kneifel

Solar photovoltaics (PV) continues to increase in market share. Policy decisions and the nature of solar markets continue to shift; however, it is likely that

Tools and Instruments

Apparatus for the Measurement of High Temperature Thermoelectric Transport Properties

The Seebeck coefficient is a physical parameter routinely measured to identify the potential thermoelectric performance of a material. However, researchers