Department of Energy Announces Two New FSEC Building America Funding Awards
One FSEC-led project will focus on how proper installation practices can improve air conditioner/heat pump performance in homes by as much as 30%. Photo: Getty Images
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The University of Central Florida’s Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) will lead two projects that aim to improve energy efficiency and comfort in homes, and help enhance energy efficiency construction standards for industry.
The awards are part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Building Technologies Office initiative to invest in projects to drive innovation and early-stage research and development that will improve the energy performance of building envelopes and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems in American homes. Projects will also address key challenges impacting building industry design and construction practices.
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Florida Building Code Suggested Modifications
Energy Code Changes. Photo: Getty Images
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The Florida Building Commission accepted 2020 code modification requests through December 15, 2018 as we indicated in the last newsletter. The submitted modifications and comments received can be viewed at: https://floridabuilding.org/cm/cm_default.aspx.
Larry Hufford |
Remembering Larry Hufford
Larry Hufford—member of FSEC’s advisory board, co-founder and president of Lifestyle Homes—passed away in December. He will always be remembered for his stupendous grin and contagious, positive attitude, in addition to his early adoption and demonstrated leadership in the construction of high-performance homes. He leaves behind a legacy of 100’s of high-performance solar-powered homes. Larry will be greatly missed!
Philip Fairey |
Philip Fairey Honored by ASHRAE
FSEC’s deputy director, Philip Fairey, will receive recognition from ASHRAE at their summer conference for his service to the industry. Among Philip’s many involvements with ASHRAE are chairing the 90.2 committee that sets standards for residences, and his involvement with ASHRAE 62.2 that wrestles with residential ventilation.
City of New Smyrna Beach Hires FSEC to Conduct Building Audits and Solar Studies
The City of New Smyrna Beach is considering solar and renewable energy resources for their municipal facilities, and has hired FSEC’s interdisciplinary team of energy analysts and solar engineers to conduct energy audits and solar feasibility assessments for 18 facilities. For more information, contact Faith Miller, New Smyrna Beach Maintenance Operations Director, fmiller@cityofnsb.com, or Colleen Kettles, FSEC Program Director, ckettles@fsec.ucf.edu.
PUBLICATION
Improving Effective Energy-Efficient Commercial Package Dedicated Outside Air Systems Located in Hot-Humid Climate Zones
Charles R. Withers, Jr. and David Salyer
Mechanically distributing an appropriate amount of outside air ventilation throughout a commercial building with variable occupancy can be challenging without over-ventilating and can have significant energy costs associated. The advancement of variable speed fan motors and variable refrigerant flow technologies have made their way into space conditioning systems and offer good energy savings potential as they can operate very efficiently at varying load levels. This paper reports the results (and significant savings) of a variable-capacity dedicated outside air system that was field tested at a high school cafeteria. Paper
Course Spotlight
Take our online residential Florida energy code-related courses:
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