WASHINGTON, D.C. -The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced up to $34.5 million in funding to support building technology research and development (R&D). Buildings are the single largest energy-consuming sector in the U.S. economy, representing approximately 75% of the nation’s electricity use and 40% of its total energy demand, resulting in Americans spending nearly $400 billion each year to power homes, offices, schools, hospitals, and other commercial and residential buildings.
The Energy Department’s Building Technologies Office (BTO) is issuing two funding opportunities: Buildings Energy Efficiency Frontiers & Innovation Technologies (BENEFIT) 2018 and Solid-State Lighting Research. These funding announcements will further the Administration’s goal to drive U.S. technology leadership in solid-state lighting as well as develop innovative energy saving technologies, systems, tools, and models that could lead to significant reduction in building energy consumption by supporting innovative research in several topic areas.
BENEFIT 2018 will fund up to $19.5 million for approximately 15-25 cost-shared projects focused on early-stage R&D to enable the development of novel technologies that can improve efficiency, reduce the energy costs of the nation’s buildings, and facilitate interaction with the electricity grid.
Concept papers for BENEFIT are due no later than June 8, 2018 and full applications are due August 23, 2018.
The second funding opportunity, Solid-State Lighting (SSL) Research, will fund up to $15 million for approximately 10-15 cost-shared projects to conduct early-stage, innovative research to drive further breakthroughs in solid-state lighting technology. This funding will accelerate the development of high-quality light-emitting diode (LED) and organic light-emitting diode (OLED) products with the potential to reduce lighting energy use for American families and businesses and to enhance U.S. global competitiveness
Full applications for SSL are due June 18, 2018. For more information on both of these funding opportunities visit the EERE Funding Opportunity Exchange website https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/default.aspx
