Building Envelope Crowd-Sourcing Initiative Announced by ORNL

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), with funding from the Department of Energy, has issued a challenge to “develop a new material or an installation method that uses readily available products to improve the thermal performance and airtightness of a wall assembly, without compromising the durability of the wall assembly.” See the brief synopsis below.

Building Envelope Call for Innovation:

Novel Building Envelope Design for Increased Thermal Performance

In 2014, more than 40% of U.S. primary energy and 70% of electricity were consumed in residential and commercial buildings, resulting in annual energy costs of more than $430 billion. The envelope of the building, which refers to the external walls, windows, roof, and floor of a building, is the thermal barrier between the indoor and outdoor environment and one of the primary determinants of energy use to maintain indoor comfort. Through its online crowdsourcing platform, JUMP, Oak Ridge National Laboratory is looking for ideas to improve the performance of the building envelope. The challenge is to develop a new material or an installation method that uses readily available products to improve the thermal performance and airtightness of a wall assembly, without compromising the durability of the wall assembly. Learn more about this challenge.

A cash award of $5,000 will be sponsored by an industry leader for the top selected technology submission. The idea submitter will also be invited to discuss future collaboration with the industry partner and ORNL technical experts. ORNL may also provide in-kind technical support of $10,000 – $20,000 to enable ORNL staff to provide prototype development, testing, 3rd party validation, or other defined needs.

The idea submission deadline is June 11, 2017.