Building the Future of Building and Grid Technologies
FLEXLAB®
The world’s most advanced integrated building and grid technologies testbed
FLEXLAB's Approaching Double Digits!
FLEXLAB® is turning 10! In 2024 FLEXLAB will be celebrating 10 years of delivering cutting-edge R&D to support the clean, equitable energy transition. Over this period FLEXLAB has participated in more than $90 million in R&D for our sponsors — notably through our main sponsor, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE's) Building Technologies Office, but also other DOE offices, the California Energy Commission, utilities, clean energy entrepreneurs, and building owners. In the coming months we will highlight notable past projects and celebrate the impacts and successes of this work. We’re looking forward to the next 10!
2024 is expected to be a busy year, with tests planned for building decarbonization, demand flexibility, and indoor air quality (IAQ), including support for several clean energy entrepreneur voucher programs. These include two CalTestBed experiments: one testing efficiency of an innovative window design and another testing advanced HVAC controls on rooftop units for small commercial buildings. (A new funding opportunity is available until November 22; see details in the CalTestBed article below.) FLEXLAB also will be supporting demand flexibility and distributed energy resources studies, such as for the Clean Energy to Communities program.
Evaluating Tunable White LEDs for Circadian Lighting
Light exposure is essential for visual acuity as well as maintaining circadian health. This study measured the performance of tunable light-emitting diodes (LEDs) in FLEXLAB, gathering the information necessary to understand the energy usage impacts of aligning office lighting (intensity and spectral content) with human health criteria to support optimal business decisions. Check out the case study to find out more about this experiment.
CalTestBed - Funding Opportunity for Clean Energy Entrepreneurs!
CalTestBed accelerates the pipeline from innovation to commercialization by awarding entrepreneurs vouchers worth up to $300,000 to test and de-risk their technologies at one of more than 70 testbeds across eight University of California campuses and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). Since 2020, Berkeley Lab has received more than $2.7 million in vouchers to support innovators testing their technologies. FLEXLAB and other Berkeley Lab test facilities have supported this program and are eligible in the current solicitation. Applications will be open until November 22, 2023. Check out caltestbed.com/apply to apply or for more information.
Staff Highlight: Darryl Dickerhoff
Darryl Dickerhoff worked at Berkeley Lab for 40 years, primarily in the Energy Technologies Area, studying energy use in buildings. His work primarily focused on developing measurement techniques related to air flow including: infiltration, ventilation, and air leakage of the envelope and thermal distribution systems of residential and commercial buildings. His extensive experience in field measurements of the energy use in buildings brought tremendous value to FLEXLAB. Darryl played an instrumental role on the operations team of FLEXLAB, and consequently in its support of a range of projects. His contributions have been fundamental to enabling the facility to conduct world-class research. Darryl recently retired but leaves behind a deep legacy and commitment to energy efficiency that will remain with us all. Thank you, Darryl!
