Buildings News
Explore our archive of buildings news stories.
Receive timely information about opportunities, events, and the latest news on NREL's
buildings research.
Dec. 22, 2023
Homes across the country are incorporating new technologies, such as energy-efficient heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, electric vehicles, rooftop solar, and energy storage systems.
Dec. 22, 2023
Nine teams of college students with diverse backgrounds and academic majors have been exploring solutions toward an equitable, clean energy future through building science.
Dec. 14, 2023
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) joined a $40 million program led by the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) to radically rethink how components within data centers are cooled.
Dec. 6, 2023
The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science has announced $264 million in funding for 29 projects to develop clean-energy solutions that will pave the way to achieving a net-zero-carbon economy by 2050.
Dec. 5, 2023
While at NREL, interns work on diverse projects and specialties, but they all have one thing in common: They rely on a mentor to get the most out of their internships.
Nov. 28, 2023
The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon® is partnering with the U.S. Green Building Council to host the next Solar Decathlon Professionals Program (SD Pro) cohort!
Nov. 8, 2023
By designing high-performance, zero-energy buildings, 105 teams from 93 collegiate institutions are leading the charge to tackle climate change as part of the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon® 2024 Design Challenge.
Nov. 3, 2023
On a hot Saturday in August, thousands of community members from Aurora, Colorado, gathered for the city's 10th annual Global Fest, a celebration of Aurora's cultural diversity.
Nov. 3, 2023
Developing a diverse and knowledgeable workforce for building science is critical to meeting future decarbonization goals set by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Oct. 20, 2023
Buildings account for 35% of U.S. energy-related emissions, and the path to a nationwide net-zero-emissions economy will require many electric building technologies powered by sustainable energy sources.
Oct. 16, 2023
Communities and states looking to develop decarbonization plans for residential buildings now have a new tool at their disposal thanks to NREL researchers.
Oct. 10, 2023
Picture yourself 200 years ago, only able to cool a space or chill perishable food with ice blocks cut from frozen lakes and then transported cross-country by insulated rail cars to your home.
Oct. 5, 2023
As a sub-recipient on nine awards through the Buildings Energy Efficiency Frontiers and Innovation Technologies (BENEFIT) funding opportunity, NREL will be diligently working with a variety of partners to advance building technologies and retrofit practices that enable healthier households and communities.
Sept. 29, 2023
NREL has worked with eight rural villages across Alaska on HUD Healthy Homes projects to improve the health, safety, and energy efficiency of homes in extreme climates.
Sept. 27, 2023
Community members from Unincorporated Norcross, Georgia, partnered with NREL researchers through the U.S. Department of Energy's Clean Energy to Communities Expert Match program to learn how to improve the energy efficiency of hundreds of commercial buildings.
Sept. 14, 2023
Buildings are responsible for 40% of total energy use in the United States, including 75% of all electricity use and 35% of the nation's carbon emissions. Although today's decarbonization efforts often focus on renewable electricity or electric vehicles, decarbonizing the building stock is also essential.
Sept. 12, 2023
DOE is launching a new challenge that combines the Inclusive Energy Innovation Prize and the Community Clean Energy Coalition Prize, this time expanding the reach to community organizations, manufacturers, nonfederal government entities, and college students.
Aug. 29, 2023
For many students, a paid summer internship is the capstone of their degree—an opportunity to flex their academic and research muscles in their industry of choice.
Aug. 4, 2023
Transforming homes, offices, schools, restaurants, hospitals, and everything in between to efficiently run on clean energy is a complex area of research. Each building presents a unique challenge—there is no one-size-fits-all approach.
July 21, 2023
Twenty-five local education agencies were awarded $100,000 at the close of the first phase of the American-Made Energy CLASS Prize. Teams will now receive training and personalized coaching to implement health and efficiency upgrades in their schools.
July 14, 2023
Alberta (Birdie) Carpenter, one of seven newly named NREL Distinguished Researchers, enjoys science but also embraces unexpected opportunities.
June 30, 2023
DOE's Zero Energy Design Designation (ZEDD) recognizes college programs that are committed to zero-energy education. There's still time to apply for the 2023 ZEDD cohort.
June 26, 2023
NREL researchers recently brought their expertise in renewable energy and energy efficiency to over 2,600 home performance and weatherization industry professionals from across the country at the 2023 National Home Performance Conference.
June 21, 2023
Six teams competing in the the inaugural Inclusive Energy Innovation Prize have been named grand prize winners after their year-long efforts to advance an equitable and just clean energy ecosystem within their communities.
June 20, 2023
Builders began erecting edifices with massive walls of windows after World War II. The trend continues to this day, but the 1970s saw the adoption of double-pane windows to reduce energy consumption. Researchers at NREL have been working to improve windows since 1983.
May 23, 2023
NREL's newest building, the Research and Innovation Laboratory (RAIL), which will house multipurpose lab space, is the first laboratory building to open at NREL's Golden, Colorado, campus since the fall of 2013.
May 22, 2023
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced today that NREL will begin work on a series of additions and improvements to two of its campuses made possible by $150 million in funding provided by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA).
May 10, 2023
A new Building America program is expected to bolster efforts to decarbonize existing U.S. residential housing.
May 5, 2023
The 2023 winners of the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon, DOE's longest-running student competition, are leading the clean energy revolution by designing and constructing better buildings.
May 2, 2023
Data exchange and support software developed at NREL is helping community building owners—including those in New York City—meet the national drive toward decarbonization.
April 27, 2023
Wonderful memories of swimming in the local rivers of Zhejiang in eastern China led a young Yueyue Zhou toward a career in architecture and creating beautiful landscapes. But experiencing the effects of climate change firsthand and watching those rivers become polluted is what drove her to NREL.
April 26, 2023
The Buildings Upgrade Prize (Buildings UP) aims to accelerate widespread energy efficiency and building electrification upgrades.
March 28, 2023
In Fiscal Year 2022, NREL played a critical role in computing advancements for 300-plus clean energy research projects through high-performance computing (HPC), efficient data center operation, and state-of-the-art data visualization.
March 24, 2023
NREL is leading a three-year $4.38 million collaborative project from the U.S. Department of Energy's Fiscal Year 2022 Office of Fossil Energy Carbon Management Technology Commercialization Fund to turn mining waste materials into a more sustainable concrete replacement.
March 7, 2023
More than 300 collegiate students will visit the NREL campus in April 2023 for the Solar Decathlon Final Competition Event.
Feb. 23, 2023
Students and professors from across the country, an esteemed panel of judges, and program supporters from the U.S. Department of Energy converged in Golden, Colorado, for the 2023 JUMP into STEM Final Competition.
Feb. 17, 2023
Apply for EAS-E Prize Phase 1 by March 8 to compete for $2.4 million in prizes and technical assistance to accelerate fast, easy, and scalable home electrification solutions.
Feb. 15, 2023
Schools across the United States can benefit from infrastructure upgrades—improved ventilation and increased energy efficiency is good for students, teachers, and the school's bottom line.
Feb. 9, 2023
The use of thermochromic windows in office buildings improves energy efficiency across all climate zones in the United States by modulating the temperature inside, leading to a massive savings, according to a research effort led by NREL.
Feb. 8, 2023
Bolstered by technologies developed at NREL, startup company Blue Frontier earned $20 million from the Bill Gates-funded Breakthrough Energy Ventures.
Feb. 2, 2023
NREL files an average of about 170 patent applications annually and releases roughly 48 open-source software titles.
Jan. 12, 2023
NREL's Cold Climate Housing Research Center is working with the Native Village of Unalakleet, a small community sprawled on Alaska's northwest coast, to create a new model of housing—an affordable, energy-efficient, adaptable house that meets the myriad challenges facing rural Alaska.
Jan. 11, 2023
Know an influential U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon Alum or Faculty Advisor who has impacted the clean energy economy? Nominate them for the Solar Decathlon Richard King Award by Feb. 1, 2023!
