WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced that the JUMP initiative is seeking to connect innovators with industry to make the most creative building efficiency ideas a reality. DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and industry partners A.O. Smith, GE, and United Technologies Research Center (UTRC) want to collaborate to solve some of the technical challenges facing the building energy efficiency industry.
Winning submitters may qualify for:
• Cash prizes of $3,000 to $5,000 provided by industry partners.
• In-kind technical support to cover prototype development, testing, third-party evaluation, and more (worth $10,000 to $15,000).
• Linkage to the DOE’s Small Business Voucher pilot, with in-kind technical support of up to $300,000, if approved.
• Opportunity to discuss future collaboration with ORNL and/or industry partners.
Currently there are three campaigns accepting submissions:
Thermal Energy Storage Using Phase Change Materials (PCM) in Gas or Electric Water Heaters (WH), co-sponsored by A.O. Smith
The challenge is to use PCM to get an equivalent first hour rating (FHR) of a >55 gallon WH in the footprint of a smaller-sized WH without increasing water storage temperature, resulting in a 15-30 percent increase in FHR.
Low-Temperature Intrinsically Safe Defrost System, co-sponsored by General Electric (GE)
The challenge is to develop a low-cost system to remove ice from the evaporator while conforming to UL 250 Flammable Refrigerants Addendum.
Low-Cost Btu Sensor for Use in Building HVAC Control Systems, co-sponsored by United Technologies Research Center (UTRC)
The challenge is to develop a Btu sensor that has an accuracy of less than 10 percent full scale and costs less than 20 percent of the installed cost of conventional Btu measurements.
Ideas should be submitted for any of the above campaigns by Dec. 15, 2015. Visit http://web.ornl.gov/jump to learn more.
Publication date: 11/24/2015
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