Signature Capabilities
Market transformation is the development and implementation of programs enabling penetration of new, efficient technologies and products, include codes, into the marketplace. Market transformation programs can include the development of new products through the formulation of mass purchase programs or create incentives for the purchase of existing products. PNNL has been extensively involved in the development, implementation, and evaluation of a wide range of energy efficiency programs over the last fifteen years. PNNL's technology market experts interact extensively with technology buyers and users, building collaborations and brokering volume purchases. PNNL provides program design, program evaluation, technology procurement, energy codes, emerging technology evaluation, technology demonstrations, and market analyses. Relevant capabilities include engineering, economics, and marketing.
Our planning staff members work closely with customers to help plan and manage their programmatic activities and their R&D investments. Our approach to strategic planning considers the organization's core competencies, mission, and policy goals, as well as knowledge of market forces and science and technology developments throughout the world. When evaluating a program, the focus is on effectiveness as well as efficiency. We work with clients to define measurable objectives and carry out quantitative assessments. Capabilities include economics, engineering, market analysis, business process re-engineering, and performance measurement.
Significant research efforts are directed at development and application of macro-economic modeling tools that help policy-makers examine possible future interactions of important economic, energy, and environmental variables under various policy scenarios. Analysis capabilities cover local, national, and global scales over the short term and the long term. Tools include computable general equilibrium models, input-output models, and mixed econometric models. Our capability also includes expertise in assessing the value of natural resources and environmental damage, using methods such as travel cost, contingent valuation, hedonic analysis, ecological economics, and benefits transfer.
Our staff members combine scientific and engineering backgrounds with a thorough understanding of customer environments, needs, limitations, and objectives. They conduct in-depth evaluations of individual technologies or comparative analyses of various technology options. Such technology assessments help technology developers by providing in-depth evaluations of factors such as potential markets, environmental and energy impacts, technical risks, and implementation constraints. Technology assessment can also assist decision-makers interested in adopting new or innovative technology by providing information on the expected performance, benefits, costs, and limitations. Key capabilities include engineering, economics, and market analysis.
Understanding how energy systems operate in simple residential units, commercial buildings, large complex multi-building facilities, and industrial settings is accomplished through the integration of state-of-the-art metering and data acquisition technologies, building simulation tools, energy investment optimization tools, and other basic and advanced statistical and analytic tools. Staff members coordinate instrumentation, data collection, and analysis tasks as a team to consistently deliver complete and reliable data and meaningful interpretation. Key capabilities include engineering, statistics, architecture, thermal modeling, building simulation, and energy economics.
Building energy codes and appliance standards are developed to advance energy-efficient and environmentally sound buildings throughout the nation. The staff at PNNL is involved in the development of more stringent building energy codes and appliance standards. Staff members also develop a variety of software tools and materials to make building energy codes easier to comply with. Staff members work with industry groups, stakeholders, and state and local jurisdictions through outreach activities, training, technical assistance, and conferences to help States implement building energy codes. Capabilities include engineering, architecture, marketing, training, and software development.
Provide state-of-the-art simulation and modeling solutions to the industrial challenges in manufacturing lightweight vehicles and structures, vehicular air pollutant formation and controls, and energy and fuel storage devices by combining advanced computational strategies with the scientific and engineering expertise of our staff. We engage researchers from a variety of fields, including computational material science, solid-state chemistry, and high-performance computing, to create the mathematical models and databases that describe a material response to an external environment.
Computation-intensive activities such as those encountered in constructing material models (which can involve information scaling up from atomic to macroscopic levels) and virtual vehicle/virtual environment simulations are met by the new supercomputing resources available at PNNL.
With a focus on systems engineering to enhance reliability and asset management for large interconnected power systems, we develop, assess, and deploy advanced technologies for power grid operation and control. Specific areas of emphasis include measurement, analysis, simulation, and modeling of power system dynamic responses, analysis of energy storage benefits and distributed generation interconnection issues, power quality and reliability inputs of distributed generation, and energy infrastructure information security and vulnerability assessment.
This capability includes the development of sophisticated methods and software to monitor, control, and diagnose the operating state of complex engineered processes ranging from electrical and thermal power generation to the end use of energy in industrial and residential facilities. Examples of these technologies include the Decision Support for Operations and Maintenance (DSOM) technology suite and the Whole Building Diagnostician.
Design, develop, test, and deliver mechanical, robotic, remote, and automated systems. Develop control systems for autonomous and semi-autonomous systems. Develop new robotics technology and tailor existing technology to meet customer requirements. Integrate new technology, off-the shelf equipment and custom components to deliver expertly crafted solutions that are on time, within budget and meet the expectations of our customers.
Characterize thermal diffusivity, thermal expansion, and other critical properties of ceramic and other materials used in nuclear systems, fuel cells, and other challenging environments. Plan and coordinate materials irradiation tests. Conduct post-irradiation examination. Develop joining processes for ceramic materials. Apply Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) techniques to develop specialized coatings and coating processes for unusual geometries and service conditions.
In addition, the EED possesses the following critical enabling capability.
Administrative, project management, and proposal development services are critical to the success of our business and necessary to meet or exceed clients' evolving needs. The Energy/Engineering Administrative Support Group represents a multidisciplinary capability that integrates the experience of secretarial, clerical, and administrative staff. The team provides both fundamental and specialized support from proposal start up to project closeout. Staff routinely provides general guidance, project management assistance and proposal development services, financial analysis, and other specialized expertise to help ensure successful achievement of business objectives.