Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Implications Of Electric Vehicles On Gasoline Tax Revenues, Florida Solar Energy Center, Kevin Schleith

FSEC Energy Research Center®

This report summarizes the results of research conducted to determine if current and near future EV sales will have an impact on gasoline (gas) tax revenues as part of the Federal Highway Trust Fund (HTF). Gasoline taxes account for $31.1 billion or about 87% of the HTF. The project results were accomplished through a review of existing industry and government reports that detail fuel tax revenues and through analysis of EV sales from 2010 to 2015.

Semi-Annual Program Progress Performance Report For University Transportation Systems, Pppr#4, October 2015, Florida Solar Energy Center, David Block

FSEC Energy Research Center®

A summary of the major activities reported in the following pages is as follows. In the research area, the collection and analysis of data from the Nissan funded DC fast charger at FSEC (Project #3), the development of a student and faculty battery laboratory at Tuskegee University (Project #8), the opening of a new University of Hawaii battery test lab (Project #9), a computer model to optimize electrical costs for Tallahassee StarMetro buses (Project #14), and the installation and beginning of data collection from the FSEC wireless charging laboratory (Project #15). Detailed industry interactions for the period included Nissan, NovaCharge, …

Why Doesn't 25 Years Of An Evolving Energy Code Make More Of A Difference?, Florida Solar Energy Center, Charles Withers, Jr.

FSEC Energy Research Center®

This paper was presented at the 2015 Behavior, Energy and Climate Change Conference (BECC). New and more stringent building energy codes are implemented with the assumption and expectation that significant energy conservation will occur. While simulation and various analysis methodologies may be reasonably sound at estimating the energy impact, the actual impact is largely dependent upon new code enforcement and occupant behavior. This work is based upon the research question: Do homes built to a newer energy code deliver measurable energy savings compared to homes built to a much earlier energy code? This residential research study was focused on comparing …

Simulating The Energy Performance Of A Foam Roof System, Florida Solar Energy Center, Jeffrey Sonne

FSEC Energy Research Center®

Annual residential simulations were run in 13 US cities to determine the energy savings of using an insulated foam tile roof in retrofit applications where ceiling insulation was only R-11 or R-19. Variations included leaving the attic vented and sealing the attic space.

Sunsense/Sunsmart Plus-Up Schools Program Final Inspection Report, Florida Solar Energy Center, Susan Schleith

FSEC Energy Research Center®

This report provides information regarding the photovoltaic systems that are associated with the 2014 Sunsense/Sunsmart School Plus-UP program. Dave Click led the project as Principal Investigator and technical expert. Susan Schleith, participated as Co-Principal Investigator and education/school liaison. Four schools participated in the program. Each of the photovoltaic systems installed at the schools was inspected by the University of Central Florida's Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC), as well as the local authority having jurisdiction (AHJ). This report details the results of the final inspections associated with National Electric Code (NEC) and performance testing as required by the Sunsense/Sunsmart Schools Plus-UP …

Investigation Of The Effectiveness And Failure Rates Of Whole-House Mechanical Ventilation Systems In Florida, Florida Solar Energy Center, Jeffrey Sonne

FSEC Energy Research Center®

This report presents the results of a field investigation of the effectiveness and failure rates of whole-house mechanical ventilation systems installed in Florida homes over the last 15 years. The report includes homeowner survey and ventilation system testing results and code modification recommendations based on study findings.

Cooling And Heating Season Impacts Of Right-Sizing Of Fixed- And Variable-Capacity Heat Pumps With Attic And Indoor Ductwork, Florida Solar Energy Center, James Cummings

FSEC Energy Research Center®

The U.S. Department of Energy's research team Building America Partnership for Advanced Residential Construction implemented two phases of experiments to examine the cooling and heating seasonal and peak demand performance of a variable-capacity 2-ton SEER 22 heat pump versus a 3-ton variable-capacity SEER 21 heat pump with attic ducts and indoor ducts. The experiments also compared the cooling and heating seasonal and peak demand performance of 2-ton versus 3-ton fixed-capacity SEER 13 heat pumps with attic ducts and indoor ducts.

Developing Exhaust Air Energy Recovery Credits For The Florida Energy Code, Florida Solar Energy Center, Bereket Nigusse

FSEC Energy Research Center®

Energy recovery ventilator (ERV) or Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV) devices recover energy from building's exhaust air to precondition outdoor air. Energy savings of ERV/HRV devices were determined for various commercial buildings in Florida climate using whole building energy simulation tool. The annual HVAC energy percent savings due to ERV/HRV device were calculated from HVAC energy use of a standard reference building without and with ERV/HRV device using EnergyPlus. The annual HVAC energy savings potential (ERV Credits) will be used for code compliance calculation when a compliance software does not have ERV modeling capability. The ERV/HRV credits were reported by building …

Maximum Energy Efficiency Cost Effectiveness In New Home Construction, Florida Solar Energy Center, Philip Fairey

FSEC Energy Research Center®

EnergyGauge® USA (v.4.0.00) is used to examine the cost effectiveness of high performance homes that are improved to significantly exceed the minimum requirements of the 2015 IECC. The objective of the study is to determine the maximum level of energy efficiency that can be considered cost effective to the consumer. For these purposes, it is the cost effectiveness of the entire package of measures that is considered by the analysis rather than the cost effectiveness of individual measures. Optimization and rank ordering of the individual improvement measures in the package is not considered by the analysis.

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Semi-Annual Program Progress Performance Report For The Electric Vehicle Transportation Center Pppr#3, Florida Solar Energy Center, David Block

FSEC Energy Research Center®

This document covers the program activities of the University of Central Florida's Electric Vehicle Transportation Center (EVTC) for the 6 month period of October 1, 2014 to March 31, 2015. The Electric Vehicle Transportation Center supports the U.S. Department of Transportation's strategic goal of planning for near-term integration of alternative fuel vehicles as a means to build a sustainable transportation system. The project objectives are to evaluate technologies, standards and policies to ensure seamless integration of electric vehicles (EVs) into a complex transportation network and electricity grid. The EVTC will bridge the gap between deployment of electric vehicles and the …

Electric Vehicle Sales For 2014 And Future Projections, Florida Solar Energy Center, David Block

FSEC Energy Research Center®

The object of this research is to assess the current status and to predict the future penetration of electric vehicles (EVs) within the U.S. market. The prediction method is based on EV yearly sales giving the cumulative vehicles on the road for 2010 through 2014 and the growth rates for these five years. Using these growth values, the future ten year values are calculated. The EV sales results for 2014 in the U.S. show that 118,773 vehicles were sold as compared to 96,700 vehicles in 2013. This gives a one year sales growth rate of 23%. The total cumulative number …

Investigating Solutions To Wind Washing Issues In Two-Story Florida Homes, Phase 2, Florida Solar Energy Center, Charles Withers, Jr.

FSEC Energy Research Center®

With U.S. Department of Energy goals of reducing existing home energy use by 30% and new home energy use by 50%, it is imperative to focus on several energy efficiency measures, including the quality of air and thermal barriers. This report provides results from a second-phase research study of a phenomenon generally referred to as wind washing. Wind washing is the movement of unconditioned air around or through building thermal barriers in such a way as to diminish or nullify the intended thermal performance. This study focused on the impact of poorly sealed and insulated floor cavities adjacent to attic …

Electric Vehicle Charging Technology Analysis And Standards, Florida Solar Energy Center, J. Doug Kettles

FSEC Energy Research Center®

This report accesses the technologies and standards associated with Electric Vehicles (EVs), Electric Vehicle Service Equipment (EVSE) and the related infrastructure. A review of infrastructure, highway and vehicle safety standards are included in the paper. The report also evaluates the barriers and challenges of deploying an expanded network of EV charging stations and makes recommendations to help standardize and expedite EVSE infrastructure deployment to support the accelerating growth of EVs. The study focuses on EVSE and the infrastructure for Battery-Electric Vehicles (BEVs) and Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs); collectively known as Plug-In Electric Vehicles (PEVs). The results are restricted to …

Self-Study Review Florida Solar Energy Center (Fsec) University Of Central Florida (Ucf), Florida Solar Energy Center, James Fenton

FSEC Energy Research Center®

This document has been prepared for the use of the Florida Solar Energy Center's (FSEC's) External Review Team, 7-Yr. Review. The document follows an outline provided by the University of Central Florida. With added sections addressing FSEC's strengths, weaknesses and opportunities

Fuel Cells As Electric Vehicle Range Extenders, Florida Solar Energy Center, R. Paul Brooker

FSEC Energy Research Center®

Fuel cells were modeled as range extenders for electric vehicles. In this application, the fuel cell would supplement a medium sized (16kWh) battery in order to increase the range of the electric vehicle. The fuel cell range extender is compared to an internal combustion engine (ICE) based range extender in terms of vehicle fuel economy and cost per mile driven. Since the fuel cell is about 40% more efficient than the ICE, the fuel economy of a fuel cell range extender was estimated to be 68 miles per gallon gasoline equivalent (MPGe), while the economy of an ICE range extender …