According to the Department of Energy, in a typical residential or commercial building, about 42% of energy is lost through doors, roofs, attics, walls, floors and foundations – known collectively as the building envelope.
In the winter months, windows can account for 10% to 25% of utility bills through heat loss. The new projects aim to help bring new, affordable technologies to market that address these opportunities for improved building performance and cost savings.
The initiative will help businesses save energy while strengthening US manufacturing leadership in technologies that are increasingly in demand worldwide, said energy secretary Steven Chu.
The investment supports six advanced manufacturing projects in California, Connecticut, Idaho, Maryland, Missouri and Tennessee.
These include about $6.5m in four projects to develop highly-efficient, cost-effective heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, together with about $3m to two projects that focus on building envelope materials.
The US Energy Information Administration expects that energy use per capita will continue to fall by an additional 15 % through to 2040.
