Ithaca, NY – August 26, 2021
PSD has been awarded an SBIR Grant from DOE for their proposed project, “Supercharging Standardized Asset Data with EnergyPlus”. This Phase II project will help expand the range of utility rebate incentives available to customers, reduce the costs associated with obtaining financial rebate incentives, and help building owners improve the real estate value of their energy-efficient properties.
Through the SBIR Grant funding, PSD will expand its engineering and software development teams in Ithaca, NY, and Philadelphia, PA. “We continue to expand our software product offerings to better meet our customers’ needs because of R&D grants like this. This project will allow us to grow our software development team in Ithaca and Philadelphia,” says Rich Andrulis, Director of Product Development & Delivery.
The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program is a U.S. Government program from DOE, intended to help small businesses conduct research and development (R&D) to meet specific energy needs. PSD will use DOE funding to build software products that help states and utilities use energy efficiency to support the electrification of buildings as part of meeting climate change decarbonization goals.
Key partners on the project include the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and Honeywell. “Utilizing these new software tools with our partners will help energy efficiency programs become more efficient and access deeper savings. They will also add more real estate value to the homes that are improved. These research and development investments are critical as we all work to decarbonize our buildings,” says PSD’s Founder, Greg Thomas, the project’s Principal Investigator.
PSD was selected as one of 110 SBIR/STTR Phase II awardees to build on years of DOE research and development programs like EnergyPlus, HPXML, and Home Energy Score to streamline and credential energy calculations for utility programs. “We are excited that this work demonstrates how DOE’s investments in simulation tools and data standards can be leveraged to reduce the cost of energy efficiency programs and support state and national goals for building decarbonization. This effort will put building energy data to work in New York and other states to simplify heat pump and efficiency deployment and combat the climate crisis,” says Madeline Salzman, Management & Programs Analyst, U.S. Department of Energy.
“DOE’s EnergyPlus and OpenStudio modeling platform has traditionally been oriented towards commercial buildings. Over the past several years, DOE has invested in improving the platform’s residential modeling capabilities, enhancing residential modeling workflows, and migrating tools like Home Energy Score. New York State and its aggressive efficiency programs will make for a great road test for these new capabilities and PSD is an expert and experienced driver,” says Dr. Amir Roth, Technology Manager for Building Energy Modeling, US Department of Energy.
About PSD:
At Performance Systems Development (PSD), we translate building science into innovative utility programs and powerful software products. As a leading provider of energy efficiency programs and software services to utilities and their customers, PSD designs and implements programs which leverage the power of our Compass software platform to consistently exceed program savings goals and achieve the highest levels of customer satisfaction. www.psdconsulting.com
