The Department of Energy has awarded $74M in funds to support efforts that will potentially augment energy performance rates in U.S. infrastructure and the electric grid.
DOE said Monday it has tapped 63 projects that cover research, evaluation and developmental activities for construction practices and building technologies.
The projects are required to address cybersecurity gaps in buildings and associated equipment and will cover various topics such as solid-state lighting, fuel-based building gears and novel thermal energy storage materials.
Daniel Simmons, assistant secretary of energy efficiency and renewable energy at DOE, said the department aims to build tools that may allow Americans to optimize building capabilities.
DOE noted 125M commercial and residential facilities account for around 75 percent of U.S. electricity consumption and 40 percent in energy usage.