U.S.-Brazil collaboration leads to device that reduces energy use in buildings

Researchers from the United States and Brazil have developed a new device that can reduce energy losses in buildings by measuring and assessing the energy performance of windows without removing them from their site.

The portable window energy meter, still in prototype stage, was developed by researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and from Brazil’s Federal University of Santa Catarina, and is part of a large effort funded by the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy international program. The collaboration aims to accelerate deployment of clean energy technologies under the U.S.-Brazil Strategic Energy Dialogue.

The reduction of energy use in buildings is a key part of the Energy Department’s strategy to achieve several goals, including doubling energy productivity by 2030. The Energy Department estimates that the amount of energy lost annually through windows in the United States corresponds to approximately $40 billion.