Berkeley Lab researchers, working with Silicon Valley companies, have three new energy-efficient data center technologies available for demonstration.

The White House announced its intention to nominate Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and University of California, Berkeley engineer and scientist Arun Majumdar to become the first director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E).

Berkeley Lab scientist Ashok Gadgil is one of 10 recipients of this year’s Heinz Awards in recognition of humanitarian research that has improved energy efficiency, reduced health risks and enhanced the quality of life in developing countries

Berkeley Lab is partnering with Oakland Technical High School and El Cerrito High School in their Green Academies. Beginning this fall, students and their teachers will be able to take lab tours, hear talks by Berkeley Lab scientists and eventually, some will have eight-week summer internships.

Through $1.8 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Berkeley Lab scientists will provide technical expertise to help federal energy managers with advanced energy-efficient technologies in lighting, HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning), and control systems.

Berkeley Lab’s Iain Walker and his colleagues in environmental energy research helped the Siebel Foundation develop the criteria for its Energy Free Home Challenge, which comes with a $20 million global incentive prize. The Challenge is a competition to create a new generation of systems and technologies for practical homes that realize a net-zero, non-renewable energy footprint without increasing the cost of ownership.

Smart grid software and hardware technology developed Berkeley Lab helped Northern California power utility Pacific Gas and Electric Company and several of its commercial and industrial customers demonstrate that they can reduce power usage automatically and quickly—in less than 10 minutes—in support of grid reliability.

Berkeley Lab and China’s Tsinghua University forged ties on Aug. 12 to promote the development and implementation of building energy efficiency, a move intended to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in both the U.S and China.

Home Energy Saver, a Berkeley Lab program designed to help consumers identify the best ways to save energy in their homes, is being used by the Microsoft Corporation in its new Web-based home energy management service Hohm. The Hohm service provides homeowners with a Web-based tool to help them manage their home energy use more effectively.

Producing new commercial buildings that use 80 percent less energy than today’s buildings is a new target in the fight against global climate change. Berkeley Lab researchers are developing the technologies that will help make this possible.