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.

Two young Berkeley Lab and University of California, Berkeley scientists have been recognized by Technology Review magazine as among the world’s top innovators under age 35. Ali Javey was chosen for “painting” nanowires into electronic circuits. Cyrus Wadia was chosen for identifying materials that could be unexpectedly useful in solar cells.

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.

Berkeley Lab won four of R&D Magazine’s R&D 100 Awards for 2009, which recognize the 100 most significant proven technological advances of the year. This year’s winners offer the promise of cost-competitive solar cells, more computer memory at less cost, an unmatched look at atomic scale matter in 3-D, and a more powerful way to find hidden energy sources.

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.

A new data model developed by researchers at the Berkeley Lab and their colleagues at other universities and in the private sector will help facilities and buildings save power through automated demand response technology, and advance the development of the Smart Grid.

Microbial communities in tropical forest soils rank among the most efficient biomass break-down engines on Earth. Harnessing their power could lead to improved ways of converting plant material into biofuels.