Building heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) account for 13% of energy consumption in the United States. The DELTA program seeks to enable saving 2% of domestic energy use by funding the development of Localized Thermal Management Systems (LTMS). LTMS modify the local thermal envelope around the human body rather than the building. When implemented in a built environment, LTMS are expected to enable an expansion of the temperature setpoints in buildings. ARPA‐E analyses demonstrate that a potential energy savings for building heating and cooling >15% is available when compared to traditional HVAC setpoints.
ARPA‐E envisions DELTA supporting a broad range of LTMS that would enable the energy savings and emissions reduction objectives described in this FOA. Such technologies may range from on‐body wearable devices to off‐body installed systems. Installed systems could provide near range (< 1 m) and long range (>1 m) energy transfer to the human body without substantially heating or cooling the surrounding air. ARPA‐E expects adoption of LTMS for both the commercial and residential sectors. Due to the lower cost and ease of implementation, it is expected that wearable technologies are more likely to make early penetration into the residential sector. ARPA‐E recognizes the tremendous opportunities for energy savings offered by LTMS due to their inherent high energy efficiency, low capital installation cost, ease of upgrading and ability to offer personalized thermal environmental control. This FOA presents a radical shift of thermal comfort management away from centralized building systems to distributed, local solutions. This approach will leverage recent and future advancements in distributed sensing, communications, control, innovative materials and wearable technologies for the development of quickly deployable devices to significantly improve building HVAC efficiencies. While the scope of this program focuses on LTMS for quick adoption in existing buildings, our long term vision is that LTMS solutions may eventually reduce our reliance on tightly controlled building environments, thus enabling radical new sustainable architecture in next generation energy‐efficient building designs.