Request for Information: Building Sensor & Control Technologies | DE FOA 0001409

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0001409

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), through its Building Technologies Office (BTO), issued this Request for Information (RFI) to gather practical, market-aware input on building sensor and control technologies used in residential and commercial buildings. The focus is on technologies that help measure, manage, and optimize energy performance while maintaining or improving occupant comfort. DOE is also interested in how building sensors and controls can enable energy-related transactions that extend beyond the building itself, such as interacting with the electric grid, supporting demand response, or other forms of external energy coordination. The RFI is meant to help DOE understand what is possible today, what improvements are likely in the near future, and what those improvements could mean for adoption and impact across the building sector.

A central theme of the RFI is capturing the current state of the art as well as forthcoming research and development advances that could either lower costs or improve performance. DOE is looking for specifics: what technologies exist now, what capabilities they offer, how mature they are, and where the limitations are. Alongside technical capability, DOE is clearly signaling interest in real-world considerations that often decide whether a technology succeeds in buildings, including installation complexity, interoperability, maintainability, accuracy over time, cybersecurity considerations, and whether solutions can scale across different building types and use cases. The RFI also seeks insight into potential market implications, meaning how better sensors and controls could change building operations, service models, or purchasing decisions, and what barriers still stand in the way.

DOE groups the requested input into five categories. The first category, multi-purpose plug-and-play sensor packages, is aimed at sensors that can be deployed quickly with minimal custom engineering. This reflects a common building-market challenge: many sensing solutions are too expensive to install or require too much integration work to be widely adopted. DOE is interested in packages that combine multiple measurements, are easy to commission, and can connect smoothly into building management or analytics systems, ideally with minimal disruption and a clear value proposition.

The second category, virtual sensors and predictive models, covers software-based approaches that infer conditions or performance metrics without relying on extensive physical sensor deployment. This can include models that estimate equipment loads, indoor environmental conditions, or system efficiency using limited data streams. DOE is seeking information on accuracy, validation methods, data requirements, and where these approaches work well versus where they break down. This category also implies an interest in forecasting and optimization, where predictive models can anticipate building needs and adjust controls proactively rather than reactively.

The third category addresses sub-metering, continuous commissioning, and automated fault detection and diagnostics (AFDD). Here, DOE is looking at technologies and methods that provide more granular visibility into energy use and system performance, then use that visibility to keep buildings operating as intended over time. Sub-metering can help attribute energy use to end uses or zones; continuous commissioning aims to detect drift and maintain performance; and AFDD tools flag faults such as stuck dampers, sensor failures, leaking valves, poor control sequences, and equipment inefficiencies. DOE is seeking feedback on what metrics matter, what performance levels are achievable, what it costs to deploy these capabilities, and how well they fit into existing operations and maintenance workflows.

The fourth category, occupant-centered sensing and controls, focuses on using occupancy, behavior, and comfort-related measurements to drive better control decisions. This can include sensing occupancy presence, count, or patterns; measuring comfort conditions; and tailoring HVAC, lighting, or ventilation to actual needs rather than static schedules. The intent is to reduce wasted energy while improving comfort, but DOE recognizes that occupant-centered approaches raise important questions about privacy, acceptability, reliability, and control strategies that do not create unintended consequences like discomfort or complaints. Input in this category likely helps DOE understand what sensing modalities are practical, what data granularity is necessary, and what control approaches are most effective in real buildings.

The fifth category is an open "other" bucket for ideas that do not fit neatly into the four named areas. This is meant to capture emerging concepts, cross-cutting technologies, or novel applications that could meaningfully improve building energy management but might not align with conventional labels. It signals that DOE is not only interested in incremental improvements, but also in new approaches that could change cost structures, integration models, or performance ceilings.

Across these categories, the RFI includes eleven questions intended to gather comparable and decision-useful information. While the announcement summary does not list each question verbatim, it describes the topics DOE wants covered: the state of the art, quantitative metrics and qualitative evaluation criteria, research and development status and expected advances, cost considerations, relevant building and market segments, opportunities for improvement, and barriers to adoption. In practical terms, DOE is asking contributors to help map the landscape: what works, what is coming, what it costs, what value it provides, what building types it best serves, and what prevents broader uptake (for example, fragmented building ownership, split incentives, lack of standardized integration, uncertain paybacks, limited operator bandwidth, or concerns about data ownership and cybersecurity).

This notice is not a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) and does not commit DOE to making awards. It is strictly an information-gathering step used to shape future program priorities, potential future funding topics, and an overall understanding of technology readiness and market needs. In the source data, the opportunity is listed under the DOE Golden Field Office, with unrestricted eligibility, and appears in the Energy activity category (CFDA 81.086). No awards are expected because it is an RFI rather than a solicitation for proposals.

Responses were required to be submitted electronically by 5:00 PM Eastern Time on October 31, 2015, to SensorsandControlsRFI@ee.doe.gov. The full announcement was made available through the EERE Exchange portal (https://eere-exchange.energy.gov), which DOE uses to publish and manage clean energy-related opportunities and requests like this one.

• The Golden Field Office in the energy sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Request for Information: Building Sensor & Control Technologies" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.086.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2015-09-21.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2015-10-31. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $2.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted.

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