Facilities

NREL leverages world-class facilities to develop, analyze, and validate the performance and integration of emerging technologies.

Partners from across industry, government, and academia are granted access to state-of-the-art equipment and one-of-a-kind platforms to innovate high-performance technologies, reduce risk, and power U.S. economic growth.

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Visual connection shown with blue lines between the OCL in the ESIF, the RTU in the TTF, and the grid.

Commercial Buildings Research Infrastructure

The Commercial Buildings Research Infrastructure, located within the Energy Systems Integration Facility, is dedicated to research and development to learn how commercial grid-interactive efficient buildings can provide load flexibility for the future grid.

Two men looking down at a laptop while standing near kitchen appliances and a charging electric vehicle.

Systems Performance Laboratory

The ESIF’ Systems Performance Laboratory is designed to validate building-to-grid integration and performance of emerging residential technologies. Featuring hardware-in-the-loop capabilities and three mock homes, the lab provides a dynamic test bed where researchers can implement and evaluate control strategies for residential loads, exploring how intelligent devices and data interact in real-world scenarios.

Energy Systems Integration Facility

The Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF) is the United States' premier lab focused on energy systems research, development, and demonstration. The facility offers plug-and-play research across electrical, thermal, data, and fueling systems; expert on-site engineering; and a robust catalog of energy devices that can be configured to fit a multitude of grid scenarios.

Optimization and Control Laboratory

The ESIF’s Optimization and Control Laboratory integrates commercial building infrastructure, energy storage equipment, and an electric vehicle test bed to evaluate how loads can provide flexibility to the grid and lower energy bills while providing comfort to building occupants. The space features a fluid conditioning module connected to hot- and cold-water loops, electrical infrastructure for three commercial buildings, a building automation system test bed, and an integrated data acquisition system.

Thermal Test Facility

NREL’s Thermal Testing Facility is a world-class space with unique airflow and climate controls for the ability to dynamically evaluate building technologies across climate zones—all under one roof. While a separate building on campus, the Thermal Testing Facility is integrated with the Energy Systems Integration Facility’s hardware-in-the-loop evaluation, meaning that components can be integrated with nearly any simulated environment, energy source, or building type.