Request for Information on Research and Development Opportunities for Windows | DE FOA 0002161

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0002161

DE-FOA-0002161 is a Request for Information (RFI) issued by the U.S. Department of Energy through EERE, associated with the Buildings Technologies Office (BTO), focused specifically on research and development (R&D) opportunities for windows. Rather than offering funding, this notice is meant to gather input from a wide range of stakeholders, including industry, universities, national and private research labs, government agencies, and other organizations with relevant expertise. The main goal is to collect practical, experience-based feedback that can help BTO refine its priorities and shape the future direction of its windows R&D portfolio.

The RFI is organized around a windows Research and Development Opportunities (RDO) report that BTO created to clarify where innovation is most needed and where the highest impact could be achieved. That RDO report is framed around four major areas: (1) opportunities and challenges in windows-related energy performance and adoption, (2) technology development needs (what new window technologies, materials, or performance improvements should be pursued), (3) integration issues (how windows interact with whole buildings and other systems, and what is required for successful integration), and (4) implementation considerations (real-world deployment, manufacturing, codes and standards, market barriers, and scaling). Respondents are asked to comment across these areas, essentially helping DOE validate what it has identified, point out gaps, and highlight new or emerging opportunities.

In addition to general feedback on the four focus areas, BTO is explicitly seeking comments on more specific planning elements: planned technical objectives, technical targets, tools, and overall R&D activities, along with estimates of program impacts. In practice, this means DOE is looking for actionable input such as whether proposed performance targets are realistic or ambitious enough, what metrics matter most, what modeling or evaluation tools are missing or outdated, where demonstration or field validation is needed, and what kind of energy, cost, comfort, resilience, or emissions impacts could result if particular technologies or strategies are pursued. The RFI is designed to inform updates to the RDO report itself, and by extension, guide strategic decisions about how the windows R&D portfolio should evolve.

A critical point in the notice is that this is not a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). DOE is not accepting grant applications under this posting, and there is no funding being awarded through the RFI. The agency notes that it may issue a future FOA that is based on, related to, or informed by the responses it receives, but it may also decide not to issue any FOA at all. Even if a future FOA were to appear, the RFI makes clear there is no competitive advantage or disadvantage tied to whether an organization responded to the RFI. Any future award amounts, number of awards, and timelines would depend on later decisions, including Congressional appropriations and agency direction.

Administratively, the opportunity is listed under the Golden Field Office, with an unrestricted eligible applicant category, reflecting that DOE is open to feedback from essentially any capable stakeholder group. The RFI closing date was July 20, 2020, and the listing includes fields like an award ceiling and expected awards, but those are not meaningful in the same way they would be for a real funding solicitation because an RFI is purely a market and technical information-gathering process. Instructions for submitting questions and responses are provided in the full RFI document hosted on the EERE Exchange website (https://eere-exchange.energy.gov), which is DOE EERE's standard portal for posting solicitations and collecting official submissions.

• The Golden Field Office in the energy sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Request for Information on Research and Development Opportunities for Windows" 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 2020-06-04.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2020-07-20. (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.

Apply for DE FOA 0002161

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