As part of President Barack Obama's blueprint for a sustainable U.S. economy, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced in early March that it will have a $52 billion budget during fiscal year 2012 to promote the development and application of energy-efficient building technologies, including advanced heating and air-conditioning systems, high-efficiency insulation materials, doors, windows and roofs. The budget will be used for research and development, demonstration projects and production of innovative building technologies to accelerate the process of marketization, so that such efficient products can reduce energy costs for American households and businesses.

In the United States, residential and commercial buildings account for about 40% of energy consumption, and energy expenditures exceed $400 billion, of which 1/3 is used for heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems (HVAC). Efficient HVAC building technology, advanced design concepts and high quality materials will provide good performance guarantees for buildings, which will effectively reduce the expenditure on heating and air conditioning in residential and commercial buildings, while also greatly reducing carbon emissions and reducing the United States' dependence on oil.

DOE is looking for suitable program participants to establish demonstration projects for efficient HVAC systems and building envelopes. The selected HVAC mechanical system project should improve energy efficiency and be suitable for existing and new buildings. The selected building envelope project should focus on high performance, low cost and low energy consumption.

As part of a three-year plan, $1.2 million of the $52 billion budget approved by the Parliament is for HVAC and building envelope projects to promote manufacturing process or equipment improvements and the use of high-performance products. The DOE plans to propose a $10.8 million budget increase to Parliament in the next two years to better support the application of new technologies.