Initial Application Step: Interested applicants must first submit a concept paper before April 2, 2010 at 5:00 P.M. (EST). The concept paper is limited to seven pages, including an abstract (150 word limit), technical section (five page limit, when combined with abstract), cost summary (one page limit), and end-of-project-targets table (one page template). Please note: Important information re registration and other pre-submission requirements (including ARPA-E eXCHANGE submission mechanics) is included in the funding opportunity announcement (FOA). Please refer to the FOA for details.

Notice of Encouragement/Discouragement to Submit
Full Application: Anticipated mid-April 2010

Full Application Submission Deadline: Anticipated
mid-May 2010

Award Announcements: Anticipated July 2010

Award Size: Anticipated award size is from $1,000,000 to $5,000,000. The minimum amount for each award is $500,000 and the maximum amount is $10,000,000. ARPA-E anticipates making between five and fifteen awards totaling $35,000,000 under this FOA.

Award Instrument: Cooperative agreement or technology investment assignment (TIA)

Program Description

The purpose of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency—Energy (ARPA-E) is to create transformational new energy technologies and systems through funding and managing research and development (R&D) efforts. ARPA-E’s mission is to overcome the long-term and high-risk technological barriers in the development of energy technologies that (1) enhance the economic and energy security of the United States through the development of energy technologies that result in reductions of imports of energy from foreign sources, reductions of energy-related emissions, including greenhouse gases, and improvement in the energy efficiency of all economic sectors, and (2) ensure that the United States maintains a technological lead in developing and deploying advanced energy technologies. It is expected that energy technologies funded by ARPA-E will help catalyze breakthroughs for national priorities which harness science and technology to address the “grand challenges” of the 21st century and unleash a clean energy revolution.

The focus of this FOA is to develop energy efficient cooling technologies/air conditioners (AC) for buildings to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the following: (a) primary energy consumption due to space cooling; and (b) refrigerants used in vapor compression systems. ARPA-E seeks innovative research and development approaches to increase energy efficiency and reduce GHG emissions due to cooling of buildings by pursuing the following objectives:

Developing cooling systems that use refrigerants with global warming potential less than or equal to 1 (as defined by Bern carbon cycle model);
Developing energy efficient air conditioning (AC) systems for warm and humid climates to increase the coefficient of performance (COP) of ventilation load cooling by 50%; and
Increasing the efficiency of vapor compression AC systems for hot climate for re-circulating air loads by increasing the COP by 50%.

ARPA-E states that the unique challenge for the U.S. market is to come up technologies that can be retrofitted into current cooling systems. For developing economies on the other hand, there is a large market for new cooling technologies. The development of these technologies will lead to reduction in GHG emissions and significantly increase US technological lead in the world.

Areas of Interest

Areas of interest for this FOA include the following:

Area of Interest 1: Compact cooling systems that are based on refrigerants with global warming potential less than or equal to 1 (as defined by Bern carbon cycle model)
Area of Interest 2: Enhanced energy efficiency of vapor compression based air conditioning, including subtopics of interest (a) efficient control of temperature and humidity in warm and humid climate to increase energy efficiency and indoor air quality while reducing operating cost, and (b) increased cooling efficiency of recirculation air in hot environment

Mandatory Program Requirements

ARPA-E states that it welcomes submissions from any type of capable technology research and development entity. This includes, but is not limited to, for-profit entities, academic institutions, research foundations, not-for-profit entities, collaborations, and consortia. A Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) may submit a proposal as a project lead entity; only if the FFRDC is the lead for a consortium, collaboration, or other teaming arrangement. The FFRDC may not submit a proposal as a stand along entity. A minimum of 90% of the work, as defined by total project costs, must be performed on U.S. soil, which includes the United States proper and its territories.

Cost Sharing

If an applicant is exclusively an educational institution or consortia of educational institutions, a cost share of at least 10% of the total allowable costs will be required. Cost share of at least 20% is required of all other applicants. For awards where ARPA-E determines that use of a TIA is appropriate (i.e., when a standard cooperative agreement is not feasible or appropriate), a minimum 50% cost share of the total project cost is required.