Residential Buildings Research Staff
Members of the Residential Buildings research staff have backgrounds in architectural, civil, electrical, environmental, and mechanical engineering, as well as environmental design and physics.
Support Staff
Ren Anderson, Ph.D., Manager, Residential Research Group
Research Focus:
Evaluating the whole building benefits of emerging building energy innovations
Specializes in:
Turbulent fluid flow; natural convection heat transfer; ventilation; residential building design
Dennis Barley, Ph.D., Senior Engineer
Research Focus:
Analysis methods: break-even cost of emerging technologies in integrated systems, thermostat settings, and take-back effect; BEopt model development: perimeter conductance, insulated slabs, window attachments; field testing: room-to-room distribution of outside air
Specializes in:
Energy use in buildings; original analysis methods; field test protocols; laboratory testing; electrical systems in buildings
Chuck Booten, Ph.D., Senior Engineer
Research Focus:
Heat transfer modeling; DOE Building America research coordination; Better Buildings Neighborhood Program technical support
Specializes in:
Experimental heat transfer and fluid mechanics; project management
Jay Burch, Ph.D., Senior Scientist
Research Focus:
Liquid-desiccant-based solar thermal systems and air conditioning components; water heater modeling and testing; low-cost polymer solar water heaters
Specializes in:
Modeling of thermal systems and buildings; reconciliation of data with models
Sean Casey, M.S., Engineer
Research Focus:
National Residential Efficiency Measures Database; Field Data Repository
Specializes in:
Inverse modeling and building energy simulation
Craig Christensen, M.S., Senior Engineer
Research Focus:
BEopt development; analysis for new and existing residential buildings; modeling accuracy
Specializes in:
Analysis tool development; building energy simulation and optimization; solar analysis
Dane Christensen, Ph.D., Senior Engineer
Research Focus:
Equipment, envelope, and system performance in laboratory and field settings; humidity control; retrofit evaluations; automated home energy management; utility and industry collaborations and pilot projects
Specializes in:
Test and measurement; laboratory facilities; controls, diagnostics; component and system performance
Lieko Earle, Ph.D., Senior Engineer
Research Focus:
Lead on Building America field testing program; laboratory and field-based evaluations of Automated Home Energy Management (AHEM) systems; Non-Intrusive Load Monitoring (NILM) techniques; retrofit field studies
Specializes in:
Field instrumentation and experiment design; advanced monitoring; sensors and controls for building energy management
Cheryn Engebrecht, LEED AP, M.S., Engineer
Research Focus:
DOE Building America Program research coordination; residential construction benchmark development
Specializes in:
Project management, outreach development, experimental design, and data analysis
Mike Gestwick, M.E.Des, Senior Engineer
Research Focus:
DOE Building America Program research coordination; whole building analysis and field test support
Specializes in:
Project management; energy modeling and analysis
Mike Heaney, Ph.D., Research Analyst
Research Focus:
Statistical analysis of field data repository (FDR) for software accuracy; analysis of data collected from ongoing field tests to quantify retrofit benefits and study how energy use varies with occupant behavior; analysis of variability in renewable energy power sources for transmission grid studies
Specializes in:
Advanced statistical methods for multivariate data; statistical experimental design; large data sets; R program language
Scott Horowitz, M.S., Senior Engineer
Research Focus:
BEopt development; National Residential Efficiency Measures Database; Building America house simulation protocols
Specializes in:
Optimization; building energy modeling; retrofit analysis
Kate Hudon, M.S., Engineer
Research Focus:
Laboratory analysis and component modeling of residential heat pump water heaters for use in whole-house energy simulations; analysis and technical support for low-cost solar water heating research and development
Specializes in:
Systems monitoring and component modeling
Xin Jin, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Researcher
Research Focus:
Automated home energy management, non-intrusive load monitoring, energy modeling and analysis
Specializes in:
Modeling and control of dynamic systems, machine learning algorithm development, sensors and control for building energy management
Noel Merket, M.S., Engineer
Research Focus:
National Residential Efficiency Measures Database; Field Data Repository; Building Energy Optimization software development
Specializes in:
Mechanical engineering; fluid-thermal sciences; computational analysis
Tim Merrigan, M.S., Senior Project Leader
Research Focus:
Solar water heating technology development; PV/thermal system development and demonstration; integrated solar heating and cooling systems
Specializes in:
Solar heating and cooling; HVAC system integration
Ben Polly, M.S., Senior Engineer
Research Focus:
BEopt retrofit analysis; software accuracy assessment and improvement
Specializes in:
Whole building energy simulation; software validation
David Roberts, P.E., M.S., Senior Engineer
Research Focus:
National Residential Efficiency Measures Database; Building America Field Data Repository
Specializes in:
Simulation; building science; database development; software development
Joseph Robertson, M.S., Engineer
Research Focus:
Field Data Repository, automated building model calibration
Specializes in:
Building energy simulation, modeling and data analysis, mathematical optimization
Stacey Rothgeb, P.E., C.E.M., B.S., Senior Engineer
Research Focus:
DOE Building America Program research coordination; performance testing and analysis for both new and existing homes
Specializes in:
Project management; whole-house diagnostics testing
Bethany Sparn, M.S., Engineer
Research Focus:
Residential HVAC equipment evaluation; heat pump water heater evaluation; non-intrusive load monitoring evaluation; automated home energy management device evaluation
Specializes in:
Laboratory testing of residential systems; field testing of whole-house performance; automated home energy management
Paulo Cesar Tabares-Velasco, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Researcher
Research Focus:
Validation of phase-change material (PCM) model in EnergyPlus; design optimization of PCM in residential buildings; verification of solid conduction heat-transfer models in energy simulation programs
Specializes in:
Heat and mass transfer models for building energy simulation programs; heat transfer experiments; green roofs; building energy analysis; computational fluid dynamics; indoor air quality
Jeff Tomerlin, Senior Research Technician
Research Focus:
Residential HVAC research experiments
Specializes in:
Experiment design and fabrication; data acquisition; electronic, mechanical, hydraulic, and pneumatic systems troubleshooting
Eric Wilson, M.S., Engineer
Research Focus:
BEopt development; Building America house simulation protocols; water heating
Specializes in:
Whole building energy simulation and energy auditing
Jon Winkler, Ph.D., Senior Engineer
Research Focus:
Residential HVAC systems; residential dehumidification control; energy modeling tools; BEopt development
Specializes in:
Advanced energy modeling tools; laboratory test and analysis of residential HVAC systems; dehumidification and moisture control of advanced residential buildings; steady state and transient simulation of vapor compression systems
Jason Woods, Ph.D., Engineer
Research Focus:
Develop liquid-desiccant air conditioning systems and membrane-based HVAC devices
Specializes in:
Heat and mass transfer; numerical modeling; laboratory experiments
Support Staff
Marcia Fratello, Administrative Associate
Specializes in:
Administrative support for the Residential Buildings Group
Kristy Usnick, Administrative Associate
Specializes in:
Administrative support for research management of DOE Building America Program; SharePoint site administrator
