Research Staff
Learn more about the expertise and technical skills of the buildings team and staff at NREL.
Building Technologies and Science Center Director
Achilles Karagiozis is the director of NREL’s Building Technologies and Science Center. He manages a multidisciplinary team of approximately 175 researchers within the laboratory’s buildings, concentrating solar power, and geothermal technologies groups.
Laboratory Program Manager, Building Technologies R&D
Roderick Jackson is NREL's laboratory program manager for buildings research. He works with senior laboratory management to set the strategic agenda for the buildings portfolio, including research, development, and market implementation activities that improve the energy efficiency of building materials and practices.
Regional Director, Applied Research for Communities in Extreme Environments -Sustainable Buildings
Bruno Grunau is regional director of Applied Research for Communities in Extreme Environments at NREL’s campus in Fairbanks, Alaska. He oversees the center’s work in building science, energy policy, and demonstration of healthy, affordable, durable shelter and energy infrastructure in extreme environments.
Group Manager, Residential Buildings Research Group
Chioke Harris leads a group of talented engineers and scientists leveraging computer modeling, lab experimentation, and field validation to conduct research and develop innovations furthering residential building energy efficiency.
Group Manager, Building Thermal Energy Science
Judith Vidal has established an international reputation for cutting-edge work on molten salts. She is a joint faculty member at the Colorado School of Mines and has diversified expertise and capabilities in technologies such as water splitting electrolysis, fuel cells, thermoelectrics, and biofuels.
Group Manager, Advanced Buildings Equipment Research
Michael Deru manages the Systems Performance section of NREL's Commercial Buildings Research Group. He leads projects on the development and testing of novel HVAC systems, building performance simulations, performance metrics for sustainability, source energy and emissions factors, water, and the U.S. Life Cycle Inventory Database.
Group Manager, Residential Buildings Solutions and Scaling
Stacey Rothgeb leads a group of talented engineers and professionals focused on residential system integration solutions and scaling, working closely with industry on analysis, market transformation, and workforce development.
Group Manager, Building Stock Modeling and Analysis
Marcus Bianchi leads a group of researchers advancing large-scale residential and commercial building stock energy models. He is also a thermal energy expert and employs his background to conduct research in thermal sciences modeling, analysis, and testing of advanced building envelope components and systems to improve the energy performance of buildings.
Group Manager, Communities and Urban Science
Kim Trenbath leads a team of researchers and project managers on building science and technology projects that pair technology development with community, stakeholder, and market needs. The team’s expertise includes strategic leadership, high-performing energy-efficient buildings, district energy and building energy modeling and analysis, laboratory evaluation, field validation, industrialized construction R&D, and technology commercialization.
Group Manager, Grid Edge and Advanced Controls
Xin Jin is the grid edge and advanced controls lead in the Building Technologies and Science Center.
Group Manager, Building Performance Modeling
Nicholas Long is the building performance modeling lead in the Building Technologies and Science Center.
Buildings Research Staff
See a complete list of our researchers on the National Renewable Energy Laboratory Research Hub.
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Last Updated Feb. 7, 2025