Kelsea joined NREL in 2021 and is a Community Energy Researcher in the Communities and Urban Science Research Group. She is interested in stakeholder-environment relationships; impacts of siting energy technologies, such as renewable energy infrastructure; commercial-to-residential building retrofit solutions; greenspaces for climate change mitigation and adaptation; and buildings-agriculture topics, such as controlled environment agriculture.

Kelsea is a certified land use planner and social science researcher. She has experience completing plan review and impact analysis for a local planning department, focusing on commercial developments and energy proposals. She also has a background in social science research, with experience analyzing human-environment relationships, energy behaviors, and design-behavior feedback. At NREL she’s worked on a range of equity, engagement, and HVAC efforts, including developing guidance for increasing equity in field validations of new technologies, engaging Better Buildings Alliance members through webinars and approachable guides, and contributing to HVAC analysis projects.

Research Interests

Green infrastructure for climate change resilience and adaptation

Urban planning design and policy for climate change mitigation

Municipal, community, and neighborhood sustainability and energy efficiency efforts

Education

M.S. Environmental Planning and Policy, University of Michigan

M.S. Community Development, University of California, Davis

B.A. Environmental Studies, Carleton College

Associations and Memberships

Certified Planner, American Institute of Certified Planners

Featured Work

Air Handling Unit Shutdowns During Scheduled Unoccupied Hours: U.S. Commercial Building Stock Prevalence and Energy Impact, Journal of Engineering for Sustainable Buildings and Cities (2022)

Farmers Markets as Restorative Environments, EDRA (2020)

Information, Timing, and Display: A Design-Behavior Framework for Improving the Effectiveness of Eco-Feedback, Energy Research and Social Science (2018)

Not Your Average Energy Feedback: A Public Tangible Display in A Zero-Net Energy Office, ACEEE (2018)