How do building systems really behave — and what should a design team do about it?
6+ years turning EnergyPlus simulations into decisions architects can act on.
SimBuild 2024 · NREL / LBNL / DOE
When a thermostat setback saves energy in Chicago but barely moves the needle in Miami — that's a design decision, not just a number. Same house, same mechanical system, five cities. This study quantifies the energy-comfort tradeoff so building teams can specify thermostat strategies with confidence, not assumptions.
Cross-Climate Analysis
Same control strategy, very different outcomes. Denver saves 14%, Miami saves 6% — because heating dominates in cold climates and setback cuts gas directly. This informs how a design team should specify thermostat controls for a particular location, not as a one-size rule.
Work
About
Building performance analyst with 6+ years using EnergyPlus and OpenStudio to quantify energy, comfort, and HVAC behavior. My work at NREL bridges rigorous simulation and clear communication — turning model outputs into decisions teams can act on.
Co-authored "Simulation-Driven Rating of Smart Thermostats" at SimBuild 2024 with NREL, LBNL, and DOE. MS thesis on thermal comfort. Experience with AMY weather file creation, ASHRAE 55 comfort analysis, and schedule/controls impact studies.
Other work: data center co-simulation (MOSTCOOL / ARPA-E), ResStock building stock analysis, 2,000+ parallel EnergyPlus runs on HPC at PNNL, eQuest modeling, OpenStudio and Eppy workflows.