New Hire
Sheila Naby joined our team in August. Sheila brings a unique background in multiple disciplines including physics, engineering, and biology. She comes with experience in energy modeling and optimization from her Master’s course work at Stanford where she and classmates created a simulation model of a Stanford campus building to identify energy savings opportunities. Her team used the actual architectural, mechanical, plumbing, electrical drawing sets to create the geometry of a building using Sketchup, then calibrated the model using OpenStudio to represent historical consumption data.
Prior to joining Resource Refocus, Sheila worked at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) National Accelerator Laboratory on the Grid Resilience and Intelligence Platform (GRIP) project, focusing on minimizing the risk of wildfire ignition, while maximizing customer electricity service. Sheila received a Master of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Stanford University, and earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Bachelor of Arts in Physics from UCLA.
Sheila is currently working with our team on evaluating residential code compliance in Montana and Idaho on behalf of the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance. She is currently using actual site data in monte carlo analysis to estimate energy consumption and identify potential savings with improved compliance. We are excited to have Sheila on our team in the Bay Area as we continue our work in California, New York, and across the country.
Events & Conferences
Recent Events
Carrie Brown recently chaired one of the virtual sessions at Building Simulation 2023 where she presented our paper, “The Future of Weather Files for Building Performance Simulation in New York State.” The paper summarized our "Assessment of Future Typical Meteorological Year Data Files" study (pdf download) completed on behalf of NYSERDA.
Carrie also moderated a “Panel Discussion with the SimBuild 2024 Scientific Committee” webinar along with her SimBuild 2024 co-chair, Supriya Goel.
Upcoming Conferences
ASHRAE Decarbonization Conference
Carrie will attend the ASHRAE Decarbonization Conference in Washington D.C. where she will meet with the Decarbonization Task Force Committee and Working group.
PhiusCon 2023
Nate will be co-presenting with Gwen McGlaughlin of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) at PhiusCon, November 7th - 10th. They will be sharing findings from our evaluation of the first two rounds of NYSERDA’s Buildings of Excellence Competition.
University Engagement
Nate is teaching Environmental Controls 1, at the University at Buffalo (UB) School of Architecture and Planning this fall semester. The course is a introductory technical class that exposes students to issues of site design, climate, resilience, lighting, and acoustics.
Nate was a guest in an architecture professional practice course at UB that focuses on alternative forms of practice and career paths for architecture graduates. He discussed his own personal career trajectory, professional architectural practice, and what influenced his career shift to his current role with Resource Refocus.
Team lunch in Berkeley
WE ALSO WOULD LIKE TO HIGHLIGHT:
Buildings of Excellence - Round 4
As part of our work with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) we have been conducting a trends analysis and developing case studies for NYSERDA’s Buildings of Excellence (BOE) competition. There have been three rounds of the competition since 2019, with a fourth round that was launched this fall.
BOE offers two different funding awards. The first is for demonstration projects that are awarded up to $1 million to projects that are establishing a legacy in the State of New York and leading the clean energy transition. The second, offers up to $100,000 for Design Firm Partners who are in the BOE Early Design Support Program that are creating, healthy, safe, comfortable, and resilient buildings that provide a carbon-neutral lifestyle for New York State residents. Applications were accepted for Demonstration Projects through September, and applications for Early Design support are being accepted through June 2024.
The Buildings of Excellence program is a great opportunity for project teams developing high-performance projects across the State. To learn more about BOE, visit the competition website.