News

This year’s Director’s Awards at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (Berkeley Lab) recognized Energy Technologies Area (ETA) researchers, Marca Doeff, Gao Liu, Charlie Ćurčija, Howdy Goudey, Robert Hart, Brendon Milne Smith, Dev Millstein and Jennifer Stokes-Draut.The Director’s Awards highlight Berkeley Lab employee achievements across a range of categories. A... Read more

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and its partners are finding new ways for commercial food manufacturers to cool down their products and energy costs.California-based Straus Family Creamery will host the world’s first industrial-scale, fully electric heat pump refrigeration system. This novel, integrated system reclaims heat from the... Read more

Nan Zhou, Senior Scientist at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, received the Champions of Energy Efficiency in Buildings Award from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE).Zhou was joined by four other cross-sector energy policy leaders in receiving the award, which recognizes accomplishment in improving buildings’ efficiency, at the 23rd... Read more

One innovative technology from the Energy Technologies Area (ETA) is among two at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) that have been honored with a 2024 R&D 100 Award. The award, presented by R&D Magazine and selected by an independent panel of judges, recognizes the year’s 100 most innovative and disruptive technology products... Read more

The Smarter Small Buildings Campaign will publicly recognize three organizations in 2024 – LUSH, Sheetz, and Bakersfield College – for their excellence in rooftop heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) controls. The virtual event, part of the Better Buildings summer webinar series, will air to the public on July 30 at 11 a.m. ET (register for this free webinar here).Thoughtful... Read more

Steve Greenberg died at his home in Berkeley, California, on February 26, 2024 with his wife, Liz Varnhagen, and a long-time friend by his side. He had been in hospice care for two months with many friends and associates stopping by to visit and say goodbye. He succumbed to a brain tumor from melanoma. He was 65.Greenberg grew up in Santa Rosa, California, where his father taught high school... Read more

Abby Dernburg and Ramamoorthy Ramesh, two senior faculty scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. They join 118 other new members and 24 international members who will be formally inducted next April.On top of being one of... Read more

As the nation shifts to clean energy, many communities, businesses, and government agencies face a head-spinning number of technology, operational, and policy decisions. Technical assistance experts at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) help identify solutions that are most cost-effective and viable for each individual partner, in addition to increasing energy efficiency and... Read more

Adapted from a news release by the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy.The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Efficient and Healthy Schools Program recognized 13 school district honorees at the 2024 White House Summit for Sustainable and Healthy K-12 School Buildings and Grounds: Equity, Learning, Health, and Climate, held on April 26, 2024.DOE’s... Read more

Jessica Granderson, a senior scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), has been named director of the Building Technology and Urban Systems (BTUS) Division in the Energy Technologies Area. Her appointment is effective immediately and follows an extensive international search.“Jessica’s formidable experience of over 17 years at Berkeley Lab, her management skills,... Read more

Any organization seeking to decarbonize must manage its energy, and an enterprise-wide strategy offers the best chance of success. From giant corporations to small businesses and NASA facilities to neighborhood schools, organizations of all kinds globally are cutting carbon emissions, saving money, and saving energy with energy management systems. Based on the international ISO 50001 standard,... Read more

Existing buildings often contain a host of opportunities for energy savings, but identifying the most promising ones can be costly and time-consuming. A tool developed with support from the U.S. Department of Energy Buildings Technology Office (BTO) by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and Johnson Controls is helping PowerOptions, a nonprofit energy consortium in Massachusetts,... Read more

Recordings from the annual Building Efficiency for Sustainable Tomorrow (BEST) Center National Institute, held January 4–5, are now available. The theme of this year’s two-day, online event was “Less Carbon, More Action! Strategies for Better Buildings & Tech Education.” The 2024 National Institute, which was co-hosted by BEST and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab),... Read more

Ashok Gadgil – a retired faculty senior scientist in the Energy Technologies Area of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) – is among 162 new fellows of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) for 2023. His many inventions include low-cost, life-sustaining solutions such as safe drinking water and fuel-efficient cookstoves for the most vulnerable communities in the developing... Read more

Co-hosts Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the Building Efficiency for a Sustainable Tomorrow (BEST) Center have opened registration for their annual National Institute meeting for building sustainability professionals, which will take place virtually from January 4-5, 2024. Each year, hundreds of instructors, students, technicians, facilities managers, and building... Read more

The United States aims to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions economy-wide by 2050. Getting there depends on meeting clean electricity objectives by 2030 and achieving deep energy efficiency and electrification in the buildings sector. These ambitious goals also entail replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy such as wind and solar. Around 20% of all electricity for the U.S. grid is... Read more

Several employees in the Energy Technologies Area were honored in this year’s Director’s Awards at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (Berkeley Lab). The Lab’s Director’s Awards program recognizes employees’ accomplishments, leadership, collaboration, multi-disciplinary science, cross-divisional projects, and commitment to excellence in support of the Lab’s... Read more

During a ceremony at the White House today, President Biden awarded Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) retired Faculty Senior Scientist Ashok Gadgil the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the nation’s highest honor for technological achievement. His award is “for providing life-sustaining resources to communities around the world. His innovative, inexpensive... Read more

Growing up in Mumbai, India in the 1950s, Ashok Gadgil remembers his small apartment overflowing with books. “My dad was a member of a number of libraries and he would bring in a dozen books at a time,” he fondly recalls. These early experiences contributed to his growing curiosity and awareness of the world, and subsequently, his interest in science. Gadgil earned degrees in physics from the... Read more

By harnessing the power of AI and machine learning, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory scientists are developing a tool that predicts properties of high-potential, bio-based molecules and fuels, paving the way for cost-effective and sustainable jet fuel production. This innovation offers a promising short-term solution to reduce emissions. This video originally appeared at the Berkeley Lab News... Read more

The Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) will host two new centers dedicated to advancing clean energy technology and combating climate change. The awards are part of DOE’s Energy Earthshots Initiative that launched in 2021 with the goal of speeding up technological breakthroughs and lowering costs. DOE has so far launched seven Earthshots spanning clean... Read more

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced up to $25 million to help six teams across the nation develop affordable, equitable, and reliable clean energy systems in their communities. The funding comes through the Clean Energy to Communities (C2C) partnerships program, an initiative designed to support local decarbonization strategies. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) is... Read more

Energy efficiency improvements in buildings could save the United States more than $100 billion in the effort to cut carbon emissions, according to a recent analysis from Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (Berkeley Lab). That striking figure and other highlights from the "U.S. Building Sector Decarbonization Scenarios to 2050" report are the subject of a new blog post from the Natural Resources... Read more

What would an efficient and decarbonized buildings sector look like in 2050? A new study from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) quantified up to a 91% reduction in carbon emissions from buildings with a combination of energy efficiency, demand flexibility, electrification measures, and a decarbonized grid. Berkeley Lab researchers, in... Read more

Innovative water treatment and desalination technologies hold promise for building climate resilience, realizing a circular water economy, and bolstering water security. However, more research and development is critical not only to radically lower the cost and energy of such technologies, but to effectively treat unconventional water sources. Conventional water supplies, such as fresh water and... Read more