The next generation of building scientists: Solar Decathlon

Since its inception 20 years ago, The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon® has blended a learning experience with the advancement of building science.  Through a competitive exercise of designing and building high-performance, low-carbon buildings, student teams have had the opportunity to connect the academic themes of their study with real-world implementation. This webinar would focus on how Solar Decathlon is creating the next generation of building science professionals, including energy modelers and see some of their design. We will speak about some student led design models, how students are designing for underserved communities, and see highlights of up-and-coming technologies not yet seen in widespread adoption.

Taylor Ryan:

Taylor Ryan is a project coordinator in the Residential Building Solutions and Scaling group at NREL. She supports workforce development and technology deployment programs, including the Solar Decathlon collegiate competition. Taylor leads programmatic recruiting and outreach, business process optimization, and event planning and logistics. Taylor is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Applied Business Analytics from Boston University, through which she hopes to employ data-driven approaches to increase project impact at NREL.

Gokul Paranjothi:

Gokul Paranjothi is a researcher in the Communities and Urban Science Research Group at NREL. He previously worked as an energy modeling consultant for 4 years before joining NREL. At NREL, Gokul focuses on modeling and investigating novel technologies related to heat pumps, water heating, thermal storage, in addition to helping cities and communities plan their roadmaps to achieving their zero carbon and zero energy goals equitably in the buildings sector. He also supports the Solar Decathlon as a technical advisor on the Design Challenge.