PNNL

About 40 percent of U.S. carbon emissions come from energy used in buildings, making buildings a critical component to decarbonizing the nation’s economy. Karma Sawyer is an expert in the strategies and technologies that will be needed to decarbonize the buildings sector through energy efficiency, electrification, and building-to-grid integration.

“As we transition our electricity system away from fossil fuels, buildings can be a powerful tool in on-ramping renewable energy,” Sawyer said. At PNNL, she leads a team of more than 300 experts focused on technologies for a modernized grid that integrates with smart and efficient buildings. This includes turning buildings into “virtual power plants” that can shift energy use to times when output from variable energy sources like wind or solar are high.

Before joining PNNL in 2021, Sawyer was a program manager at the Department of Energy's Building Technologies Office, where she oversaw research aimed at developing cost-effective and flexible ways to make residential and commercial buildings more energy-efficient. “Energy-efficient building technologies R&D is incredibly rich and full of opportunities for new scientific discovery,” Sawyer said in a Women @ Energy profile.

Though these technologies are important for building decarbonization and reducing the greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate change, we should not lose sight of the fact that buildings exist for people, Sawyer said: “I'm passionate about the role buildings can play in energy equity—clean energy, comfortable conditions, and healthy indoor air for everyone.”

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“PNNL Lighting Research Makes for a Brighter Future.” November 25, 2018, Tri-City Herald.