Research Engineer II - Building Energy Analysis

At PNNL, our core capabilities are divided among major departments that we refer to as Directorates within the Lab, focused on a specific area of scientific research or other function, with its own leadership team and dedicated budget.

Our Science & Technology directorates include National Security, Earth and Biological Sciences, Physical and Computational Sciences, and Energy and Environment. In addition, we have an Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a Department of Energy, Office of Science user facility housed on the PNNL campus.

The Energy and Environment Directorate delivers science and technology solutions for the nation’s biggest energy and environmental challenges. Our more than 1,700 staff support the Department of Energy (DOE), delivering on key DOE mission areas including: modernizing our nation’s power grid to maintain a reliable, affordable, secure, and resilient electricity delivery infrastructure; research, development, validation, and effective utilization of renewable energy and efficiency technologies that improve the affordability, reliability, resiliency, and security of the American energy system;

and resolving complex issues in nuclear science, energy, and environmental management.

The Electricity Infrastructure and Buildings Division, part of the Energy and Environment Directorate, is accelerating the transition to a efficient, resilient, and secure energy system through basic and applied research. We leverage a strong technical foundation in power and energy systems and advanced data analytics to drive innovation, transform markets, and shape energy policy.

This position is in the Building Simulation and Design Group (BS&DG) within PNNL’s Electricity Infrastructure and Buildings Division. BS&DG conducts modeling and analysis to evaluate the impacts of building energy policies, codes, and standards; develops tools and workflows to support building research and decision making; and helps accelerate adoption of energy‑efficient technologies. The group maintains core research capabilities in building energy simulation, building energy policy analysis, and tool development for building applications.

The BS&DG is seeking a Research Engineer II - Building Energy Analysis with strong knowledge of building energy systems, programming and data analysis skills, and experience evaluating building technologies, energy performance, and associated cost impacts. The selected candidate will serve as an individual contributor to project teams. They will contribute to developing technical approaches and conduct research to evaluate building energy performance, building technologies, equipment, and energy efficiency policies, codes, and standards.

The successful candidate will be responsible for:

• Performing assigned roles under the direction of Project and/or Task Managers, following applicable project and field procedures, and completing assigned tasks on time and within budget.
• Applying building engineering principles and contributing to the development of analytical approaches to address building energy performance, technology, and cost questions, including appropriate methods, assumptions, evaluation metrics, and study boundaries.
• Organizing, integrating, and analyzing building and equipment datasets from field studies, operational measurements, surveys, product information, cost sources, and simulation results.
• Conducting and contributing to the design of studies to evaluate building technologies, equipment, energy efficiency policies, codes, and standards, including selecting appropriate baselines, comparing performance and energy use, and conducting sensitivity, scenario, and uncertainty analyses as appropriate.
• Collecting and evaluating…