Research Engineer II - Building Energy Analysis

Overview 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 n 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. Responsibilities 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 work will apply engineering principles and economic analysis methods to the analysis of field observations, operational measurements, survey data, product information, cost data, and simulation results. Responsibilities include developing and improving analytical tools and reproducible workflows, collaborating with technical contributors, evaluating the technical quality of research results, contributing to publications and presentations, and communicating findings to project teams and collaborators. 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 equipment, installation, maintenance, and operating cost data; applying established engineering economic methods to assess incremental first costs, life-cycle costs, and savings; and collaborating with economists and technical specialists on analyses requiring additional expertise. • Developing reusable tools and contributing to improvements in reproducible workflows for data preparation, integration, quality checks, analysis, and reporting, including maintaining organized research datasets and collaborating with database and software developers. • Applying data validation and results-review procedures, investigating data quality issues and unexpected findings, and assessing physical and analytical consistency using engineering principles, reference data, and appropriate statistical methods. • Creating and maintaining clear visualizations and updating the data underlying dashboards, infographics, and other research products. • Independently completing recurring assignments and defining and leading small tasks or projects, coordinating with contributors, and delivering technically sound results within assigned scope, schedule, and budget. • Working with project teams and collaborators to understand research needs, contribute to technical approaches, and communicate progress, findings, and limitations. • Contributing to technical reports, journal articles, and conference presentations, leading elements or sections of technical products, and presenting findings in project meetings and technical forums. • Contributing research ideas and technical content to proposals for research and capability development opportunities. • Collaborating across the group and division to share methods, stren