A long-time champion of building energy efficiency, Steve Selkowitz, is one of two recipients of the new Lifetime Achievement Award from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). Selkowitz received his award in the Societal Impact category for “solving important challenges for society, research that furthers solutions to large social problems, or scientific breakthroughs that have improved the world.”
For 35 years, Selkowitz has led the Building Technologies Department at LBNL, a group that includes 80 researchers and carries out some of the world’s leading research on energy efficiency in such areas as building simulation, window glazings, daylighting, electric lighting systems, and demand-response technologies. The nomination statement for the award noted that “few in the world have had as big an impact on reducing energy use in buildings” and went on to describe Selkowitz as “the ‘Steve Jobs’ in the world of energy-efficient buildings,” adding, “he has literally changed how we design, build, and inhabit buildings the world over.”