Energy Resources Integration, LLC is excited to welcome Gretchen Schimelpfenig to the team as a Senior Energy Engineer! Gretchen will be recruiting customers and developing projects for ERI’s energy efficiency program implementation services, as well as bringing her expertise in controlled environment agriculture (CEA) to accelerate sustainable facility design and construction. Gretchen has had a passion for architectural engineering for a VERY long time, her inspiration came early on when her parents brought home the PBS Design e2 series and she became more curious about the ways sustainable and ecologically conscious designs were being implemented in the real world. Gretchen is committed to a career where she can put her interests, education and work experiences to practice mitigating climate change at an industrial level.
Gretchen has a B.S. in Architectural Engineering from the University of Wyoming and an M.S. in Civil Engineering from Stanford University. She is a licensed Civil Professional Engineer in both California and Vermont with a concentration in Construction. Gretchen has a background in improving resource efficiency in commercial and industrial buildings and has special expertise in commissioning HVAC and lighting systems and controls, benchmarking and net zero reporting, energy efficiency programs like strategic energy management, emerging technologies like geothermal heat pumps and LED horticultural lighting, and industries like controlled environment agriculture.
Gretchen recently celebrated the publication of her first journal article for ASABE’s Special Collection on Circular Food and Agricultural Systems titled “Benchmarking Opportunities Can Contribute to Circular Food Systems in Controlled Environment Agriculture”. In 2022 she was also invited to join the board of the Women’s Innovation Leaders (WIL) Forum facilitated by Fluence.