Nan Zhou
Dr. Nan Zhou is a Senior Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and a Senior Scientist in the Energy and Resources Group (ERG) at the University of California, Berkeley. She is a nationally recognized expert in integrated energy system modeling, techno-economic analysis, life-cycle assessment, and end-use innovation, with a focus on advancing energy security, resilience, affordability, and overall system performance through data-driven, systems-level analysis.
Dr. Zhou has held multiple leadership roles at Berkeley Lab, including Head of the International Energy Analysis Department (2017–2021). She has led large, multi-institutional research programs focused on integrated energy systems analysis, infrastructure readiness, and technology deployment. She has served in senior technical leadership roles for high-level U.S. government programs that support the development and deployment of innovative, cost-effective, and resilient energy solutions across diverse global contexts.
In these roles, Dr. Zhou has led collaborative research and development efforts to improve building and industrial performance, advance technology innovation, and integrate end-use systems with broader energy infrastructure. Her work applies integrated modeling, techno-economic, and life-cycle methods to evaluate technology pathways, assess system trade-offs, and support reliable energy planning and system optimization across buildings, industry, and transportation.
Dr. Zhou has frequently been nominated or selected by the U.S. government to represent U.S. scientists at major international scientific meetings, conferences, and technical forums, reflecting sustained trust in her technical expertise and leadership in energy systems analysis.
Her career achievements include:
· Recipient of the 2024 ACEEE Champion for Energy Efficiency in Buildings Award
· Finalist for the 2016 C3E Award for mid-career leadership in clean energy
· Author of 300+ peer-reviewed publications, including in Nature Energy and Nature Communications
· Recipient of Highly Cited Paper Awards from Advances in Applied Energy
· Leadership of teams that developed 17 research products, 20 copyrighted software tools, and analytical platforms supporting energy system planning, reliability assessment, cost optimization, and performance improvement
Dr. Zhou’s work has contributed to innovation in high-performance buildings and industry, distributed energy resources, and demand-side solutions, supporting improved energy affordability, operational reliability, and infrastructure performance. These contributions have been recognized through multiple honors, including R&D 100 Awards (2016, 2020) for BEST-Cities and BETTER tools and the 2020 Berkeley Lab Director’s Award for Technology Transfer.
Beyond her research, Dr. Zhou serves on the Editorial Boards of Nexus (Cell Press), Advances in Applied Energy, and Applied Energy. She is a U.S.-designated Advisory Board Member of the Asia Pacific Energy Research Centre (APERC) under APEC and a Council Member of the World Economic Forum Global Future Council.
Dr. Zhou holds a Ph.D. in Engineering and has held academic appointments internationally. Her career reflects a sustained commitment to innovation-driven, systems-level energy solutions that enhance energy security, resilience, affordability, and economic competitiveness.
Awards
2020 Director’s Awards for Exceptional Achievement: Tech Transfer - October 20th 2020
To the Building Efficiency Targeting Tool for Energy Retrofits (BETTER) team in recognition of their exemplary efforts to build important relationships with industry to advance the science of data-driven, remote building energy analysis to improve building energy efficiency at speed and scale worldwide.
2020 R&D 100 Award: BETTER Tool - October 5th 2020
Building Efficiency Targeting Tool for Energy Retrofits (BETTER)
The buildings sector is the largest source of primary energy consumption (40%) and ranks second after the industrial sector as a global source of direct and indirect carbon dioxide emissions from fuel combustion. According to the World Economic Forum, nearly one-half of all energy consumed by buildings could be avoided with new energy-efficient systems and equipment.
The Building Efficiency Targeting Tool for Energy Retrofits (BETTER) allows municipalities, building and portfolio owners and managers, and energy service providers to quickly and easily identify the most effective cost-saving and energy-efficiency measures in their buildings. With an open-source, data-driven analytical engine, BETTER uses readily available building and monthly energy data to quantify energy, cost, and greenhouse gas reduction potential, and to recommend efficiency interventions at the building and portfolio levels to capture that potential.
It is estimated that BETTER will help reduce about 165.8 megatons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) globally by 2030. This is equivalent to the CO2 sequestered by growing 2.7 billion tree seedlings for 10 years.
The development team includes Berkeley Lab scientists Nan Zhou, Carolyn Szum, Han Li, Chao Ding, Xu Liu, and William Huang, along with collaborators from Johnson Controls and ICF.
2020 Tech Transfer Award: BETTER Team - September 29th 2020
2020 Director’s Awards for Exceptional Achievement, Tech Transfer
In recognition of the exemplary efforts of Carolyn Szum, Chao Ding, Nan Zhou, Xu Liu, Han Li to build important relationships with industry to advance the science of data-driven, remote building energy analysis to improve building energy efficiency at speed and scale worldwide.
Applied Energy Outstanding Research and Contribution Prize - April 1st 2019
Outstanding Research and Contribution Prize for a publication in Applied Energy entitled “A roadmap for China to peak carbon dioxide emissions and achieve a 20% share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy by 2030”
2017 R&D 100 Award: Benchmarking and Energy Saving Tool for Low-Carbon Cities (BEST Cities) - November 20th 2017
The Benchmarking and Energy Saving Tool for Low-Carbon Cities (BEST Cities) provides a rapidly deployable tool to use for low-carbon planning, especially in China. This integrated, computer-based software helps local policymakers and urban planners quickly assess their city's energy use and related emissions, compare their low-carbon performance to similar cities and develop and prioritize a low-carbon development plan with strategies that reduce city CO2 and methane (CH4) emissions. BEST Cities assesses local energy use and energy-related CO2 and CH4 emissions from nine economic sectors—industry, public and commercial buildings, residential buildings, transportation, production of power and heat, street lighting, water and wastewater, solid waste, and urban green space—giving officials a comprehensive perspective on their energy and carbon inventory. The tool benchmarks 35 indicators of energy and emissions performance with other cities inside and outside of China and prioritizes sectors with the greatest energy-saving and emissions-reduction potential. Beta-testing was provided by Shandong Academy of Sciences. The technology was based on model originally developed by ESMAP known as TRACE, the Tool for the Rapid Assessment of City Energy.