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PANEL MEMBERS

James M. Lyons, PE

Senior Consultant, Newport Ventures, LLC

 

James M. Lyons is a mechanical and environmental engineer with over 10 years of experience in building performance and design. His technical areas of focus include building energy performance, moisture management, durability, technology development, and indoor air quality.

 

Mr. Lyons has worked with Federal clients (e.g., HUD, DOE, EPA) as well as private sector groups (e.g., Certainteed, NAHB) to investigate a broad range of building performance issues. Sample projects include inspecting houses throughout the country with moisture/mold problems and making corrective recommendations, designing and testing mechanical ventilation systems for performance and cost, and participating in the analysis used to develop Federal equipment efficiency standards. Mr. Lyons has worked closely with groups throughout the construction industry, including builders, contractors, code officials, researchers, and manufacturers. His projects have ranged from in-depth technical projects of 2+ years to public outreach articles and presentations. Mr. Lyons has authored or contributed to publications such as Durability by Design - A Guide for Residential Builders and Designers; Helping Your Buyers Understand Mold During the Building Process; and Review of Proposed US DOE ANOPR on Energy Conservation Standards for Commercial Unitary Air Conditioners and Heat Pumps.

 

Mr. Lyons is a registered Professional Engineer in the state of Maryland and is also a member of ASHRAE.

 

In addition to his buildings work, Mr. Lyons is also experienced with issues affecting the reliability, security, and emergency preparedness of the US energy infrastructure (electric, natural gas, and petroleum assets).

He holds a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from the University of Virginia and a Master of Science in environmental engineering from Johns Hopkins University.

 

 

Edward Pollack

Residential Team Leader, U.S. Department of Energy’s Building Technologies Program

 

The son of a missionary builder in Africa, Mr. Edward Pollock has been around construction for over 67 years. (His play pen was in his dad’s shop.)  As teen he helped his dad design and fabricate a number of geodesic domes and other prefab structures that could fit into a 4-seat single engine plane and transported to remote jungle locations in Ethiopia. 

 

In the 1980’s he managed the Solar Data Network Program for the Department of Energy, which measured and evaluated the performance of active and passive building solar systems.  Using the knowledge gained from this program he helped friends and family design and build a number of homes ranging from sun-tempered to underground and super-insulated passive designs that approached net zero energy.  During this same period he was one of the organizers of the Montgomery, Maryland chapter of Habitat for Humanity and served as the chair of their building committee.  He also served as president of Damascus Energy Savers, a community action group in Damascus, MD.  

 

Currently, Mr. Pollock is the Team Leader of the Residential Buildings Research Team in the Office of Building Technologies.   This program, known as the Building America program, applies a systems engineering approach to select the most cost effective combination of energy savings strategies for homes in each climate zone in the U.S.  The ultimate goal is to develop homes that produce as much energy as they use at a cost point where the incremental cost of financing the energy efficiency improvements will be equal to or less than the cost of the energy saved.