2024 Top 40 Under 40: Grant Wheeler
Grant Wheeler
As part of his graduate program at Texas A&M University, Grant Wheeler started out certifying sound levels for bathroom fans and range hoods, working closely with manufacturers to optimize sound, airflow, and the power of exhaust fans.
“For my thesis, an ASHRAE-funded project, I focused on evaluating a technique to evaluate bigger and more efficient residential systems in psychrometric chambers with limited space,” Wheeler said. “Both projects illustrated how much engineering is required to design and develop HVAC equipment. I grew an appreciation for how critical HVAC is in everyday life and saw I could make an immediate impact by focusing on the HVAC industry.”
Since Wheeler began his focus on the HVAC industry, he’s led the specification development for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Commercial Building Heat Pump Technology Challenge, and led the planning, design, and construction of the Commercial Buildings Research Infrastructure (CBRI). By starting with bringing life cycle cost and emissions-effective heat
pump RTUs into the market by 2027, the goal
of the Commercial Heat Pump Challenge is to make significant step improvements to heat pump RTU performance.
The CBRI, known as a “flight simulator for commercial buildings,” is “a unique, world-class capability that can research the latest questions in the HVAC industry around grid connections, load flexibility and resilience.” Wheeler is the primary researcher responsible for the operation of the CBRI and bringing in new projects.
Moving forward, Wheeler hopes to advance HVAC technology by bridging research and development with industry and market and further expand NREL’s impact by developing relationships and making connections within the HVACR industry and outside of it.
Additionally, Wheeler hopes to “lead development of capabilities at NREL for cross-cutting research that accounts for changes in HVAC industry such as new refrigerants, smarter controls, and more connections with other industries.”
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