Automatic Building Energy Modeling (AutoBEM) software [Image courtesy of ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy]
This drive to improve the status quo shapes his leadership of an initiative at ORNL: creating Automatic Building Energy Modeling (AutoBEM) ‘digital twin’ energy simulations for more than 141 million buildings across the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Tapping ORNL’s supercomputing power, New and his team mine large, diverse datasets, integrating satellite, aerial, and street-view imagery with Lidar scans and real estate databases. The aim is to capture the unique geometry and properties of nearly every home and office.
ORNL then can create digital replicas that incorporate current weather conditions, allowing the team to model the energy impact of specific upgrades, such as adding rooftop solar panels, enhancing insulation, or installing electric vehicle chargers. New’s team recently made the core data and models for 125.7 million of these buildings publicly available, enabling, as he puts it, “any simulation-informed use case” to spur more sustainable construction and retrofitting nationwide. The ultimate aim, New states, is to achieve “Investment-grade models of every U.S. building.” This provides a validated, national-scale foundation for analyzing energy efficiency opportunities. It can also optimize grid interactions and support decarbonization across the built environment.
From early code to city-scale simulation
New’s path toward large-scale computation began early. He decided on computer science at 15 because, as he describes it, “logic felt so natural and clean amidst such a messy world.” Mentorship from government computer specialist Ray Brannon provided foundational skills in building computers and programming. Later, during graduate studies and his work at ORNL, access to top-tier supercomputers enabled him to tackle complex modeling.
Ray Brannon, a government computer specialist, taught me to build computers and how to program
Before the national building simulation project, a notable step was a three-year project with Chattanooga’s utility, EPB, creating digital twins for 187,000 local buildings. This effort allowed the team to refine their methods significantly. “We were able to try different data sets and algorithms and evolve our technology to match reality…15-minute energy use of each building,” New explains. “That’s what gave it the power.” This regional project validated the approach and provided the foundation to scale the simulation efforts. Today, alongside his distinguished role at ORNL, New serves as Joint Faculty at The University of Tennessee, fulfilling his expressed hope “to be a Ken, Ms. Johnson, or Ray to others by creating those unique opportunities that help the curious and hungry reach their potential.”
Grit, vision, and focused execution
New cites several guiding principles that inform his operational philosophy.
He stresses the importance of “grit”—working consistently, for instance, for more than five years to develop a capability, even amidst negative feedback.
He also advises maintaining a concise “vision” (expressible in less than seven words) while strategically growing resources around it.
New believes effective R&D management involves several actions. First, systematically evaluating the next step (“prioritize the value-add”), ensuring accountability (“action items with one responsible person and a deadline”), and using data (“tracking” key performance indicators) to objectively measure progress. Next, he adds, teams must also “share and reward success.” This structured approach reflects a core belief: “Time is the only currency we have. Everything else is a function of how we use that time.” He even shares practical management tools and prioritization spreadsheets.
Time is the only currency we have. Everything else is a function of how we use that time.
Collaboration and ‘standing on shoulders’
New emphasizes that the building simulation project’s scale necessitates collaboration. In a nod to Newton, “No researcher stands alone, and I stand on the shoulders of giants,” he stated in a news release related to the R&D 100 award. “I hold hands with amazing intellects, and I have access to the world’s fastest supercomputers. What we did would not have been possible without all of those.” This teamwork was central as the project evolved from initial single-building simulations (starting around 2015) to the comprehensive EPB Chattanooga model, and finally to the national database. The work has attracted significant interest from both startups and major companies like Microsoft and Google, leading to dozens of non-disclosure agreements. For New—a dedicated researcher averaging over 12 publications annually and a father proud of his four children—who also received an R&D 100 Award in 2016, the goal remains focused on developing tools that are “practically useful.” This impact is increasingly global, offering opportunities “to collaborate internationally to address climate change.”
New credits his “unyielding curiosity about the world” to his late father, Kenneth New, an educator who passed away unexpectedly over a year ago. His father “always engaged me with curiosity-driven imagination, playful wordplay, and debates for exploring all sides of an idea.” The news of the R&D 100 honor arrived during a deeply personal time; New was notified by his group leader while on an Alaskan cruise, preparing to ice-climb the Godwin Glacier to disperse his father’s ashes. Reflecting on that moment, New shared, “It seemed ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times’ never felt more simultaneously true, depending only on which dimension of life one chose to focus.” From this convergence of loss and professional achievement, he offers a message of solidarity: “To all those who struggle, may you also find successes amidst your sorrow.”
Heather Hall contributed to this report.
