Claire is a Senior Associate at Rocky Mountain Institute, where she researches the techno-economic case for building electrification in the US. By developing tools to advance knowledge and fostering collaborations across industry, municipalities and utilities, Claire supports RMI’s goal to eliminate the use of fossil fuels in buildings by 2045.
Prior to joining RMI, Claire led the sustainable building design practice at WSP in Boston. In that role, she worked with architects and developers to deliver high performance buildings that meet government and corporate mandates for climate action and resiliency. Her team incorporated planning and modeling for all-electric buildings, passive design strategies, and alternative energy strategies into projects across the country.
Claire began her career as an electrical engineer in the US solar photovoltaics industry and is a technical expert in strategic distributed energy resource (DER) planning and design.
B.A., Engineering Modified with Studio Art, Dartmouth College
Boulder, CO
Late last week, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker vetoed S.2995, a landmark climate action bill that would have created strong measures to achieve the state’s legislated carbon emissions reduction targets and the Governor’s own climate commitments. In his letter to the legislature, Baker pointed to the bill’s inclusion of a…
Buildings are quickly becoming a cornerstone of ambitious climate policy, as policymakers recognize they can’t achieve the necessary science-based emissions reductions without tackling this stubborn sector. This means states and cities across the country won’t meet their climate goals if new buildings in their jurisdiction include fossil fuel systems that…
States and cities across the United States are starting to tackle a crucial transition: eliminating fossil fuels in buildings.
This week, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (AGO) disapproved the state’s first local ordinance that would have prohibited the installation of fossil fuel infrastructure in newly constructed buildings and in major renovations. The town of Brookline overwhelmingly passed this building electrification by-law in November of 2019, becoming the first municipality…
The United States has made significant progress decarbonizing the electricity sector in recent years, and as the grid continues to get cleaner, cities and states are turning their attention to other sectors, such as direct fossil fuel use in buildings. The use of gas or fuel oil for heating, hot…
Over the past several weeks, in order to fight the spread of the coronavirus, millions of Americans have been ordered to stay at home. Businesses across the United States have shut their doors, forcing more than 26 million Americans to file for unemployment benefits while they wait to get to…