Bio
Thomas Wenning is a program manager for industrial energy efficiency at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Mr. Wenning manages ORNL’s domestic and international industrial energy efficiency technology assistance and deployment activities. He supports the DOE’s Better Buildings, Better Plants program and the Federal Energy Management Program by providing industrial sites with technical assistance activities, energy assessments and training, and energy management guidance. Under Mr Wenning’s leadership, the DOE’s Better Buildings, Better Plants program has grown to 240+ industrial partners and is generating over $8.2B and 2.4 QBtu in cumulative energy savings; 60+ Better Plants partners have achieved their long-term goals ahead of schedule. In addition, Mr. Wenning is leading the DOE’s effort to modernize their energy-system software tool suite and associated training resources. The chief of these is the open-source MEASUR software suite which has had over 25,000 downloads and is helping industry save millions of dollars in energy savings. Mr Wenning has led numerous international industrial energy efficiency workshops, trainings, and assessments on behalf of the DOE. Mr. Wenning is a registered Professional Engineer, a Certified Practitioner in Energy Management Systems, an SEP-Performance Verifier, and a DOE Qualified Specialist in the areas of steam, pumps, and fans. Finally, Mr Wenning has been internationally recognized by the Alliance to Save Energy in 2018 with their “Rising Star of Energy Efficiency” Award and by the Association of Energy Engineers’ with their “2019 International Young Energy Professional of the Year” Award. Most recently, he was awarded DOE’s 2021 Assistant Secretary Annual Outstanding Achievement Award for establishing the Better Buildings, Better Plants Low Carbon Pilot which is advancing DOE’s carbon dioxide emission reduction goals. Also during 2021, Mr Wenning was recognized by CFE Media, the publisher of Control Engineering and Plant Engineering, with their “Engineering Leader Under 40” award.