Program Director, CIEE
Therese Peffer, PhD, is a project manager and researcher at the California Institute for Energy and Environment (CIEE) within the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) at the University of California, Berkeley. Therese manages and conducts research in smart building technologies, building-to-grid, demand response, demand flexibility, and smart grid research projects with the objective of creating comfortable and energy efficient livable spaces. She serves as an Associate Director for CIEE and for the CITRIS Climate initiative and is the co-Chair of the annual Behavior Energy and Climate Change conference. She is currently managing the Energy Commission funded EcoBlock and large commercial decarbonization projects and the Dept. of Energy-funded Brick project. Previous research includes energy consumption displays, thermostats, consumer behavior, and user interface usability research.
Therese completed a Ph.D. in Architecture with an emphasis on building science at UC Berkeley. As an architect, she worked in San Francisco and Pismo Beach, CA. Therese earned a Master’s degree in Architecture at the University of Oregon. She lived on a solar and wind-powered homestead while working for Home Power magazine.