LAURA VAN WIE McGRORY is a co-founder and Vice President for Energy Efficiency with Pacific Clean Energy Partners. For the past two decades, Laura has been managing international energy efficiency projects and providing energy policy guidance in the United States, Asia, Africa, SE Europe, and Latin America. Her areas of expertise include energy efficiency standards and labeling, building systems efficiency and code implementation, utility demand-side management capacity building, municipal energy efficiency programs and financing, energy efficient transportation, gender and climate change, and water and energy efficiency in water systems.
As Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at the Alliance to Save Energy, Laura has spent the last ten years managing cross-sectoral energy efficiency programs internationally and in the United States. Her recent work has included:
Systems Efficiency Initiative: Managed a multiyear collaboration among U.S. manufacturers, electric and natural gas utilities, national and state-level government agencies, and efficiency advocates to develop a roadmap for advancing energy efficiency in building systems.
APEC Cooperative Energy Efficiency Design for Sustainability (CEEDS) program: Led workshops with policymakers throughout the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) region to assist APEC economies in designing and implementing energy efficiency policy measures (e.g., building codes, appliance standards, transportation planning).
Watergy: Managed a program that helped more than 100 developing country cities in nine countries implement water and energy efficiency improvements in their municipal water supply and wastewater treatment systems. Participating cities and water utilities realized significant energy, water and monetary savings and achieved significant improvements in water service.
USAID Energy Conservation and Commercialization III Project (ECO III): Managed several ECO III activities aimed at promoting commercialization of energy efficiency technologies and services in India. Helped launch the Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy (AEEE), a national energy efficiency industry association for equipment manufacturers and suppliers that advocates for energy efficiency in India.
REEEP Compendium of Best Practices: Sharing Local and State Successes in Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy from the United States. Worked with the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP), the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), and a panel of international experts to develop a compendium of best practices from U.S. state and local governments. The compendium shares successful policies, financing mechanisms, and policy models that can be adapted for implementation in emerging markets.
Energy Efficient Transportation in APEC Economies: Produced APEC report “Survey of Policies and Programs that Promote Fuel-Efficient Transport in APEC Economies (2nd Ed.)” and led an APEC Workshop on Policies that Promote Energy Efficiency in Transport in Singapore. Developed recommendations covering fuel economy standards, operational efficiency programs, freight efficiency, mass transit, reducing road congestion, and land use and urban planning.
World Bank EE financing modules: Developed a series of learning modules for the World Bank to provide information and training on a range of financing models for energy efficiency retrofits in buildings, with a focus on solutions appropriate for Eastern European economies.
Laura previously worked with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) as a Program Manager and then as Head of the laboratory’s Washington, DC office. At LBNL, she drafted and edited rulemakings for the US Department of Energy (USDOE)’s energy efficiency appliance standards program, provided technical support for the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate and APEC partnerships, and managed international energy efficiency programs for USDOE and other funders. As co-Lead of the Promoting an Energy-efficient Public Sector (PEPS) project, she coordinated the development of energy efficient purchasing policies and programs at the state and city level in Mexico.
As a Program Specialist with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Laura helped draft and produce numerous climate change mitigation reports for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. She also consulted with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, supporting the development of the Energy Star and Green Lights programs, and with the World Bank. She has published numerous reports and articles related to international energy efficiency policy.
Laura serves on the Board of the Efficiency Valuation Organization and is a member of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Advisory Committee (REEEAC) of the U.S. Department of Commerce. She was a co-founder and 10-year Board member of the Australian Alliance for Energy Productivity. Laura has a Master of International Affairs/Environmental Policy from Columbia University and a BA from Dartmouth College.