Luis A. Luyo (Fed)

Luis Luyo is a mechanical engineering technician in the Heat Transfer and Alternative Energy Systems (HTAES) group within the Building Energy and Environment Division of the Engineering Laboratory (EL) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). He serves as the Division Safety Representative (DSR) and recently completed a detail assignment as a Safety Technician with the Office of Facilities and Property Management (OFPM) Safety, Health, and Compliance Group.

His current projects involve calibrating temperature and humidity sensors and developing Piping and Instrumentation Diagrams (P&IDs) for combined appliances at the Residential Testing Facility (RTF). Luis has led the 3D CAD design, construction, and instrumentation of two complex testbed facilities:

• The Residential Water Heater Laboratory: Designed to study Opportunistic Premise Plumbing Pathogens (OPPPs), including modifications for a Lab-Scale Study testbed to collect realistic samples.
• The Water Conditioning Loop: Designed for the Ground Source Integrated Heat Pump System to study its efficiency.

In collaboration with principal investigators, Luis’ previous contributions have included the design, construction, instrumentation, and upgrade of the following research facilities:

• Flow-vs-Pressure Laboratory: Led the design and construction of mechanical aspects.
• Residential/Commercial Water Heater Testbed Facility: Measures performance for tankless and storage-type gas and electric heaters.
• Residential Heat Pump Water Heater Testbed Facility: Monitors the performance of residential heat pump water heating systems.
• Residential Fuel Cell Testbed Facility: Assesses seasonal performance of three types of fuel cell systems.
• Micro-Combined Heat and Power (Micro-CHP) Device Testbed Facility: Measures the performance of gas systems with an AC output under 6kW.
• NIST Weather Station for Photovoltaic and Building System Research: Consists of Rooftop Module and Weather Station to assess system performance.
• Mobile Solar Tracker Facility: Utilizes new instrumentation to characterize photovoltaic (PV) panels performance.
• Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) Testbed: Performs in-situ measurements of PV systems.
• LED Solar Simulator: Measures PV panel performance under varying spectral conditions.
• Roof Photovoltaic Test Facility: Utilizes six residential-sloped roof and three commercial-flat roof photovoltaic products and meteorological instrumentation to measure the annual energy production and efficiency.
• Energy Emulator Testbed Facility: Simulates building electrical loads to evaluate residential energy monitoring systems (REMS).
• NIST Administration Building Rooftop Photovoltaic Facility: Collects performance data for a 35-kilowatt system and reporting monthly efficiency.

Additionally, Mr. Luyo led a major effort to instrument the Net-Zero Energy Residential Test Facility (NZERTF) during and after its construction. A veteran of the U.S. Navy with a background as a Machinery Repairman, Luis holds North American Technician Excellence (NATE) certification in Air Conditioning, Heat Pumps System, and Air Distribution Systems. He is proficient in HVAC air balancing, sensor integration, and data acquisition setup, and holds an Architectural Computer-Aided Design (CAD) certification.

January 2008, BFRL Safety Award

“The 2015 Eugene Casson Crittenden Award”

“The 2023 Eugene Casson Crittenden Award”