Luis A. Luyo (Fed)

Luis A. Luyo is a mechanical engineering technician in the Heat Transfer and Alternative Energy Systems Group of the Building Energy and Environment Division of the Engineering Laboratory (EL) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Recently, Luis, in collaboration with principal investigators, has led the designing (created detailed 3D CAD models) and building of two major research facilities: Water Heater OPPP laboratory and the Water Conditioning Loop for the Ground Source Heat Pump laboratory. Also, Luis volunteered to lead the effort to design and construct mechanical aspects of the Flow-vs-Pressure laboratory.   

Luis’ previous contributions, along with the collaboration of principal investigators, has been the design, construction, and upgrade of the following research facilities:

• The Residential Fuel Cell Test Facility to determine the seasonal performance of three different types of fuel cell systems.
• The Mobile Solar Tracker Facility with new instrumentation to characterize the performance of photovoltaic (PV) panels.
• The NIST Administration Building Rooftop Photovoltaic Facility, where he collected daily energy performance data (35-kilowatt photovoltaic system) and reported monthly power efficiency performance.
• The Building Integrated Photovoltaic Testbed and accompanying meteorological instrumentation to perform in-situ measurements of photovoltaic systems.
• The Micro-Combined Heat and Power Device Test Facility to measure the performance of residential micro-CHP (Combined Heat and Power) systems with natural gas as the fuel and an AC electrical output less than 6kW.
• The LED Solar Simulator to measure the performance of photovoltaic panels under different spectral conditions.
• The Residential/Commercial Water Heater Test Facility to measure the performance of water heating systems, including tankless and storage-type gas and electric water heaters.
• The Roof Photovoltaic Test Facility, which consists of six residential-sloped roof and three commercial-flat roof photovoltaic roofing products and meteorological instrumentation to measure the annual energy production and efficiency of each photovoltaic product.
• The Energy Emulator Testbed Facility to simulate building electrical loads to evaluate residential energy monitoring systems (REMS);
• The NIST Weather Station for Photovoltaic and Building System Research Test Facility consisting of the Rooftop Module Station and the Rooftop Weather Station to assess performance of photovoltaic and building systems.
• The Residential Heat Pump Water Heater Test Facility to monitor the performance of residential heat pump water heating systems.

In addition, Mr. Luyo led a major effort to instrument the Net-Zero Energy Residential Test Facility (NZERTF) during and after its construction.

Luis A. Luyo highly supports the Heat Transfer and Alternative Energy Systems Group’s mission by collecting performance data, constructing in-situ measurement test facilities, and collaborating with principal investigators to maintain, monitor, troubleshoot, repair, and modify electrical, mechanical, and plumbing system components.  He performs air balancing of HVAC systems, calibration of humidity/temperature sensors, and setting up sensors (temperature, voltage, current, control valves, etc.) and communication cables to data acquisition systems.

Mr. Luyo is a veteran of the U.S. Navy. In addition, to his military background as a Machinery Repairman, Mr. Luyo has experience and training in Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC). He continues the process of professional development through electrical and mechanical courses to sharpen his skills, to update certifications and to keep up with new innovative technologies.  Consequently, he has received the North American Technician Excellence certification (NATE) for Air Conditioning and Heat Pumps System, and Air Distribution Systems.

January 2008, BFRL Safety Award

“The 2015 Eugene Casson Crittenden Award”

“The 2023 Eugene Casson Crittenden Award”