Dr. Carlos Gamarra is Vice President of Energy, Air, and IT at HARC. He also serves as the Director of the U. S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Southcentral Onsite Energy Technical Assistance Partnership (TAP) where he leads a team promoting the deployment of onsite clean energy technologies in five states across the US.
Dr. Gamarra began his career designing, constructing, and commissioning industrial plants, power lines, and renewable power plants. His experience as an Assistant Professor at the University of Burgos increased his interest in research. Before switching to the research field, he worked as an energy engineer in optimizing industrial and commercial facilities.
He joined HARC in 2017, and his research explores the intersection of energy efficiency, distributed generation, community and industrial microgrids, district energy systems, artificial intelligence, energy planning processes and tools, and clean software development. Since 2019, he has served as the principal investigator on three separate DOE-funded projects.
Dr. Gamarra is pushing the boundaries of innovation in commercial buildings in his role as the Energy Manager of HARC’s Living Lab, a mid-size commercial office building that is certified LEED Platinum, certified LEED Zero Energy, and holds an Energy Star Rating of 99/100. The facility is a living lab where different technologies and operation strategies are tested and showcased for other users to adopt.
Dr. Gamarra received his Doctorate in Community Energy Systems Planning from the University of Burgos, where he developed an agile screening method to identify business opportunities for community microgrids. In 2023, he received the Young Professional Award from the Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Alliance for his work on promoting the deployment of distributed generation technologies through the DOE’s Southcentral CHP TAP.
Authored Publications and Related Projects
Riley, S., Bhuva, V., Gamarra, C., & Badoian-Kriticos, M. (2024). Reducing Energy Burden and Flood Damage Using Energy-Water Nexus Approach. Journal of Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems. 12(3).
Talei, H., Benhaddou, D., Gamarra, C., Benhaddou, M., Essaaidi, M. (2023). Identifying Energy Inefficiencies Using Self-Organizing Maps: Case of A Highly Efficient Certified Office Building. Applied Sciences. 13(3),1666.
Gamarra, C., Ronk, J. (2019). Floating Solar: An Emerging Opportunity at the Energy-Water Nexus. Texas Water Journal. 10(1), 32-45.
Gamarra, C., Guerrero, J. M., Montero, E. (2016). A Knowledge Discovery In Databases Approach To Industrial Microgrid Planning. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 60, 615-630. (Cited by 66 researchers as of March 2024.)
Gamarra, C., Guerrero, J.M. (2015). Computational Optimization Techniques Applied To Microgrids Planning: A Review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 48, 413-424. (Cited by 435 researchers as of March 2024.)
