ORNL’s Jason DeGraw named ASHRAE Fellow

The American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers, or ASHRAE, selected Jason DeGraw, a researcher with the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, as one of 23 members elevated to Fellow during its 2024 winter conference.

A thermal-fluid scientist and mechanical engineer in the Thermal Energy Storage group, DeGraw was recognized for making substantial contributions in heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and refrigeration, and the built environment. He contributes education, research, engineering design and consultation, publications, presentations and mentoring to ASHRAE. At ORNL, DeGraw works with the Building Technologies Research and Integration Center, or BTRIC, a DOE user facility.

DeGraw, who joined ORNL in 2019, served on the ASHRAE Epidemic Task Force that produced recommendations that served as a national guide for industry and building owners and set targets for minimizing outdoor airflow rates. Guidance included tactics such as using a combination of filters and air cleaners to achieve better levels of performance for air recirculated by heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems. DeGraw further helped the organization establish standards for the control of infectious aerosols with ASHRAE Standard 241.

Prior to joining ORNL, DeGraw earned his doctorate in mechanical engineering from Pennsylvania State University, where he worked as a graduate research associate and postdoctoral scholar. He also worked in the commercial buildings research team at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and is a member of the development team for EnergyPlus, DOE’s open-source whole-building energy simulation program.

UT-Battelle manages ORNL for DOE’s Office of Science, the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the U.S. The Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit https://energy.gov/science.