The Ocean Energy Testing Barrier, Building a Fire-Resilient Home From Ashes, and a Surprise High School Science Bowl Victory

In this episode, hosts Taylor Mankle and Kerrin Jeromin explore stories of innovation and determination at NREL, including: 

• How researchers are testing marine energy technologies in land-locked Colorado. With tools like a sophisticated wave tank and the Large Amplitude Motion Platform (LAMP), researchers can test marine energy devices in simulated ocean conditions—without ever dipping a toe in the sea. These facilities reduce time, cost, and risk, accelerating the development of reliable energy from ocean waves and currents. 
• The building strategies that one NREL employee used to rebuild his home after Colorado’s most destructive wildfire. With insights from NREL-validated designs and a focus on passive energy techniques, air sealing, and ember-resistant construction, Kevin Lombardo rebuilt a home that is both fire resilient and energy-efficient. 
• And one team’s surprise win at Colorado’s Regional High School Science Bowl. After a last-minute entry, Stargate Charter School defeated four-time champion Fossil Ridge, securing a spot at the national finals in Washington, D.C. Along the way, students answered challenging STEM questions.

This episode was hosted by Kerrin Jeromin and Taylor Mankle, written and produced by Allison Montroy and Kaitlyn Stottler, and edited by James Wilcox, Joe DelNero, and Brittany Falch. Graphics are by Brittnee Gayet. Our title music is written and performed by Ted Vaca and episode music by Chuck Kurnik, Jim Riley, and Mark Sanseverino of Drift BC. Transforming Energy: The NREL Podcast is created by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado. Email us at podcast@nrel.gov. Follow NREL on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Threads, and Facebook.

Transcript

[intro music, fades]  

Taylor: Welcome to Transforming Energy: The NREL Podcast, brought to you by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory. We’re highlighting the latest in advanced energy research and innovations happening at the lab. I’m Taylor Mankle.  

Kerrin: And I’m Kerrin Jeromin. Taylor, we have a jam-packed agenda today.  

Taylor: We do! Today, we’re talking water power, we’re talking fire resilient homes, and finally, we’re learning about the high school science bowl—basically, the super bowl of science competitions.  

Kerrin: Saving the best for last, I see! Okay, let’s dive right in … to water power, first.  

Taylor: So, let’s set the scene for this story a little bit by answering ‘why do we care about water energy?’  

Kerrin: Now, we can’t capture all that energy, but even a little could help energize certain industries, like seafood farms. It could give coastal and island communities the power to weather outages or natural disasters, and help the country reach its energy goals.  

Taylor: While researchers studying batteries can pop one into a simple circuit to see if it works, tossing an untested marine energy device into the ocean is a bit like hopping into an experimental space shuttle and just hitting that ignition.  

Kerrin: There’s SO much potential here, but developers need a lab-sized ocean to test those theories before they head to the big blue.  

Taylor: Now, let’s travel over to one of my favorite places, NREL’s Flatirons Campus near Boulder, Colorado, for this story. Knowing that Colorado is a landlocked state pretty far from any oceans, it’s not the typical place you’d think of for water power research. But you might be surprised.  

Kerrin: Yes. Inside the lab’s water power facilities you’ll find some ocean mimics: first, a wave tank that can simulate scaled ocean waves from different locations around the world. And then there’s the large amplitude motion platform, also called LAMP, which can replicate even larger ocean motions—without using a drop of water.  

Taylor: This saves cost, time, labor, and risk for marine energy researchers and developers who are looking to get their technologies closer to commercial use.  

Kerrin: At the Flatirons Campus, people can do a host of things . . . are you ready for this list?  

Taylor: Oh yeah.  

Kerrin: Yeah—They can model their novel designs with the laboratory’s award-winning software, manufacture a prototype, test a specific component or the entire device, manufacture an improved or larger prototype, and hook actual hardware up to virtual grids or oceans that can mimic real-world conditions—such incredible opportunities there!  

Taylor: You can even specify and control the ocean conditions, so testing that could take months or years in the ocean can be done in days to weeks on LAMP. If something breaks, you can quickly fix it. If a test didn't go as planned, you can precisely repeat it.  

Kerrin: Of course, it’s all about our brilliant minds and people here at NREL, and it’s important to note that none of these machines or models function without people.  

Taylor: From modelers to technicians to electrical and mechanical engineers, NREL’s team of experts are perhaps one of the laboratory’s greatest assets. If a device malfunctions, they are there to troubleshoot, diagnose, repair, or even operate a crane.  

[Music]  

Kerrin: OK, with that, let’s transition into our next story, which zooms in on the life of one particular person at NREL, Kevin Lombardo, and how he used his buildings experience at the laboratory to rebuild his family home literally from ashes.  

Taylor: Right, so folks in Colorado likely remember the tragic Marshall Fire that occurred in late December 2021.  

Kerrin: Oh, I remember that so well. The Marshall Fire was Colorado’s most destructive wildfire. With winds over 100 miles-per-hour fanning the flames, nearly 1,100 structures were destroyed in Louisville, Superior, and unincorporated Boulder County.  

Taylor: One of those structures lost in the devastation was Lombardo’s family home of six years, where he lived with his wife and two young kids. 

Kerrin: The next few months, as he tried to figure out the overwhelming prospect of rebuilding, he learned about passive-designed homes, which use a building strategy that relies on natural resources of heating and cooling to reduce energy use. It sparked an idea not just to rebuild, but to rebuild better.  

Taylor: And as it turned out, the architect and builder had worked with students to create innovative, resilient residential and commercial building designs.  

Kerrin: Those designs were actually tested and validated at NREL and came into play with Lombardo’s rebuilding effort.  

Taylor: The new footprint that emerged was solid: a three-story, more than 2,500 square-foot rectangular home, slightly larger than their previous home. But the differences were obvious, reflecting their own adjustments and personal touches.  

Kerrin: The new home is situated on their reclaimed lot to ensure maximum exposure to the sun in the winter, yet the house also has awnings to protect from too much sun in the summer. The exterior of the house is corrugated steel, and the exterior walls are thicker than normal construction, employing a 12-inch double-stud technique, which helps with both insulation and fire resistance.  

Taylor: Also, the entire house is air sealed, and all the vents are ember-resistant vents. That way, if there is another fire and an ember hits the vent, a material within that vent expands to prevent the fire from entering.  

Kerrin: That’s incredible. The house is all electric. Control and monitoring of the energy usage, air quality, and mechanical systems are accomplished through multiple sensors and an open-source home-automation platform running on a local server in the house.  

Taylor: The Lombardos also chose to leverage additional techniques such as recycled denim and cellulose insulation, a concrete-free “slab” under the ground floor, and a laundry-to-landscape gray water implementation that helps provide irrigation to their native and waterwise perennials and trees in the front yard.  

Kerrin: And I love this part: Even the two kids had design input, including the idea to create lofts in their bedrooms connected by a secret bookshelf door. I can tell you my niece and nephew would love that design.  

Taylor: Absolutely. And unsurprisingly, the house has garnered some local attention as one of several energy efficient homes in the neighborhood.  

Kerrin: And it continues to feel more and more like home for the Lombardo family, who feel comfortable knowing that they've done the best possible job to ensure their house is safe and energy efficient—and perhaps an inspiration to others.  

[Music]  

Taylor: So, we have the rose bowl, the super bowl, the orange bowl, and the sugar bowl . . . but here at NREL we also have the high school science bowl!  

Kerrin: Oh, I love it so much—I feel like we’re about to tap into your previous life as a sports reporter! The tournament was created in 1991 and has become one of the country’s largest and most prestigious science competitions. It aims to inspire young people to excel in mathematics and science and to consider careers in those fields.  

Taylor: 24 teams from 19 Colorado school were all at Metropolitan State University Denver, vying for the chance to represent Colorado in the National Science Bowl, which takes place in Washington, D.C.  

Kerrin: So, during the competition’s preliminary round, students were asked five rounds of 18 questions. Then, the top 16 teams advanced to the double elimination rounds. NREL’s STEM Outreach Education Coordinator, Tom Mason, said the questions got progressively more difficult as the competition went on.  

Tom Mason: I think it’s very hard. I mean, when I look at the questions that get progressively more difficult from the beginning, throughout the tournament, the competition, I think it’s very impressive, and they should definitely be proud of just being here. And they may not answer every question right or win every match they’re engaged in, but the fact that they can answer any of these questions, to be quite honest, is impressive. Because they’re at a very high level, some of the questions we give to our moderators and question judges who all generally have a science background, and even for them some of these questions are difficult to answer—and some are even difficult to ask because pronouncing some of the terms is challenging. So, the fact that the students are able to answer many of those questions that are posed to them is very impressive, and they should definitely be proud of being here.  

Taylor: This year ended up being pretty full of twists – last year’s victor and four-time champion, Fossil Ridge, fell to Stargate Charter School: a team that almost didn’t even compete in the competition but secured a spot at the last second when another team dropped out.  

Kerrin: I love a good underdog story. And for many of the competitors, the Science Bowl was more than just a chance to win prizes — it was a celebration of their curiosity, dedication, and hard work.  

Taylor: Events like the Science Bowl encourage young minds to think critically, collaborate under pressure, and deepen their understanding of complex subjects.  

Kerrin: With their championship win, Stargate is now preparing for the National Science Bowl Finals in Washington, D.C. The road to victory isn’t over yet—but if their performance at regionals was any indication, they’re ready to take on the best in the nation.  

Taylor: Absolutely, this one was full of some important and impressive research and analysis! To sum up today’s stories: There’s a lot of potential for what the future of advanced energy holds.  

[music]  

Kerrin: Oh Taylor, with that, we’ve reached the end of yet another riveting episode of Transforming Energy: The NREL Podcast! We hope everyone has enjoyed this one!  

Taylor: Absolutely! Great conversation and insight in that episode that you can find in your feeds.  

Kerrin: And hey, if you missed our Lab Notes episode on the National Transmission Planning Study, make sure to give that a listen. And while you’re there, be sure to rate our show wherever you listen to your podcasts. Thanks everyone for joining us today on Transforming Energy: the NREL Podcast. We’ll be back in two weeks with more news from NREL! 

[Transforming Energy theme music]  

Kerrin: This episode was adapted from NREL news articles from January and February 2025 written by Ernie Tucker, Madelyn Weirich, and Caitlyn McDermott Murphy. Our theme music is written and performed by Ted Vaca and episode music by Chuck Kurnik, Jim Riley, and Mark Sanseverino, of Drift B-C. This podcast is produced by NREL’s Communications Office at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado.  

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