Santiago grew up traveling the world with his parents, a language teacher and an economic development expert. They taught Santiago and his younger brother about the value of a diverse world, and planning for a better future for those who come later. For fun, Santiago loved taking things apart and seeing how they worked. Sometimes they kept working after he put them back together. Building the fair and better world his parents wanted seemed like a good idea, but the path to making it happen while following his interests remained a mystery. His work, hobbies and studies took a series of unexpected twists and turns before he found a way to make it happen. Along the way, Santiago took up Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and bike riding. These hobbies had no impact on his professional career, but were still lots of fun. He still loves to spar with his training partners and take his bike on errands about town.

Now, Santiago is an energy efficiency analyst at SBW Consulting Inc. He has a BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering from Portland State with a focus on building science research. In his university graduate program, Santiago deployed numerous weather stations and measurement systems for urban micro-climate and building performance studies. Now he applies his skills to evaluating energy saving technologies and creating energy efficiency policy. Some of Santiago’s recent work includes energy efficiency impact evaluations for electric utilities in the Pacific Northwest, developing Washington State building energy use benchmarks, and field testing residential energy saving standards.