Virginie Letschert

Virginie Letschert is a policy researcher at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory with over a decade of experience in efficiency policy and international program development. At Berkeley Lab, Virginie leads international collaborations and technical assistance activities, working closely with experts and policymakers to raise the ambition of efficiency programs and support the development of net-zero emissions pathways around the world.

In recent years, Virginie has been one of the key experts supporting the Kigali Cooling Efficiency Program and other philanthropic foundations to advance cooling policies in Brazil, Indonesia and the Caribeans. Among other things, Virginie led Berkeley Lab's first manufacturer impact analysis to showcase the benefits of energy efficiency in Egypt and Brazil, resulting in the adoption of world-class efficiency standards which will save consumers billions of U.S. dollars in the near future, while substantially reducing green-house gas emissions. Before this, Virginie was one of the core technical experts on the “Super-efficient Equipment and Appliance Deployment” initiative. In this capability, she has led technical assistance activities in Indonesia, Chile, and Argentina, and supported specific activities in South Africa, ECOWAS and Mexico.

In addition to these, Virginie’s technical analyses have supported the development and prioritization of U.S appliance efficiency standards for the U.S. Department of Energy. Virginie is also the lead developer of LBNL’s PAMS model, which she has used to provide trainings on technical analysis to support standards and labeling programs for key country partners. Finally, Virginie’s early research is foundational to Berkeley Lab's signature model, BUENAS, providing potential studies for appliance energy efficiency around the world. Virginie holds a master in Energy and Environmental Engineering from the National Institute of Applied Sciences in France. She joined Berkeley Lab in 2004.