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Dr. James E. ("Jim") McMahon received a B.S. in Chemistry from Providence College and a Ph.D. in Molecular Biophysics from Florida State University. He is Head of the Energy Analysis Department, Co-chair of the Water Energy Technology Team and Leader of the Energy Efficiency Standards Group in the Environmental Energy Technology Division at the Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) at the University of California in Berkeley. He currently: 1) leads economic and technical analysis of mandatory US appliance and equipment energy performance standards, under contract to the US Department of Energy, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Office of Building Technologies and 2) leads economic assessments which facilitate comparison of technologies, assess economic risks and evaluate barriers to and uncertainties in the acceptance and adoption of appropriate, cost-effective water- or energy-using technologies in the Energy Water Nexus.

For 30 years, he has led or participated in research to: 1) identify the feasibility and cost of engineering design changes that could increase energy or water efficiency for a wide range of specific products that use energy in buildings and industry; 2) analyze scenarios quantifying future economic impacts associated with adoption of these technologies; and 3) assess potential impacts on key market elements including consumers, manufacturers, utility companies, government, the nation, and the environment. The research has contributed to numerous government decisions regarding energy efficiency standards for residential and commercial appliances, equipment, and lighting. He is coauthor of over 100 publications including a book, Energy Efficiency Labels and Standards: A Guidebook for Appliances, Equipment and Lighting, published in 2001 with a second edition in 2005. In 2008 he contributed a chapter to the book Physics of Sustainable Energy. His special interests include the energy-water nexus, long-term forecasts of energy and water demand by end use, marginal energy and water prices, distributional analysis of consumer life cycle costs, and risk or uncertainty analysis associated with technology adoption and usage.