Betty Tolkin

Senior Research Analyst

Betty Tolkin came to NMR in 2002 after working for an electric utility, the NEES Companies (later National Grid USA), for 12 years in the area of energy-efficiency program evaluation. Her areas of interest and expertise include codes and standards, energy-efficient new construction, appliances, and lighting. As the project manager for NMR’s multi-year evaluation contract for the Massachusetts Code Compliance Support Initiative, she has been providing ongoing assessment of classroom trainings, webinars, and other support on the energy code offered to code officials, builders, and other market actors since 2014. Previously, she managed the evaluation of the Residential New Construction Program using a Delphi study to estimate this long-term program’s contribution to the energy-efficient building practices adopted across Massachusetts. Her experience in efficiency issues relating to residential new construction includes home buyer awareness and choices, incremental costs for energy-efficient new construction, relationship to green building programs, non-energy impacts, and builder motivations and practices.

Betty holds an MBA from Boston University. When she is not assessing code compliance efforts, Betty enjoys watching her almost-grown son compete in poetry slams across the country.