Data & Climate Research Editor
Sara Lindquist
Data editor at HeatPumpScore. Runs the EIA, NOAA, and DSIRE ingests and audits per-zip climate and rebate data before each refresh.
Sara is the data editor at HeatPumpScore. Her background is energy-data analysis — turning EIA Form 861 retail-rate filings, NOAA climate normals, and DSIRE rebate program records into something a non-specialist can read — and she now applies the same discipline to the HeatPumpScore per-zip dataset.
She owns the quarterly EIA Open Data ingest, the NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals refresh, the DSIRE rebate scrape, and the ENERGY STAR / NEEP cold-climate ASHP cross-check. When a per-zip page is generated, Sara verifies that the climate inputs (HDD, CDD, 99% winter design temperature, IECC zone) match the NOAA station data, that the residential electricity and natural gas prices reconcile against the latest EIA state-level retail rates, and that every rebate listed is a current, claimable program — not an expired one.
She is not a licensed HVAC contractor or a registered energy auditor — she is a data editor, and the site states this on every page carrying her byline. Sara also reviews the daily news pipeline. When a study, federal rule, or utility-program update gets grounded into a HeatPumpScore news article, she verifies the source is EIA / NOAA / DOE / DSIRE / ENERGY STAR / NEEP / DOE Building America or a peer-reviewed building-science journal, rejects anything published more than 60 days ago, and kills articles whose claims over-reach what the underlying evidence supports.
Specializations
- EIA Form 861 retail-rate analysis
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
- DSIRE rebate-program data audits
- ENERGY STAR / NEEP cold-climate qualified products
- Per-zip climate and tariff cross-checks
- Evidence grounding for energy-policy news