The Bush administration is looking for a new leader for the Commerce Dept.’s National Institute of Standards and Technology, whose duties include research on buildings. William A. Jeffrey, NIST director since July 2005, said on Aug. 10 he will leave Sept. 3 to head the Institute for Defense Analyses’ science and technology division.

At press time, President Bush had not nominated a successor to Jeffrey, nor had an interim or acting director been named. NIST’s deputy director is James M. Turner,  who joined in April. He was assistant deputy administrator for nuclear risk reduction at the Energy Dept.’s National Nuclear Security Administration.

NIST’s Building and Fire Research Laboratory studies sustainable buildings, cybernetic systems, materials, homeland security and reducing fire losses.