EEC News

UC Davis adds new minor in "built environment"

Energy Efficiency Center — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 10:27:27 PDT

UC Davis is adding a new minor in "built environment"; it will teach students to design and maintain sustainable buildings, communities and infrastructure.

Campus building earns Third LEED Platinum Award

Energy Efficiency Center — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 13:21:19 PDT

UC Davis News Release - UC Davis achieves third platinum award for green building
Graduate School Management News Release - UC Davis Graduate School of Management Earns LEED Platinum Award for Green Building

UC Davis West Village in the news after opening its doors

Energy Efficiency Center — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 11:47:32 PDT

Forbes - Largest U.S. “Zero Net Energy” Community Opens in California at UC Davis
Los Angeles Times - UC Davis’ “Zero Net Energy” West Village Opens This Weekend
The Sacramento Bee - UC Davis' Vision for the Future: West Village Neighborhood
Sacramento Business Journal - UC Davis Debuts Zero-Net Energy West Village
The Davis Enterprise - West Village Celebrates Energy Milestone
KQED The California Report - Largest ‘Zero Net’ Energy Community Opens at UC Davis
KQED Climate Watch - Sneak Preview of Living in a “Zero-Net Energy” World
UC Davis News Release - Oct. 15 UC Davis West Village ribbon-cutting and open house

Oh, to Be Warm in Summer’s Heat

Energy Efficiency Center — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 11:46:10 PDT

Why are airports, shops, offices and homes in the United States and elsewhere chilled to sweater-weather temperatures in summer when the temperature outside rises?

Read this article on The New York Times

CLTC Co-director Papamichael quoted in The New York Times

Energy Efficiency Center — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 17:24:45 PDT

If you study the various lighting technologies, you can save money and time — and, perhaps, see every part of your home in its best light. CLTC's Papamichael says, “Experiment with different light versions, and do it slowly.”
Read the full article in the New York Times. Click here.

Can More “Usable” Thermostats Save More Energy in Small Buildings?

Energy Efficiency Center — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 11:35:51 PDT

“Usability” expresses how well a product’s design fits users’ needs: Does it do the job intended? And is it easy and comfortable to use? In a world of proliferating gadgets, people need dependable products that combine clarity, comfort, and functionality.
A report written by Marco Pritoni for the Institute for Building Efficiency.

The environment: Global common property – Nicole Biggart, Energy Efficiency Center director

Energy Efficiency Center — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 11:12:38 PDT

Professor Nicole Woolsey Biggart, director of the UC Davis Energy Efficiency Center, joined 30 other scholars and policy makers at The Wharton School in April to identify lessons learned from the global economic and financial crisis. Now the report of the first Globalization TrendLab Conference is available online.

Noting that the conference was about systemic risk, Biggart pointed out, “There is nothing more systemic than our environment. Water, air, you name it – if it is environmental property, we all share it… We have very new property rights issues but we don’t have ways of thinking or talking about them because our notion of property rights is rooted in very different understanding. We share systemic risk, but we do not govern ourselves systemically.”

Click here to download the executive summary PDF

UC Davis ready to debut the country’s largest zero-net energy development

Energy Efficiency Center — Mon, 23 May 2011 00:33:20 PDT

The University over in Davis says it will be ready to debut the country’s largest zero-net energy development, the UC Davis West Village concept that’s under construction now, by the fall. Solar power is generated on site and puts as much energy back into the grid as is consumed by residents.

A bunch of dignitaries, including Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, gathered Thursday to cheer the arrival.

The first phase of the 130-acre project will include apartment housing for 2,000 students, an education center for Los Rios Community College, recreation and study facilities and a village square surrounded by neighborhood-serving retail.

Read the full article in the Sacramento Business Journal. Click here.

Energy Efficiency as the First Line of Defense - Nicole Biggart EEC Director

Energy Efficiency Center — Thu, 05 May 2011 17:18:51 PDT

To enhance U.S. energy security, reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and strengthen the economy, the Obama Administration has made clean and renewable energy a top priority. But most of the payoff for that investment will be over the long term. Energy efficiency is the fastest, cheapest and cleanest solution to implement now. Professor Nicole Woolsey Biggart, director of the UC Davis Energy Efficiency Center, shared her insights on energy efficiency at the 14th annual Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles in May. She joined Geoff Chapin, founder and CEO of Next Step Living Inc., James Davis, president of Chevron Energy Solutions, and David Arfin, CEO of First Energy Finance, to address ways to accelerate energy efficiency technologies, practices and behavioral changes. Established in 1998 by the non-partisan think tank, the Milken Institute Global Conference explores the most pressing social, political and economic challenges. Among the participants are hundreds of CEOs from the world’s top-tier companies, senior foreign and U.S. government officials, forward-thinking academic experts, journalists, and leaders in global capital markets, education, health care and philanthropy.

Biggart continues travel to top business schools and international conferences to present her research on how commercial construction industry practices thwart the use of more efficient, innovative and greener technologies. Most recently, she shared this research, co-authored with Professor Thomas D. Beamish of the UC Davis Sociology Department, at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas, Austin, and at the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University.

In November Biggart served as a biennial Advisory Board member at one of Germany’s most prestigious and successful research organizations, the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies in Cologne. The institute’s interests include economic sociology and political economy with specific focus on the European Union. Biggart was among eight international scholars invited to review research productivity and trajectories of the Institute.

Click here to see video

EEC Associate Director Turrentine quoted in The Miami Herald

Energy Efficiency Center — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 17:28:10 PDT

EEC Associate Director and UC Davis Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle Research Center Director Tom Turrentine was recently quoted in The Miami Herald article titled "Will buying an electric car make an environmental difference?". For the entire article, go to: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/11/2161579/will-buying-an-electric-car-make.html

EEC Associate Director Siminovitch quoted in The New York Times

Energy Efficiency Center — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 12:36:20 PDT

EEC Associate Director and UC Davis California Lighting Technology Center director Michael Siminovitch was recently quoted in The New York Times business section article titled "In Battle of the Bulbs, One Based on TV Tubes". For the entire article, go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/21/technology/21lamp.html?_r=1&emc=eta1.

UC Davis to Cut Energy Use by 60 Percent

Energy Efficiency Center — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 01:30:54 PST

The University of California, Davis and the California Lighting Technology Center (CLTC) have announced a commitment to reduce the campus’s electricity use for lighting by 60% by the end of 2015. The Smart Lighting Initiative makes UC Davis the first large institution to commit to a sweeping cut in energy use after the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) released a plan in September to leverage advanced products and best practices to transform the lighting market and achieve a 60-80% reduction in statewide electrical lighting energy consumption.

The UC Davis initiative would reduce campus electricity use by about 30 million kWh and its carbon footprint by about 6,650 metric tons of CO2E. The university would save an estimated $3 million annually in electric costs, in addition to savings from reduced cooling needs and maintenance costs.

Source: lightnowblog.com

UC Davis' Western Regional Cooling Challenge inspires National Cooling Challenge

Energy Efficiency Center — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 09:24:07 PST

The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced today its progress towards developing a national public-private partnership that will drive innovation and high-efficiency into new Rooftop Air Conditioning Units (RTUs) offered in the market. Two years ago, UC Davis' Western Cooling Efficiency Center launched a similarly designed effort to facilitate the mass-production of high-efficiency RTUs that are particularly well-suited to the dry, arid climate of the Western U.S. UC Davis' Western Cooling Challenge has been a success in generating high-efficient low peak RTU products and is a model that inspired the development of DOE's national challenge.

Related Links:
http://wcec.ucdavis.edu/content/view/92/110/
http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/news/progress_alerts.cfm/pa_id=473

Fellowships available for UCD Ph.D Engineering Students

Energy Efficiency Center — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 15:16:43 PST

The Renewable Energy Systems Opportunity for Unified Research Collaboration and Education Program—pairs Ph.D. engineering students working on renewable energy technologies with Sacramento-area 6th grade teachers to develop and teach innovative science curriculum. This includes lessons on general energy concepts (kinds and sources of energy, renewable vs. non-renewable energy), as well as lessons related to each Fellow’s specific research (e.g., improving biofuel feedstocks, wind turbines). Fellows hone their communication, collaboration, and teaching skills plus receive an annual stipend of $30,000, in-state fees, and travel reimbursement. Applications are now being accepted for fellowships that start July 1, 2011. http://gk-12-resource.ucdavis.edu/

Use your gaming skills for research: Microsoft Kinect to control buildings

Energy Efficiency Center — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 18:22:41 PST

HVAC Sensors and Controls Based on the Microsoft Kinect

The Kinect is a new gaming device that attaches to any Microsoft Xbox. The Kinect has voice recognition, facial recognition, motion sensing, and skeletal tracking. Together, these features offer revolutionary new opportunities for games and
control of home electronics. These same features offer equally revolutionary opportunities for sensing and control of the indoor environment. Can they also be harnessed to save energy? Create an improved user interface to the building’s
environmental controls? Join the team to investigate and prototype environmental controls and sensors based on the Kinect and other advanced game boxes.

You can get course credit immediately and possibly a real job in future quarters. Graduate students and Juniors/Seniors (including non-engineers) are welcome.

For more information, please contact: Alan Meier akmeier [at] ucdavis [dot] edu

Alan Meier, Energy Efficiency Center Associate Director featured on Sea Change Radio

Energy Efficiency Center — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 16:18:50 PST

This nationally syndicated weekly radio show and podcast, which focuses on social, environmental, and economic sustainability, features Alan Meier a UC Davis Energy Efficiency Center Associate Director, scientist at the UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studier, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Sea Change Radio identifies Meier as "the foremost authority on standby power." Listen to the program at: http://www.cchange.net/2010/12/14/electricity-that-sucks

Associate Director Alan Meier Quoted in Washington Post Article on Energy Efficiency in the US Residential Sector

Energy Efficiency Center — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 10:53:21 PDT

Washington Post staff writer David A. Fahrenthold discusses trends in energy efficiency of American homes. Alan is quoted on the 3rd page of the article, when the topic shifts to the prospect of future dramatic reductions in energy usage.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/29/AR2010092906585_3.html?sid=ST2010092907824

UC Davis Faculty and Cooling Expert Mark Modera featured in National Geographic article

Energy Efficiency Center — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 16:27:20 PDT

Mark Modera, the Sempra Chair in Energy Efficiency, is Director of the Western Cooling Efficiency Center and Associate Director of the Energy Efficiency Center at UC Davis. He is faculty in the Civil & Environmental Engineering department and an expert on disruptive HVAC products and solutions. He is quoted in a recent National Geographic article discussing the challenges and opportunities facing advanced, energy-efficienct cooling technologies.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/08/100812-energy-evaporative-air-conditioner/

UC Davis selected as part of two teams that will be funded by the DOE to dramatically improve the energy efficiency of American homes

Energy Efficiency Center — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 15:02:57 PDT

The DOE announced today that it will fund 15 multi-institution inter-disciplinary research and deployment teams across the country to help improve the efficiency of the residential sector in the United States. UC Davis has been chosen as a valuable team member for two of these selected teams. Through our CA Lighting Technology Center and the Western Cooling Efficiency Center, the campus will bring critical efficiency technology expertise to the challenge of both new construction and whole house retrofits of homes.

http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/news/progress_alerts.cfm/pa_id=370

Announcing Professor Nicole Biggart as new Director of the UC Davis Energy Efficiency Center and first recipient of the Chevron Chair in Energy Efficiency

Energy Efficiency Center — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 15:24:41 PDT

Starting July 1, 2010, Professor Nicole Biggart will assume leadership of the UC Davis Energy Efficiency Center and have the honor of holding the Chevron Chair in Energy Efficiency. Nicole takes over this leadership role from Acting Director Daniel Sperling, who also also serves as Director for the UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS-Davis), is a Boardmember on the CA Air Resources Board, and is a Professor in Civil & Environmental Engineering and Environmental Science & Policy.

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20100601006733/en/UC-Davis-Names-Chevron-Chair-Energy-Efficiency

Nicole joined the UC Davis Graduate School of Management in 1981, and most recently (before going on a year-long sabbatical) served as dean of the management school from 2003 to 2009. As an internationally recognized expert in organizational theory and management of innovation, her research covers economic and organizational sociology, firm networks, industrial change and social bases of technology adoption. She has studied and published on the barriers to implementation of energy efficient technologies in the commercial building industry.

Nicole's first public speaking engagement in her new role will take place next week on Thursday, June 10 at the final installment in the Roots of Energy Efficiency series. Be sure to register and attend!

eec.ucdavis.edu/roots