Stimulus grant will boost net-zero-energy development at University of California, Davis

From The Sacramento Bee: A new $2.5 million federal stimulus grant will help the University of California, Davis, build one of the nation's first waste-to-energy plants to power a large housing, office and retail project. The energy-independence project at UC Davis West Village is expected to demonstrate how energy-efficient development can generate all the power it consumes, a concept called "net zero energy." The power plant, scheduled to begin running in 2013 or 2014, will electrify houses and apartments for an estimated 4,350 faculty, staff and students.

AUGUST 2009...from The Sacramento Bee: A housing project at the University of California, Davis, will test whether green buildings can make financial as well as environmental sense. The goal is to make the new 4,000-resident West Village student and faculty housing development the nation's largest "zero net energy" community – one that produces as much energy in a year as it draws from natural gas pipelines and the electrical grid. The project has received a $2 million grant from the California Energy Commission. Preliminary construction work has begun, and the first student apartments are set to open in fall 2011.