The first phase of the largest planned zero net energy development in the US is readying for its debut this fall. Called UC Davis West Village, it's under construction on the University of California, Davis campus and will include apartments for 2,000 students along with 343 single family homes for sale to faculty and staff. It will combine advanced energy-efficient design features with a four-megawatt, high efficiency SunPower solar power system to achieve its net zero goal, meaning that the project will produce at least as much energy as it uses. The development is the product of a partnership between UC Davis and West Village Community Partnership LLC, a joint venture led by San Francisco-based Carmel Partners with partner Urban Villages of Denver.

According to estimates provided by the US Environmental Protection Agency, the SunPower system will produce enough power to avoid more than 2,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year, equivalent to removing 9,000 cars from California roads over the 25-year life of the system. Now, what’s clear to me is that California wants to continue in its attempt to be a shining example for the rest of the nation—last year it launched a Zero Net Energy Action Plan—but I am starting to realize that this zero net energy trend isn’t just a California thing. It seems to be as mainstream as TV dinners.

Nearby in Las Vegas, for example, Meritage Homes Corp. recently introduced its new net zero homes. The homes, which will produce as much energy as they consume, are being built at the company’s five communities in Northern Terrace and Mountain’s Edge.

In addition, Clarke, New England’s exclusive distributor of Sub-Zero and Wolf appliances, will reach net zero electrical energy consumption at its 106,500-square-foot headquarters complex in Milford, MA by the end of the summer. The Clarke solar project ranks in the top five rooftop installations in Massachusetts and the largest using American-made Solyndra solar panels.

So, it seems, at this point, it isn’t just about trees and polar bears. It is about the dream you had (well, the dream I definitely had) of being 100% independent, of being off the grid, and of being more practical. Considering the increasing costs of traditional fossil fuels, not to mention the negative impact on the environment of burning those fuels, net-zero seems to be an idea whose time has come, just when the technology exists to make this dream a reality.

Instant Insights /

As Mainstream as TV Dinners?

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