National Renewable Energy Lab Offers Template for Net-Zero Office Building in Colorado

West-facing windows at the Research Support Facility in Colorado automatically tint blue in the midafternoon

Check out this recent New York Times article regarding the National Renewable Energy Lab's Research Support Facility in Colorado. It was designed to be the largest net-zero energy office building in the nation. Cool stuff.

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Adding Insulation to the San Bernardino Home

Here's another video about the changes happening at our San Bernardino home retrofit project. Homeowner Jamal Abdullah learns from Ron Kliewer, Building Performance Institute building analyst, how new insulation will be added to his home. As a result, Jamal can look forward to being much cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.

San Bernardino Home Retrofit Update - Changes to the Electrical Panel

The assessment of our home retrofit project in San Bernardino continues. Here's a video of Ron Kliewer, a building analyst with the Building Performance Institute, explaining to homeowner, Jamal Abdullah the changes that will be made to his home's electrical panel.

UCSB’s Recreation Center: A ‘Showcase’ for Sustainability

For a facility built when sustainability in construction was more of an afterthought, UC Santa Barbara’s Recreation Center has come a long way. It's a three-building complex that serves the recreational needs of UCSB’s students, staff, and faculty that we've just designated a Zero Net Energy "Demonstration Showcase."

We will study the Recreation Center and give ideas on how to increase energy efficiencies. UCSB will then implement the recommendations, with help from our incentive and rebate programs. The overall goal of the campus is to eventually turn the Recreation Center (or Rec Cen as it’s called on campus) into a ZNE facility, which will produce as much energy as it uses.

Bill McTague, executive director of Resource Planning, Information Technology, and Sustainability for the campus’s Division of Student Affairs, says this collaboration is “a fantastic opportunity for UCSB to benefit from SCE’s expertise and guidance and for SCE to be able to showcase energy solutions and monitor their effectiveness over time.”

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