Path to Zero

Zero Energy District Accelerator partners will demonstrate the practicality of taking action to cost effectively meet zero energy goals and commitments. By completing a detailed energy master plan, governance and business case model, and development pathway for a Zero Energy District, partners will identify the best practice approaches of considering well-defined energy performance goals and incentives for the entire building and district lifecycle.

This project pilots a new process for local governments and developers to identify and secure financing to optimize the selection and planning process for incorporating advanced clean energy technologies into a community. Typically, local governments approve and finance upgrades in a piecewise fashion, with different departments being responsible for different types of activities. The Local Government Commission's process enables decision makers to easily see combinations of upgrades and new developments that optimizes funding and planning/permitting time when a city seeks to transition to an advanced energy community. This new process will be developed using Fresno's Blackstone Corridor and Downtown Specific Plan as a pilot location.

This project will develop a prototype plan called the Encanto Social-Economic Education Development (EnSEED), designed to transform an existing disadvantaged community in Southeastern San Diego into a community of near-zero net energy (ZNE) buildings. This project will include close engagement with the local community, and development of a final system design, financing plan, and plan to obtain all required government review and approvals. A permitting plan will be developed to document the necessary permit processes and prepare permit applications to the point deemed complete by the responsible permitting agency. Upon completion of the permit review process, Groundwork will initiate the environmental review process with the City of San Diego. This process will determine the level of anticipated impact and type of environmental document needed.

The City of Richmond Advanced Energy Community project will facilitate adoption of a comprehensive integrated policy, planning, program, and financing framework to transform the City of Richmond into a Zero Net Energy Community, using forward-looking policies that integrate energy, land use, and transportation planning, and progressive municipal financing mechanisms. As part of the project, ZNE Alliance will also facilitate the planning and permitting of approximately 20 abandoned homes to be converted into affordable ZNE homes available to working families via the First-time Home Buyers' Program. This redevelopment project will be accomplished by a Social Impact Bond administered by the Richmond City Council.

This project will plan and design an advanced energy community in the City of Huntington Beach, California. Specifically, this project will develop extensible tools to design the integrated set of energy infrastructure and advanced technology approaches to convert Oak View, a disadvantaged community, into an advanced energy community. The project team will collaborate with the City of Huntington Beach, Southern California Edison, and other key stakeholders, to evaluate multiple case studies for the energy technologies as well as business and financial models. Technologies to be evaluated for integration into a microgrid include combinations of energy efficiency measures, supplemental local renewable energy sources, energy storage systems, electric vehicles and charging stations, clean power generation systems with combined cooling, heating, and power, and smart-grid technologies. A master community design and outreach tools will be developed as a model for other communities.