Author Archive: Paul Fortunato

Energy Bites Seminar May 18, 2023

Thursday, May 18, 2023  |  12PM-1PM

Bite 1: Jet Fuels from Biomass
Mark Mascal, EGG/CHE

Bite 2: Optimized Controls for Cooling Dairy Cows
Jonathan Hollist, WCEC

Energy Bites Seminar May 4, 2023

Thursday, May 4, 2023  |  12PM-1PM

Bite 1: Optimization of Ventilation and Filtration System Operation in Classrooms
Theresa Pistochini, WCEC

Bite 2: Sustainable Housing on Campus
Maria Kanwal, EGG

Energy Bites Seminar April 27, 2023

Thursday, April 27, 2023  |  12PM-1PM

Bite 1: Fossil-Free UC/UCD
Stephen Wheeler, EGG/CDGG/Human Ecology

Bite 2: Greenhouse Gas Emission Impacts from Heat Pump Installation over Furnaces in Residential and Office Buildings
Subhrajit Chakraborty, EGG/WCEC

Energy Bites Seminar April 13, 2023

April 13, 2023  |  12PM-1PM

Bite 1: Lighting and Cooking Energy Transitions from Fuels to Grid Based Electricity in Rural Gambia
Brianna Dooley & Aditya Ramji, EGG/PIET

Bite 2: TBD

Are Southern California students and teachers breathing clean air?

The air purifier in teacher Andres’ classroom at MacArthur Fundamental Intermediate School in Santa Ana was installed in 2021. But the first time the light went red no new filters could be found, a result of supply chain woes. Now, about two months after installing a replacement, the warning signal is back.

Andres, a sixth-grade math teacher who’s taught in the same class, Room 7, for 30 years, said the air problem isn’t just about COVID-19.

“We have mold issues,” she said. “There are issues like this all over the county. Some of these schools are old.

“Teachers just want to know that the air quality is good,” she added.

The issue isn’t trivial, or misunderstood. Studies have linked dirty air inside of schools — particularly in communities with dirty air outside of schools — to a variety of health conditions and learning delays. It’s also known that a proven, cost-effective way to clean up school air is to improve a school’s ventilation system.

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Fighting Climate Change with Heat Pumps

Geez, it’s hot. We’ve been sweltering through record-high temperatures here in California. Our house is one of the 30% of California homes without air conditioning. And our furnace is getting older. If we replaced our furnace with a heat pump, we could get efficient heating and efficient cooling all in one. And we’d be doing our part to move the decarbonization-via-building-electrification ball forward. So we’re getting heat pump curious.

Joe Biden is excited about heat pumps. He recently invoked the Defense Production Act to ramp up domestic production, and the Inflation Reduction Act includes generous heat pump tax credits and rebates. Governor Gavin is also heat-pumped. He’s offering rebates to California households that will help him meet his target of 6 million new residential heat pumps by 2030.

Some recent research out of UC Davis finds that, for households that are installing AC for the first time, or households that need to replace their old air conditioner with a new unit, it makes climate sense to make the AC a heat pump and replace the furnace. We’re pretty convinced we have a heat pump in our future. For us, the question is not whether to heat pump…but when?

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