July 11, 2019 – UC Davis’ Center for Water-Energy Efficiency (CWEE) is delighted to introduce their newest affiliate, InPipe Energy. Dedicated to generating low cost, clean electricity from existing water pipelines, InPipe will join CWEE’s efforts to advance water management solutions for the integrated savings of water and energy resources. Funds from InPipe’s commitment will support operations and research crucial to the goals of CWEE.

Affiliates are integral to CWEE’s success. By working together, the center learns more about industry concerns, activities, and priorities; while affiliates benefit from engagement with the center’s faculty, researchers, and professional network, as well as the integrated solutions developed.

About the UC Davis Center for Water-Energy Efficiency

Around the world, water and energy resources are increasingly stressed by expanding demand, diminished supply, and environmental degradation, all of which occur within the broader context of complex economic and regulatory challenges. Unfortunately, our ability to measure, monitor, and manage this coupled water-energy system is underdeveloped. The Center for Water-Energy Efficiency (CWEE) at UC Davis seeks to address this gap by developing strategies, technologies, and policies that achieve mutual benefits of water, energy, carbon, and cost savings. 

About InPipe Energy

InPipe Energy is a renewable energy and smart water technology company focused on novel approaches to integrating water and energy infrastructure. InPipe Energy’s products improve water management, mitigate environmental damage, optimize energy services, and recapture unused energy.

More Information:

UC Davis Center for Water-Energy Efficiency

InPipe Energy

Affiliates Program

On July 16, the University of California, Davis Energy Conservation Office was officially recognized for its sustainability achievements with a BREEAM certification and plaque. The Energy Conservation Office, or ECO, is the first US building to complete all three parts of the BREEAM certification. This new achievement adds to UC Davis’ accomplishments in building sustainability with three BREEAM and 16 LEED certifications to date.

BREEAM Helps Users Assess Buildings

BREEAM, or Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method, is the world’s first sustainability rating program for the built environment. BREEAM helps users measure and reduce the environmental impacts of their buildings through an assessment process. After a buildings’ operations are documented, points are earned by making various environmental improvements.  “BREEAM fits our approach of evaluating buildings in a comprehensive way to improve their performance and meet occupant needs in the most sustainable way possible,” said Josh Morejohn, Energy Manager for ECO.

ECO Advances UC Davis’ Energy and Sustainability Goals

Previously used as the on-campus ROTC facility, ECO now houses the Energy and Engineering team. The team’s mission is to improve building performance and eliminate energy waste at the building level to further UC Davis’ carbon neutrality goals and practice sustainable stewardship on campus. ECO is a testbed for building technology and is an office space for students and staff who are dedicated to collaborating with campus partners to make buildings operate more efficiently. “It made sense to pursue BREEAM here to showcase our innovative mindset and efficient operations, as well as serve as a valuable learning opportunity for the Green Buildings Team to further green building certification on campus,” said Alex Malm, Green Buildings Project Manager for ECO.

For more information:

UC Davis Energy Conservation Office

UC Davis Green Buildings

Professor Jim Bushnell was featured in a July 11th article in The Mercury News on assembly bill 617 to address local air pollutants.

…To address local environmental concerns, especially in districts long burdened by dirty and toxic air, Brown and top leaders introduced a separate bill, Assembly Bill 617. It would require oil refineries and other plants in heavily polluted areas to replace their equipment with cleaner technology by the end of 2023. The bill could pass with only a simple majority vote.

“Overall, I find it really encouraging that they went the route of a separate bill targeting local pollutants,” said Professor James Bushnell, a UC Davis economics professor and former research director at the University of California Energy Institute in Berkeley. “To get to two-thirds, you need a coalition of the people who are really focused on the local pollutants joining the people who are focused on the climate question.”…

To read the full article, please click here.

Considered the most sustainable university in the world, UC Davis is offering the only energy-themed institute of the Mandela Washington Fellowship, the flagship of the Young African Leaders Initiative, today through July 29. The campus, which piloted the energy institute last year, is one of 38 universities hosting a total of 1,000 fellows for summer programs in business and entrepreneurship, civic leadership and public management.

At the energy institute, fellows will learn from UC Davis and other California experts who are advancing energy policies, business strategies and technologies to contribute to the environmental and economic sustainability of the energy sector.

In addition to classroom sessions on energy and leadership skills, the program will allow fellows to experience the campus — ranked first in the world for sustainability by the GreenMetric World University Ranking — as a living lab for energy efficiency. And tours throughout Northern California will show other energy solutions at work.

Read the full press release here.