West Village, a forward-thinking mixed use development located west of the University of California-Davis campus, has won a grant worth nearly $2 million from the California Energy Commission.  Once complete, the $280 million project will be a housing community for students, faculty, and staff of the school.

Officials will use the money to develop smart grid technology to generate, distribute, and store energy throughout the community.  West Village officials want to create a community that produces as much energy as it consumes through the use of on-site renewable power generation.

“We are thrilled to be supporting this project with a university so committed to teaching, research and public service,” said Karen Douglas, CEC chairwoman, during a project groundbreaking ceremony.  “West Village promises to lead us toward a new state-of-the-art for community-based energy strategy.”

Larry Vanderhoef, UC-Davis chancellor, also spoke during the ceremony and said the project “will be a showpiece of the university’s commitment to sustainability and help advance energy solutions.  Those who are helping to create West Village, those who will call it home, all of us – we can take great pride in how West Village will demonstrate the best in community living and stewardship of the environment.”

Vanderhoef has spearheaded the massive housing project at the university.  West Village will not only provide desperately needed housing for students but will also create affordable housing for faculty and staff.  The chancellor is set to retire on August 16 after a 15 year career at the school.  “My motivation was to keep UC Davis a place where faculty, staff and students can continue to live locally and benefit from everything our campus has to offer,” said Vanderhoef.

The project covers a total of 200 acres and also includes the Davis Centre of Sacramento City College for the Los Rios Community College District campus, a site for the local public school district, and plans for a preschool or day care facility.  In addition, some 45,000 square feet of space will be used for commercial purposes.

The project will go up in two phases.  Once complete, housing will be available for about 4,350 people.  The first phase of the project has already begun and construction on the village square and apartments for 600 students is scheduled to begin in the spring.  The project will be complete before the fall semester of 2011.

The university will still own the property but the developer, West Village Community Partnership LLC, will design, build, and finance the effort.  The developer will also be responsible for renting apartments to students and selling homes to faculty.  The homes will have a base price of $400,000 – below the typical price for a comparable home in the community.

The school will use the homes to attract and keep faculty.  Already more than 1,500 people have shown interest in purchasing a house.

The first phase is expected to create demand for 16,500 megawatts of electricity.  The grant money will be used to analyse and design a smart grid program that will maximise energy efficiency while offsetting demand with renewable power generated within West Village.  One of the energy technologies to be studied will be the UC Davis biodigester.

California Energy Commission
1516 9th St
Sacramento, CA 95814-5512
http://www.energy.ca.gov

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