Each year Cool Davis recognizes “Eco-heroes” – Davis residents who model how to incorporate sustainable practices into their work, civic, and everyday lives. Acting out of personal conviction, they do “the right thing” for themselves, our community, and our planet.
The Cool Davis Climate Solution Awards go to local businesses, groups, or organizations for exemplary efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As they model ways to reduce their environmental impact, they become leaders in creating options to conserve resources, reduce fossil fuel dependence, and stabilize the climate.
In its efforts to work with our community on greenhouse gas emission reduction and sustainability issues, Cool Davis focuses on three topics: Buildings (energy efficiency), Consumption (reducing consumption and waste of food, water, etc.), and Transportation (shifting to non-fossil fuel vehicles and other modes of transportation).
Kaiyue (David) Wang
Interview by Anya McCann
Kaiyue “David” Wang, a Davis High School junior, will be awarded a 2015 Eco-Hero (Home Energy) award by Cool Davis on April 22, Earth Day. The Cool Davis award selection committee was amazed at his innovative scientific endeavors to increase the efficiency of solar voltaic energy generation for homes.
Inspired by solar panels being installed on a neighbor’s roof, David, wondered how efficient they would be, whether they would really save money, and what the return on investment might be. To help him find answers, his parents introduced him to a scientist at UC Davis in the Institute of Transportation Studies, Hengbing Zhao, who helped him focus his inquiries and introduced David to concepts related to solar energy.
Over the past year, as David learned more about solar energy, he began to focus on the angle of the sun to the earth’s axis and developed a solar energy model (SOLEM) to simulate solar irradiance received by solar panels installed on roofs. The model allows users to learn the optimal tilt angle for wherever they are on earth, by typing in the latitude. It also shows that installing solar panels on different facing roofs each with optimized tilting angles can optimize solar panel efficiency. When compared with the actual 2014 power output of the solar panels measured by a pyranometer in UC Davis’ West Village, David’s calculations matched.
David recently won three awards at the Synopsys Sacramento Regional STEM Fair: the California Air Resources Board Climate Award, SMUD Best in Energy Award, and the ASU Rob and Menali Sustainability Initiative Award.
David notes, “Although solar is costly to install, over time it reaps lots of benefits, such as a lower electric bill and helping the environment.”
When he is not helping to solve our climate crisis, David plays tennis on the Davis High Varsity team and the Stonegate Tennis Academy team. He looks forward to learning more about solar technology this summer and is considering a career in the solar field.
John Mott-Smith
“There is hope, if not optimism.”
Fear not: John Mott-Smith will leave you both informed and inspired. He does this in his Davis Enterprise column, “Per Capita Davis,” by focusing on what individuals and municipalities can do to address climate change. He’s also a Cool Davis co-founder, Yolo County’s Climate Change Advisor, and a concerned parent, among other things. Cool Davis proudly recognizes Mott-Smith by awarding him a special 2015 Eco-Hero award for his work in both energy efficiency and out-standing public service.
While finishing his career in state government, Mott-Smith pondered how to spend his retirement. He knew he wanted to do something on the local level that would affect his children’s future. His experience on the City of Davis Planning Commission and in the development of an energy plan for Yolo County in the 1980s had confirmed for him the need for a “paradigm shift.”
Working on climate change has allowed Mott-Smith to address those concerns. As Climate Change Advisor for Yolo County, he helped form Yolo Energy Watch, a local government partnership with PG&E that connects county residents, businesses, and governments with programs to improve energy efficiency. Yolo Energy Watch has assisted local governments with developing climate action plans, which allow cities to quantify their current energy usage, identify ways to reduce it, and to measure their progress.
Don’t underestimate the significance of local action: our county government now produces more energy than it uses, thanks to photovoltaic installations at various sites around the county. This reduces greenhouse gas emissions, saves taxpayer dollars, and has made Yolo County a recognized national leader in green energy.
With regard to “Per Capita Davis,” Mott-Smith says that he enjoys the research and learning that go into each column and is humble about its impact: he’s always surprised when people tell him they enjoy it, although he does wish they wouldn’t feel obligated to be on their best “green” behavior around him. He readily confesses his own imperfections!
Mott-Smith’s uses his connections, experience, and knowledge to help us to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to promote energy efficiency. Cool Davis thanks him for his outstanding service to our community.
Parkview Place – 2015 Climate Solution Award
Interview with Dick and Carol Bourne
The Parkview Place development has earned the Climate Solution Award in Built Energy for the creative combination of systems that easily exceeded the goal of net-zero performance in its first year. The apartments also deserve awards for transportation, water conservation, sustainability, and innovation in senior living. Designed and built by Michael Corbett, the development is a model for high quality living with less environmental impact.
Dick and Carol Bourne have always accepted challenges. When they noticed they were biking downtown daily, they questioned whether their spacious, energy-efficient home beside West Pond, with its large yard and pool, was the best fit for their senior years. Soon, the idea for Parkview Place took off.
“We wanted a place to live for the duration. We wanted a low carbon footprint, but we also wanted comfort,” said Carol.
Dick added, “We had to move forward as we planned this energy-conscious complex.”
Dick brought all his engineering background together to provide a synergy of systems for their comfort: 2 ground-coupled (geo-thermal) heat pumps, silent radiant heating/cooling in the concrete flooring, and a back-up nightsky cooling system on summer nights. The photovoltaic system for electricity is sized for net-zero performance for the entire building, and rooftop solar thermal collectors heat most domestic water. Dick is encouraged that cooling is so easy in a hot but dry climate.
Already the four apartment owners have downsized to one car each plus bicycles. They’ve planned ahead for electric car outlets, and the downtown location encourages walking, busing and train rides.
In terms of consumerism, the move to Parkview meant giving away lots of stuff. Carol admitted, “It was tough. We haven’t given up quite enough yet.” For the record, their children did not want many of their things, but their slimmed down new home is delightfully uncluttered.
For Dick the surprise was how compelling the social aspects of the project became as the four couples met weekly to work out details of the building design and construction decisions as the building progressed. They also considered decisions about living together for the duration, and what it might look like as they moved into their senior years together.
After one year in their new home, Dick and Carol are pleased. The energy systems are applicable to single-family homes, and are decidedly replicable and economically scalable for larger complexes. They have already fielded questions from developers, and are planning more tours to share what they have learned about their systems in this climate. And they are enjoying life downtown.