Dr. Sherry Hu

Join us on Wednesday, June 5 for the Bay Area Regional Energy Network (BayREN) Regional Online Forum “Commercial Conundrums and Successes in Building Decarbonization.” Learn about the challenges and approaches to reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions for commercial buildings, and how local governments can support decarbonization. Register for this free event today: https://bit.ly/3QLZJRp #BayREN #LocalGovernment #ClimateChange #EnergyEfficiency

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#California can achieve bold climate goals without sacrificing affordability. A new op-ed from Clean Air Task Force's Ashley Arax and Net-Zero California's Neil Matouka outlines how public-private partnerships could expand clean energy infrastructure and save ratepayers up to $3 billion annually. With energy costs rising 50% in just three years, solutions that balance climate action and affordability are critical.    Read the full op-ed here: https://lnkd.in/gUZC529x

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Musings of a curious engineer: Today, during my long walk along Santa Barbara's waterfront, I noticed that hubcaps or wheel interiors for most cars (around 90%, perhaps) use 5-spoke designs. There are rare 6- and 7-spoke designs, but nothing else. Pursuing the reasons on-line, I found the following explanations. The Wheels have had 5 lugs for decades, so having 5 spokes allows the lugs to sit inside or between spokes. A prime number of spokes prevents vibrational harmonics from building up and creating undue stress. Of course, 3 and 7 are also prime numbers. Five spokes look nicer than 3 and are easier to manufacture than 7.

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☑️ California's Community Renewable Energy Act (AB 2316) aims to promote the use of solar energy through community projects, yet recent proposals by the CPUC have created uncertainty. ☑️ The US community solar market is predicted to grow by 118% over the next five years, showcasing the massive potential if the guidelines are clear. ☑️ The takeaway for property owners is that solar power is not just for individual residences and can help to create a more resilient energy grid. People, let's dive into the exciting yet complex terrain of California's community solar project regulations! With the surge in popularity solar energy has seen recently, coupled with the introduction of innovative solutions for capturing the sun's bounty, the solar industry is thriving more than ever. But, a recent revised proposition by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) regarding AB 2316 has whipped up a sector-wide uproar. The issue lies in the alleged conflict between Net Value Billing Tariff (NVBT) and federal laws, making the future of community solar program vague. Despite such a setback, the immense potential of community solar projects is undeniable, with predictions indicating a whopping 118% growth in the US community solar market over the next few years. If regulated properly, California could spearhead a thriving solar market in the US, encouraging homeowners to invest in solar arrays and decentralized energy production. Let's keep an eye on community solar programs, making every home and business an ally towards achieving energy independence. For more information on selling solar virtually across the USA visit www.tstpros.com.

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EPRI has been awarded a $2 million grant by the California Energy Commission to demonstrate scalable, community-based virtual power plants (#VPPs) for commercial buildings! This project will increase integration of customer-sited renewables and electric vehicles, and build load demand flexibility to help #California meet its climate and clean energy goals. EPRI, in collaboration with Los Angeles Unified School District, Southern California Edison (SCE), Edo, Brotherhood Crusade, Kliewer and Associates, LLC, and New Buildings Institute, will install an interoperable energy management system at two LAUSD sites, aimed to overcome market barriers through an interoperable energy management system. “Load flexibility is becoming increasingly important as more electric vehicles, heat pumps, wind, and solar come online as part of the #cleanenergy transition,” said EPRI Vice President of Electrification and Sustainable Energy Strategy David Porter. “This project offers significant potential to increase demand flexibility in the commercial space, and could be eventually replicated for residential needs, benefitting consumers as part of an affordable and reliable clean energy future.” 📰 Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eEhvE_K9

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California leaders are voting on a climate bond that would be THE most intersectional & multi-sector approaches to tackling the climate crisis because it prioritizes environmental justice priorities that touch on local energy, housing, urban infrastructure, public health, etc. Implementing the funding for these critical programs NOW is a down-payment for California's future. Visit the link in our bio and call on your legislator to support #SB867 #ClimateBondNow

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N-EWN Partner Spotlight | The Network for Engineering With Nature is spotlighting some of our partners over the next few weeks so you can learn more about their work in- and outside the Network. This Week: Center for Coastal Climate Resilience (CCCR) at University of California, Santa Cruz At CCCR, the focus is on building coastal resilience and addressing the challenges of climate change in California and beyond. With strategic initiatives in six key areas, they're making waves in climate adaptation: ☀️ Advancing Climate Adaptation: Equipping communities with innovative strategies to adapt to climate change through training and support. 🌱 Developing Nature-Based Solutions: Implementing solutions like green infrastructure to mitigate climate-driven hazards such as flooding and erosion. 🐟 Enabling Market Options: Identifying incentives and investment opportunities to drive climate adaptation efforts. 🌲 Restoring Natural Resources: Revitalizing fisheries, groundwater, and habitat to bolster ecosystem resilience. 🌎 Supporting Climate Justice: Promoting equity in climate mitigation and adaptation efforts to ensure no community is left behind. 🤝 Strengthening Communications: Visualizing risks and solutions to foster action in policy and practice. CCCR brings together researchers and practitioners from various disciplines across UC Santa Cruz to develop innovative climate solutions. Their collaborative approach extends to partnerships with policymakers, community organizations, and businesses in research, policy, and practice domains. Learn more about CCCR on their N-EWN profile page: https://lnkd.in/gmh2RGAr Michael Beck #collaboration #network #climatesolutions #coastalresilience

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The urgent need to bring more clean energy resources online has created growing pains for California's outdated power grid. Read part 1 of UCS's Vivian Yang's posts on the roadblocks and bottlenecks the Golden State is facing in its transition to 100% clean energy. #PowerGrid #CleanEnergy

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CA FWD is thrilled to see the newly revamped infrastructure website launched by the Office of California Governor Gavin Newsom, which aims to show the impact of infrastructure investment across California. This website calls back to CA FWD's 2022 set of regional infrastructure meetings -- back then, along with Antonio Villaraigosa during his time as Infrastructure Advisor for the state of California, we met with over 1,000 Californians from across sectors and industries to hear feedback on regions-focused infrastructure spending. These regional meetings resulted in a CA FWD report with recommendations on how to best prioritize equity and climate resilience, while fast-tracking needed infrastructure projects. #Regionsup work like this is critical to our belief that the state's diverse and vibrant regions have the potential to show the U.S. and the world a truly sustainable economic model. https://lnkd.in/gSkyPEmf #infrastructure #energytransition #climateresilience #regionsup #california #energy #climate #cleanenergy #jobs #investment

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𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐀𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧  Adrian Hightower, PhD, PE, ENV-SP is the Sustainability and Resilience Manager for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD), where he works in the nexus of water equity, affordability, and inclusion. His skill set is diverse, however his proficiency lies in communicating and collaborating with entities across 26 water agencies that serve 19 million people in 6 counties, having the ultimate goal of clean, affordable water for everyone. 𝑵𝒐 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝑵𝒐 𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝑳𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝑩𝒊𝒕 𝑯𝒆𝒍𝒑𝒔TM #Water #Equity #Affordability #Energy #Storage #Contamination #EnvironmentalJustice #SocialImpact #SocialJustice #Environment #Sustainbility #ClimateChange #Impact #Equality #EnvironmentalSocialJustice Environmental Social Justice Metropolitan Water District of Southern California https://lnkd.in/gBD5vmaM

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Join us on September 13 with Professor Mark Jacobson for our monthly webinar, Transitioning California and the World to 100% Clean, Renewable Energy and Storage for Everything. Dr. Jacobson's latest book is called "No Miracles Needed: How Today's Technology Can Save Our Climate and Clean Our Air". This book describes how to solve the climate crisis, and at the same time eliminate air pollution and safely secure energy supplies for all - without using miracle technologies.

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NEXT UP at the CLEANTECH COUNCIL Innovation Review on the Built Environment Wednesday, November 13th, 2024 at DNX Ventures in San Mateo, Silicon Valley Everything humans build becomes part of a durable set of assets, all of which use energy and resources for their construction, then also for their ongoing usage and maintenance. In aggregate, this Built Environment offers many different ways of improving how we use resources, increasing the sustainability of human assets, and increasing comfort and well-being. Meet innovation buyers, tech scouts and investors from this community of corporates committed to partnering with startups to meet their clean, green, and sustainability goals. Registration Open: https://loom.ly/BBE6-kw Startups innovating in this space can add a pitch or demo table when they register. #innovation #startups #demo #networking #partnerships #construction #proptech #energy #recycling

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🔊 We are pleased to share the release of the Caltrans System Investment Strategy (CSIS), a crucial investment framework for prioritizing California’s transportation infrastructure projects. This policy is an important step forward in California’s response to climate change and fulfills the commitments in the Climate Action Plan for Transportation Infrastructure (CAPTI). Through this prioritization process, Caltrans can make well-informed investment decisions aligned with the state’s climate, equity, safety, and mobility goals. It encourages local participation and will elevate competitive projects that advance these goals. To access the guidance, visit the CSIS webpage: https://lnkd.in/gbNjxHbb California State Transportation Agency, Office of California Governor Gavin Newsom #Caltrans #ClimateChange #Equity

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This spring CBE’s research team was awarded two large grants from the California Energy Commission. Both projects are multi-year efforts, each with a wide range of research activities and deliverables, and they leverage CBE’s collective knowledge, capabilities and our extensive network of industry and academic partners. We will collaborate the California Institute for Energy and Environment (CIEE) who will manage the work with CBE and numerous contributors listed below. One project will demonstrate a large new-to-market heat recovery chiller that uses a refrigerant with an ultra-low GWP. This will be tested in in collaboration with a California health care partner with an extensive portfolio of hospital facilities, in order to make it easier to scale this demonstration to other hospitals. It will be led by Paul Raftery and Therese Peffer, and the team also includes Taylor Engineers and Lawrence Berkeley Labs. Read more at: https://lnkd.in/gAckgEGc The other project aims to advance the adoption personal comfort devices by creating and testing new products, including a hub and ecosystem to connect them and also to link with building control systems. The CBE and CIEE team will include charlie huizenga, Hui Zhang, Tobias Kramer and Therese Peffer. Our project team also includes contributors from TRC Companies, Inc., Normal Software, Arup, Lawrence Berkeley Labs and the University of Notre Dame. More details are listed on this project page: https://lnkd.in/grtA_h7K https://lnkd.in/geCZmaZM #zerocarbon #comfort #HVAC #decarbonization #buildings

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We're excited to share the good news! 🎉 This spring, the Center for the Built Environment (CBE) was awarded two significant grants from the California Energy Commission! Our team is honored to be supporting them, working alongside other contributors including the California Institute for Energy and Environment, TRC Companies, Inc., Arup, Lawrence Berkeley Labs, the University of Notre Dame, and the team at CBE. The project we will be involved in will advance "the adoption of personal comfort devices by creating and testing new products, including a hub and ecosystem to connect them and also to link with building control systems." You can learn more about this exciting initiative here - https://lnkd.in/grtA_h7K Read more about both projects the Center for the Built Environment (CBE) is working on through this grant and more here - https://lnkd.in/geCZmaZM #normalsoftare #data #buildingsystems #innovation #decarbonization #facilitymanagement #zerocarbon #occupationalcomfort #builtenvironment

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NEWS: UC Berkeley Plans Bakar ClimatEnginuity Hub -- The University of California, Berkeley is planning to construct the Bakar ClimatEnginuity Hub as part of a new downtown innovation zone. Designed by Gensler, the five-story, 145,000-sf facility will provide wet and dry laboratories, collaboration spaces, conference rooms, and offices. The robust structure will also include flexible scale-up suites for the development of renewable energy solutions, carbon-capture technologies, and greener building materials and agricultural practices. Supported by funding from Addison Labs Foundation, the transformative project will collocate academic investigators with up to 75 industry partners, startup companies, and entrepreneurs. Turner Construction Company is the general contractor for the highly sustainable building, with site work slated to commence in summer of 2024. Occupancy is anticipated in fall of 2027. https://lnkd.in/evx44bUH #HigherEducation #ResearchAndDevelopment #Energy #Engineering #Corporate #InterdisciplinaryResearch #Collaboration #EnergyUseReduction #Sustainability #StrategicPlans

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