Living

The community has been designed to reduce energy consumption by 50 percent from the 2008 efficiency guidelines of Title 24 of the California Building Standards Code and generate its remaining energy needs through photovoltaic solar panels on building rooftops and parking canopies.

For residents, down-to-earth design -- such as using ceiling fans to cool living spaces and large windows to light and ventilate apartments -- meets advanced technology. Residents can use the web to monitor energy use by individual room and their smart phones to switch on or off plugged-in appliances, lights and other gadgets.

Location and Transportation

Located west of the core campus, UC Davis West Village allows ease of pedestrian, bicycle and transit access to the main campus and greater community. The community is served by Unitrans, the campus-city bus service, and as UC Davis West Village matures, residents may not purchase a parking permit on campus.

Apartment green features include:

• a programmable, high-efficiency heat pump heating and cooling system;
• Energy Star electric kitchen appliances and high-efficiency clothes washer;
• ceiling fans in living rooms and bedrooms;
• patio doors and over-sized windows to let the Delta breeze flow through the entire living area and provide natural lighting;
• window blinds and exterior sunshades to block direct sunlight;
• water-saving toilets that use only 1.28 gallons of water per flush and are 20 percent more efficient than required by code;
• water-saving shower faucets that use only 1.5 gallons a minute, reducing water usage by 40 percent from standard building code;
• low-flow water fixtures that depend on air, rather than more water, to generate water pressure;
• low VOC paint, and kitchen cabinets with a water-based low VOC finish ;
• living area floors made from 50 percent recycled material; and
• Ecoquartz (TM) kitchen countertops made from recycled quartz.

Living Learning Laboratory

UC Davis West Village will be a “living learning laboratory” as residents experience firsthand the benefits of reducing consumption through energy efficiency, conscientiously managing their own use of electricity, and harnessing the sun's energy to power their life.

• A cap on the amount of electricity and water usage included with rent will create an incentive for residents to govern their use of electricity and water; above a cap, the resident will pay extra.
• Residents will be able to use home energy management system GreenWave over the web to monitor their energy usage by room.
• Residents will be able to use their smartphone to remotely turn on and off certain appliances, lights and other electrical gadgets.