Tuesday, July 21, 2009

UVa to Partner with Charlottesville and Albemarle County in Energy Efficient Design Projects

The University of Virginia will partner in some projects through LEAP, the Local Energy Alliance Program, which is funded by a $500,000 award made to Charlottesville and Albemarle County by the Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance. The Charlotteville-Albemarle proposal trumped that of sixteen other localities to win the cash award, which was announced by the City of Charlottesville yesterday. Assistant Professor of Architecture John Quale, Professor of Engineering Paxton Marshall, and other U.Va. faculty members assisted with proposal preparation. According to the Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance, the proposal was selected because it is "designed to achieve unprecedented energy and water savings by retrofitting buildings and installing renewable technologies."

Private local businesses will also take part in LEAP projects, including VMDO, an architecture alumni design firm.

While planning for specific projects is just beginning, according to ecoMOD director John Quale, three U.Va. students are working this summer with Quale to design and engineer "eco reMOD," a highly sustainable renovation project of a 1920s bungalow located next to the future site of the fourth ecoMOD house, also in the works, at the corner of Elliott and Ridge Avenues in Charlottesville.

The City of Charlottesville will perform the construction work on eco reMOD from the student and faculty design, and there will be a ceremonial kick-off for the project this fall at the ribbon-cutting for ecoMOD4.

eco reMOD will remain open to the public as a demonstration project for two years, and will include office space for a future project that will be funded by the Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance award.

For more information, please see:

"City/County Win Energy Efficient Grant" - City of Charlottesville