The tour will kick off at Stanford University’s Central Energy Facility (CEF), the beating heart of Stanford Energy Systems Innovations (more widely known as SESI). This must-see facility and its accompanying program elements will demonstrate scalable ideas on recovering resources with available technology that enabled Stanford to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 68% while saving the University $420 million over the 35-year design life of the facility.
Following the CEF, the tour will journey along to one of Stanford’s most energy efficient buildings, the Jerry Yang and Akiko Yamazaki Environment and Energy Building (also known as Y2E2) where the replicable components of SESI, like heat recovery, are on display. Located in the beautiful and modern Science and Engineering Quad, Y2E2 also showcases how SESI creates a foundation for a green energy portfolio with its rooftop solar arrays, contributing to a 100% renewable electricity campus, to windows that open and close based on external temperatures to efficiently moderate building temperatures (aptly nicknamed the “lungs of the building”). The Y2E2 portion of the tour will close out the energy expedition and offer a glimpse into tangible energy-saving solutions applied to Stanford’s campus.
Lunch will be served at Stanford. Then the bus will transport the group to Sunnyvale's Moffett Park.
Google is progressing master plans to transform low-density office parks into vibrant mixed-used communities in the San Francisco Bay Area, creating an opportunity to rethink infrastructure for energy, water, and waste systems. After five years of development, Google is bringing its first District Thermal Energy Facility online in Sunnyvale's Moffett Park. This all-electric facility will initially serve Google offices with the ability to expand support to more and different types of buildings as the 350-acre district is built out. This event will start with a presentation overview of Google's evolution to designing and delivering this facility and a discussion on how the company's 24/7 carbon-free energy goal drove the approach to systems engineering and is informing facility operations. Following the discussion will be a guided tour of the heating, cooling, PV, and pump systems across the facility.