UC Davis West Village, the nation’s largest planned zero net energy community, continues to work toward its goal of producing 100 percent of the energy it uses. From September 2013 to August 2014, the community generated 82 percent of the energy it consumed, according to a recent report by UC Davis and the West Village Community Partnership LLC.

Neighborhoods and buildings are increasingly being designed and promoted as zero net energy, but whether they can meet that goal can only be verified with real residents and businesses in place. Opened in 2011, West Village now houses nearly 2,000 residents, mostly UC Davis students, as well as several UC Davis energy and transportation research centers and the Honda Smart Home. It serves as a living laboratory that explores how zero net energy design works in practice and has attracted worldwide interest.