Oakland EcoBlock

How can cities model and implement speedier pathways towards decarbonization?

One UC Berkeley-led urban sustainability research project in Oakland, CA, is on the path towards figuring that out with a unique approach that takes a village (or in this case, residents of an entire city block).

Their solution comes in the form of an EcoBlock—a deep retrofit of all existing residential homes in a small area, with in-home energy and water-efficiency upgrades, electrification, solar and storage.

As a demonstration project, the Oakland EcoBlock is testing a process for design, permitting, and financing to retrofit an existing residential block to become an Advanced Energy Community model that equitably educes carbon emissions. The objective is to build and validate a pilot system that is truly replicable—one that builders, utilities, policy makers, and planners can apply to future projects around the world.

This process of developing this single block solution is the basis of the guidebook that MIG is working on to help city government, homeowners and community decision makers develop their own EcoBlocks for a brighter future.