EcoBlock: an Urban Block-Scale Decarbonization Retrofit
June 26, 2025 11am-12pm PT
Decarbonizing one house at a time does not match the urgent pace needed to rapidly reduce emissions and may bypass priority populations. EcoBlock is a pilot research project that explores decarbonizing buildings at the neighborhood block level with the aim to lift up all neighbors. Funded primarily by the California Energy Commission as part of the Advanced Energy Community program, the Oakland EcoBlock delivers needed home performance, electrification, and shared rooftop solar to 24 residents and a commercial unit in an older diverse neighborhood. This talk will describe the technical details, potential economies of scale, outreach and education, development of a governance vehicle for neighbors to co-own the solar, and lessons learned along the way. EcoBlock highlights using the “neighbor effect” in accelerating adoption of clean energy technologies, especially to historically hard-to-reach people.
Therese Peffer, PhD, is a project manager and researcher at UC Berkeley’s California Institute for Energy and Environment (CIEE) and CITRIS. She manages and conducts research on smart building technologies, building-to-grid interactions, demand response, and decarbonization projects, aiming to create comfortable, energy-efficient spaces. Dr. Peffer serves as Associate Director for CIEE and the CITRIS Climate initiative and co-chairs the annual Behavior, Energy and Climate Change (BECC) conference. She holds a PhD in Architecture with a building science emphasis from UC Berkeley and a Master’s in Architecture from the University of Oregon.