About - ZNE Construction (Bodega Marine Laboratory)
In addition to being outdated and energy inefficient, the current housing facilities at Bodega Marine Lab (BML) are being overtaken by surrounding marshlands. As an environmental entity, BML wants to relinquish this land to the marsh and build new Zero Net Energy housing facilities elsewhere. Because it involves the environmentally sensitive coast, new construction must first be approved by the California Coastal Commission. For this project, students analyzed case studies to define potential regulatory barriers and identify any possibilities for exception due to in-kind trade of land and the ZNE nature of the facility. Their research shows a high probability of approval for the new ZNE housing facility and provides an approach to the application process as well as suggestions of how to best frame the project for increased approval odds.