University of California officials delivered their annual report on UC's progress in implementing their Policy on Sustainable Practices to UC Regents today (Jan. 15). The 4-year-old policy establishes a set of ambitious goals to advance environmental practices at UC campuses, ranging from efficient energy use to innovative sustainable purchasing practices. And UC is meeting those goals.
These recent accomplishments highlight the important work the university is doing at every level to address global warming, one of the most critical challenges of our time. During 2007, UC received multiple awards at the local, state and national level for this effort, including the Environmental Protection Agency's Region 9 Achievement Award for progress in incorporating sustainable provisions and practices into all strategically-sourced (bulk purchases that use the university's buying power) bids and contracts.
UC was recognized for its sustainability projects in local and regional newspapers, as well as national publications such as Science and BusinessWeek. UC also received recognition through campus sustainability rankings, several of which appeared for the first time in 2007. For example, the Sierra Club's Sierra magazine named the UC system the fourth greenest university in the country, the highest ranking for any public university.
The report highlights a number of UC accomplishments in 2007, including:
• Expanding the policy, now named the Policy on Sustainable Practices, in the areas of renovation projects, climate protection, sustainable operations, waste reduction and purchasing.
• UC President Robert C. Dynes signing the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment on behalf of all 10 campus chancellors. In signing the commitment, UC has joined a collaborative effort by the nation's higher education institutions to address the challenges of global warming.
• Completing energy efficiency projects that cumulatively are providing UC with more than $5 million annually in operations savings.
"We are honored by all the awards and top rankings the university received in 2007 for our sustainability initiatives," said Katie Lapp, executive vice president for business operations. "We also know that this is only the beginning, and that to maintain our leadership in this fast moving field - as well as to address the seriousness of global warming and other sustainability challenges - we will need to continue pushing forward in our efforts to reduce the university's impact on the environment and provide a model of sustainable practices for the students that will be our future leaders."
Campus contributions
UC campuses continued in 2007 to be important drivers in implementing climate action and sustainability goals. Highlights include:
• In April, UC Berkeley became the first UC campus to complete a climate action plan, far in advance of the policy's December 2008 deadline. UC Berkeley is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2014, six years earlier than required by the policy or by California law. The UC Berkeley plan has become a model for other universities across the country to follow.
• UC Santa Barbara earned second place in the National Wildlife Federation's national "Chill Out" competition for exemplifying the significant impact that colleges and universities are making in providing leadership in the area of global warming.
• UC Davis received a LEED Platinum rating for the Tahoe Environmental Research Center, a joint project with Sierra Nevada College and the University of Nevada Reno.
• UC Merced received LEED Gold and LEED Silver certifications for its central plant and housing and dining building.
• UC San Diego won its third consecutive San Diego Excellence in Energy award.
• At the 2007 California University Sustainability Conference, UC Irvine won sustainable transportation best practice awards for its conversion of 10 shuttle buses to 100 percent biodiesel and for significantly increasing its average vehicle ridership between 2005 and 2006.
• A new car share program for campus and city users was launched by UC Santa Cruz in 2007. The program hopes to reduce the need for students to drive cars to campus.
• UCLA initiated a bus shuttle between the campus and the Los Angeles International Airport. The campus is also pioneering a "rightsizing" program for its fleet to limit the number of vehicles, the emissions from vehicles and the number of total vehicle trips taken. UCLA's extensive alternative transportation program was the subject of a television feature produced by the Huell Howser California's Gold program.
Working together to affect change
Continuing the trend of nationally recognized collaboration among all university stakeholders, during 2007, the Chancellor's Advisory Committees on Sustainability began meeting at the UC Riverside and UC Merced campuses. Such committees are now actively meeting on each campus and provide for organized involvement of students, faculty and staff from all departments in implementing the policy as well as pursing other campus sustainability initiatives.
Next steps
In addition to continuing the extensive efforts to meet the requirements in each of the seven sections of the UC Policy on Sustainability Practices, the university is actively working toward future goals including an evaluation of raising the requirements in the Green Building section and the potential for adding a section on sustainable food systems to the policy.
Background
A green building and clean energy policy was adopted by the UC Regents in July 2003 to minimize the university's environmental impacts. In June 2004, President Dynes issued guidelines for the Policy on Green Building Design and Clean Energy Standards. This comprehensive policy established the university as a leader in promoting environmental stewardship among institutions of higher education.
In January 2006, the policy was expanded to include sustainable transportation practices and greenhouse gas emissions reductions. In March 2007, the policy was further extended to cover the areas of climate protection practices, green building renovations, sustainable operations and maintenance, waste reduction and environmentally preferable purchasing. With the most recent expansion, the policy's name was revised to "Policy on Sustainable Practices."
For more information on UC sustainability and clean energy efforts: www.ucop.edu/facil/sustain
For more information about UC environmental research and programs: www.universityofcalifornia.edu/environment
For Greening UC fact sheet: www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/greeninguc0108.pdf
For more information about the University of California: www.universityofcalifornia.edu