UC Office of the President
Overall Sustainable Design
UC Berkeley, Energy Biosciences Building
The building employs a broad range of sustainability strategies, with special attention to managing laboratory and fume hood ventilation to reduce energy use. The design is almost 39 percent more efficient than industry standards. Hundreds of usable desks from the building that formerly occupied the site were salvaged and distributed to schools.
HVAC Design/Retrofit
UC San Diego, Geisel Library
The library's Pacific Hall chemistry lab was retrofitted to convert all air handlers and 234 fume hoods to variable air volume with controls that adjust to lower air flow when hood sashes are closed. Lab users were educated about the benefits of closing sashes. Occupancy sensors now control HVAC, lighting and fume hood face velocity; these, along with other measures, have cut electricity use by 29 percent, chilled water use by 62 percent and hot water use by 52 percent.
Lighting Design/Retrofit
UC Santa Cruz, Phase I and II Campus Wide Lighting Retrofit
The campus is enacting a two-phase, comprehensive lighting upgrade program that achieves energy savings as well as lighting quality and safety improvements. By employing high performance LED and induction fixtures combined with integrated control systems, the campus saves nearly 1.5 million kWh annually, equivalent to almost $200,000 in avoided cost.
Monitoring-based Commissioning
UC Berkeley, Davis Hall
Meters installed on the electricity entering the building and the steam condensate leaving it feed energy use data to a Web-based monitoring system. The monitoring enabled the correction of problems that reduced electricity use by nearly one third and reduced gas use by nearly two thirds, resulting in annual cost savings of $110,000.
Sustainability Innovations
UC Santa Barbara, South Coast Sustainability Summit
The campus brought together neighboring municipalities and community organizations for a summit to promote dialogue and pursue regional sustainability partnerships. As a result of this first-ever conference, UC Santa Barbara and the county of Santa Barbara will jointly invest in climate planning software. Additionally, partnerships have formed with local transportation managers to exchange information on fleet and car share programs, and to collaborate on implementing electric vehicle charging stations.
Honorable Mention: UC Davis, Campus Grown Greenery for UC Davis Dining Services
Campus Dining Services collaborated with UC Davis Campus Grown and Grounds and Landscape Services to use campus grown flowers and plants as the source for the floral arrangements used at dining facilities and events.
Sustainable Foodservice
UC Santa Barbara, Root 217 Café
The cafe is a comprehensive makeover of a former fast-food restaurant that includes sustainable food, waste reduction, building materials, energy, and educational components. Almost all of the bread, dairy, proteins and produce served are either local, organic or Seafood Watch safe; and 99 percent of waste is diverted from landfills.
Student Sustainability Program
UC Santa Barbara, Plastics Pollution Coalition
A group of 19 student organizations has partnered to reduce plastic waste and phase out single-use plastics. Member organizations range from environmental clubs to multicultural sororities and fraternities. The coalition successfully worked with the campus bookstore to stop offering single-use plastic bags to customers and teamed with the UCSB-Reads program to give away 3,000 free copies of the book "Moby Duck," which explores the topic of marine plastic pollution.
Water Efficiency & Site Water Quality
UC Santa Cruz, Water Efficiency and Management Improvement Plan
The plan was developed to improve how water is managed and measured on campus in order to reduce consumption. Implemented projects include high-efficiency irrigation retrofits, cooling tower condensate monitoring, and toilet, showerhead, urinal and faucet replacements. These projects have resulted in annual water savings of 37.7 million gallons per year.
Student Energy Efficiency Program
UC Berkeley, Green Cup Competition
Students applied the proven model of a residence hall energy competition to fraternity and sorority houses to reduce use. Each house went through an energy audit to assess where they could be more efficient. With a grant from tThe Green Initiative Fund, participating houses were eligible to receive a $200 energy efficiency budget, which they could use to implement the recommendations. The winning house received $2,500 for further efficiency upgrades. The two-month competition saved over 140,000 kWh and nearly 3,600 therms.
Innovative Waste Reduction
UC San Francisco, Instructional Recycling Video
This video was notable because it featured real UCSF staff and administrators who answered many frequently asked questions about how to recycle specific items. The information was presented with high production values that allowed it to attract a broad audience.
