Cool Campus Challenge

Launching Oct. 6 and running through Dec. 10, the first Cool Campus Challenge aims to get everyone across the UC campuses on board with the carbon neutrality effort with a bit of friendly competition to get things moving. Help prove that UCSC is the coolest campus!

During the 10-week contest, UC faculty, staff and students will be challenged to take steps to reduce their carbon footprints using an online tool to track their activity and earn points for their campus. Show how cool you can be all by yourself, or form teams among your friends, colleagues, and roommates. 

Here’s what you can do to be an important part of the Cool Campus Challenge (#UCool):

• Sign up and take the Challenge: http://www.coolcampuschallenge.org. Then invite your colleagues to do the same.
• Better yet, create a team so you can earn points together.
• Share this email with staff, students and colleagues.
• Send an announcement to campus listservs you’re on.
• Share your profile, the sign-up link, pledge you’re taking, etc., online with the Challenge hashtag: #UCool.
• Faculty, have your students take the Challenge as extra credit.

Once you sign up you will be given a variety of ways to learn more about your carbon footprint and to pledge to numerous actions that have a direct impact on reducing energy use. Each week, there will be a highlight for important theme along with suggested actions (or pledges) you can take that will either directly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and/or increase education and awareness about climate disruption.

For every action you take, you’ll earn valuable points for our campus that will enter you in a raffle to win cool, energy efficient prizes. You can also earn “bonus points” for completing the action within a specified time period or for taking new and creative actions that aren’t yet on the pledge list.

Find out more and sign up to compete on the Cool Campus Challenge website.

To help spread the word, share this article. We have 10 years to be carbon neutral and we can’t be carbon neutral without you.

Association for Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education Recognizes UCSC

The Association for Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) works to create a culture of sustainability by providing opportunities to advance sustainability in high education. AASHE just released their annual analysis of sustainability in higher education establishments for 2014. According to their findings, there was a significant increase in sustainability planning and drought response.

UC Santa Cruz was named one of the highlighted institutions, specifically for the UC-system wide goal to reduce water use by 20 percent in 2014, (page 11). In order to meet this goal, the UCSC Sustainability Office created the Drought Response Team. At the time of the article, the team had audited water fixtures in 64 of 104 campus buildings, which resulted in 91 repaired leaks. The team also works to create didactic signage to help educate the campus about the importance of water conservation.

Congratulations to all campuses recognized for their excellent work in sustainability. To read the entire publication, click here.

The UC System Goes Solar!

University of California, Powered by the Sun

The University of California has a bright future, one that will be powered by the sun. Through two new agreements, UC has committed to the largest purchase of solar energy by any university in the country. The deals, taking place with Frontier Renewables, will supply the UC's with 80 megawatts of solar capacity- enough to power about 27,000 homes- that will keep an estimated 88,000 metric tons of carbon from being emitted in the atmosphere, annually.

This incredible solar purchase is taking the UC system one step closer to Carbon Neutrality, a goal set by UC president Janet Napolitano. Frontier Renewables will supply the UC's solar power from two large arrays constructed in Fresno Country that are expected to come online at the end of 2016. No other university or college system comes close to the UC system in terms of commitment to solar energy. "As a national leader in sustainability, the University of California is taking on bold, new goals and transforming our approach to procuring and using energy in more sustainable ways," Napolitano said.

At her first governing board meeting in November 2013, Napolitano pledged that UC would become carbon neutral by 2025, something no other university system has been able to achieve. In June, she formed the Global Climate Leadership Council to help UC achieve that ambitious goal. But because the energy from the sun has a billion year time horizon, it is a natural place to look for alternative energy, and a great first place for the UC's to begin their journey to carbon neutrality.

We are so proud and commend our university system for taking this incredible project on. Interested in learning more about the solar UC system? For more information, please click here.

UC Santa Cruz sustainability recognized in UC President keynote address

UC Santa Cruz sustainability initiatives were recognized a number of times last Monday, January 27, during UC President Janet Napalitano's keynote address at a high-level climate conference, VerdeXchange, in Los Angeles.

Here are the highlights of her presentation, as they relate to UCSC sustainability work.

She began by explaining: "I’m here today to talk to you about what we at the University of California have done, are doing, and what we can do in the future, to advance the cause of protecting the planet in a way that ensures a robust future for generations to come. [...]

"A dozen or so years ago, UC students wanted to make a big change. They were energized with a sense of purpose and public service. The 2001 California energy crisis, and its fallout, loomed large in the media. Decisions about the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the Kyoto Protocol were playing major parts in the national conversation on climate change and the environment.

"UC students looked at the world around them. They decided that now was time to heed that old mantra—'think global, act local.' First came the campaign known as “UC Go Solar”. It was time, the students demanded, for UC 'to practice what it teaches.' Student governments on every UC campus passed resolutions. They called on the Board of Regents to establish a clean energy and green building policy. In 2003, the regents—unanimously—did just that.

"Next, at seven UC campuses, the students charged themselves extra fees to fund sustainability efforts. Some of those campuses used that funding to establish competitive grants for sustainability programs. Others used the money for different efforts. Solar photovoltaic installations at UC Riverside. A Carbon Fund at UC Santa Cruz."

Later, she mentioned the Provost's Sustainability Program, which was created by the Sustainability Office a few years ago.

"At UC Santa Cruz, the Provost sponsors sustainability interns. They research everything from food, to landscaping, to purchasing, all to help the campus achieve its own sustainability goals."

She also spoke about LEED buildings and real food goals. UCSC is at 28% real food, with a new goal of
40% real food by 2020!

UCSC Chancellor Blumenthal with CUIP intern for Dining Alexandra Villegas after signing the UCSC Real Food Campus Commitment in 2012.

"UC has 143 LEED building certifications. Twenty-three of them were awarded in 2013. Our medical centers save millions of dollars a year through waste reduction and energy efficiency. Zero emissions buses drive across our campuses. Five campuses and two medical centers have already surpassed the 2020 goal of procuring at least 20% of their food sustainably."

She ended her speech with the following note about the future of sustainability at the UC.

"In my experience, these sorts of movements are built from the bottom up. That’s how UC students built this movement at the beginning. In the end, however, state and university leaders, together, have to take the baton and run the final lap.

"So let me say loud and clear that the University of California is at the track, warmed up and ready to run.

"Fiat Lux, or 'Let There be Light,' is the motto of the University of California. It offers a suitable grace note for ending speeches like this one. To you, today, however, let me amend it to this:

"Fiat Viridis, Or, 'Let There be Green.'"

To learn more about the sustainability initiatives President Napalitano has announced in recent months, please click here.

UC President Napalitano's UC sustainability initiatives

President Napalitano has announced two new UC-wide sustainability goals of net zero energy by 2025 and a 20% cut in water use by 2020.

Napalitano has announced an energy and climate initiative for the University of California system to become carbon neutral by 2025.

The initiative outlines four efforts to achieve this goal: wholesale electricity, campus energy efficiency and renewable energy, natural gas and biogas procurement, and management of environmental attributes.

One highlight of this initiative is the creation of a shared service center to manage the supply of wholesale electricity to the five campuses currently eligible for direct access. This center will also own generation resources, provide the University the flexibility to invest in and develop alternative energy sources or to purchase such power through long-term contracts.

In addition, there will be increased efforts to expand funding sources available to fund energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. Regarding procurement of natural gas, the University will develop renewable natural gas, commonly referred to as biogas, through both direct development of biogas projects as well as the purchase of biogas contracts through outside producers.

A final highlight is that as environmental attribute programs like California's cap and trade program generate funds to be used for projects resulting in the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, the University will actively solicit funds to support our initiatives.

To learn more about the carbon neutrality initiative, please read the full document here.

In addition to energy goals, President Napalitano also announced on January 16 a goal of reducing per capita water use by 20 percent throughout the UC system by the year 2020.

As California experiences some of its driest weather on record, Napolitano said the university must step up and contribute to the preservation of the state's most precious resource.

"The University of California has long been a leader in conservation efforts," she said. "This new 2020 goal complements the university's Carbon Neutrality Initiative and its broader award-winning sustainability efforts. UC is prepared to play a leadership role in response to California's current water crisis by demonstrating water sustainability solutions to the rest of the state."

Every UC campus already has established its water usage baseline against a three-year average, and the 20 percent reduction goal will be pegged to each campus's baseline. UC Santa Cruz has been effective at reducing water consumption in recent years. The UCSC Campus Sustainability Plan for 2013-16 states that "Water use on the main campus has steadily declined by 21% since 2005, despite an overall increase in student enrollment" (p. 20). As a campus community, we'll need to find innovative ways to continue to reduce water consumption, such as behavior change campaigns and wider awareness of our local water concerns.

Source: UCSC Campus Sustainability Plan 2013-16 (p. 20)

"The 2020 goal builds on the groundbreaking water-related research that takes place on our campuses every day," Napolitano said. "These efforts are critical to addressing the formidable water, energy and climate challenges facing California, the nation and the world."

The policy was discussed at a recent UC Board of Regents in San Francisco as part of the presentation of the Annual Report on Sustainable Practices. The report may be accessed here. If you'd like to watch a video of the presentation and Q&A from this Board of Regents meeting, click here and begin at 02:35:00.

This post is an updated version of the UC News Room press release here.

October 2012: Further Reading

Looking for articles, stories, and videos from beyond the campus? Here's a compilation of news and further reading materials:

Chancellor Blumenthal with Alexandra Villegas after signing the UCSC Real Food Campus Commitment 

• UCSC Graduate Quoted about Real Food Campaign: UC Santa Cruz graduate Alexandra Villegas ('12) was quoted in a Yahoo! News article about the Real Food Campaign. "As a senior at the University of California Santa Cruz, Villegas successfully lobbied her dining director and administrators to commit to procuring 40 percent real food by 2020. The school's chancellor signed the commitment in February." She also led the effort that started Farm Fridays in the dining halls. Nice work, Alexandra!
• Harvesting a Climate Disaster: The Farm Bill Should Help the Planet, Not Just Crops
• Ending Its Summer Melt, Arctic Sea Ice Sets a New Low That Leads to Warnings 
• Newest Issue of Our University, featuring news from the University of California
• Schlanger Fellowship supports research on Arctic climate change
• Van Jones video on why sustainability relates to social justice (below)