Nine Campus Labs Receive Green Labs Certification

The UCSC Sustainability Office's Green Labs Program is pleased to announce new certifications for nine on-campus research laboratories. A Green Labs certification verifies a lab's commitment to energy efficiency, waste reduction, and green procurement of lab materials. With the addition of these labs, there are now 18 UCSC labs that have gone through the certification program.

The newly certified labs and their ranking within the certification program are Kellog Lab, receiving a copper certification; Gifford and Lockey Labs, receiving a silver certification; Boeger, Braslau, Habicht, Zihlman, and Galloway Labs receiving gold certifications; and the Strome Lab--a sustainability superstar--receiving the highest honors with a platinum certification.  Congratulations to all of our Green Labs certified labs on campus!

To learn more about the Green Labs Program, including how to get your research lab certified or become a member of the team, please visit the Green Labs website here.

UC Carbon Neutrality Summit- Bending the Curve

Chrissy Thomure, the Climate Action Manager at the Sustainability Office shares her experience at the UC Carbon Neutrality Summit.

 
It's not often that UC President Napolitano, Governor Jerry Brown, 50+ faculty and researchers, Nobel laureates, and business leaders get together in one place to focus on a topic.  But on October 26 & 27, these movers and shakers got together at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography at UC San Diego to focus on one of the most critical issues facing society; climate change.

The latest science presented at the conference revealed that under the current “business as usual” practices, the planet is on target to exceed a 2 degrees Celsius increase relative to the pre-industrial average by 2050 and a 4 degrees Celsius increase by 2100, triggering serious large-scale problems including droughts, forest fires and sea level rise from 1.5–2 meters by the end of the century. Catastrophic climatic events are becoming more and more common, and are disproportionately affecting the world’s most vulnerable people.

Despite the stark facts that were presented, there was a sense of excitement and optimism in the air as we heard from the leaders of a committee of 50 academics and researchers from across UC’s 10 campuses who worked over the summer to develop a report recommending a set of actionable solutions for curbing climate change using existing technologies.  The report, called Bending the Curve, pulled together experts from a broad spectrum of fields ranging from climate science to ethics, economics, ecology, energy, environmental justice, political science and religion.  The Chair of the Committee, Veerabhadran "Ram" Ramanathan- who in 1975 discovered the greenhouse effect of chlorofluorocarbons in the Earth’s atmosphere- insists, “there is still time to mitigate the most disastrous of the predicted changes.”  Governor Brown iterated this point by saying, “The challenge for us is to imagine the likely extreme outcomes of climate change and take actions now to prevent it.”

Yes, this is a monumental challenge.  The encouraging thing is that it was apparent at this Summit that these leaders are not just “talking the talk” but are also “walking the walk.”  With the Carbon Neutrality Initiative announced by President Napolitano in 2013, the University of California pledged to become carbon neutral by 2025.  The state of California has its own ambitious climate targets: Reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels, shift California’s electricity production to at least 50 percent renewable sources, and increase building energy efficiency by 50 percent – all by 2030.  To learn more about UCSC’s commitment to climate action, click here. 

Cool Campus Challege update

As the end of Fall quarter approaches, so too does the end of the Cool Campus Challenge. This event supports the UC Office of the President’s 2025 Carbon Neutrality Initiative and raises awareness on being greener amongst student staff and faculty. While a friendly competition with the other UCs on which campus can be the “Coolest Campus,” UCSC is currently in 4th place! As a point of Slug pride (and the chance to win cool prizes like a Momentum Bicycle), let’s move up in number of participants and green pledges, showing the UCs we care about Carbon Neutrality. 



If you make it to 10,000 points, you'll be entered into a raffle to win a momentum bike (in UCSC school colors) and right now, with only 140 people at that level your odds are pretty good!


Let's go UCSC! Go ‪#‎CoolGreenSlugs‬! Go to coolcampuschallenge.org and (bike) rack up those points!

December 2015 Green Tip: Curtailment At Home and Away

Even as the Cool Campus Challenge draws to a close, it’s important to keep up the good work as the UC system strives towards carbon neutrality. Whether you’re traveling over the break or staying in town, make sure to stick to your pledges and stay sustainable! This December, try out these tips to curtail your energy usage, resource use, and carbon footprint.

Image by John Loo

If you’re leaving town:

• Unplug appliances, including Wi-Fi routers, refrigerators, microwaves, and lamps. Also consider using a power strip to reduce energy drain of many appliances at once.
• Close windows and blinds to insulate your room or house.
• Shut off or lower your thermostat if you have one. A good temperature to have your thermostat at while you’re out of the house is 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Wear your warm clothing inside as well.

No matter where you are:

• Check for leaks in faucets and toilets. If you live on campus and find one before you leave, file a maintenance request.
• Seal air leaks or file a maintenance request to reduce heating needs. Often, drafts under doors can be reduced by laying a rolled up bath towel in front of the door gap.

Also, keep in mind these holiday tips:

Cut down on oils and grease. Fats, oils and grease can pose health hazards if thrown out with the dishwater or if poured down the drain. An excess in the sewer system can even result in sewage overflow leading to harmful effects on aquatic life as well as human well-being. If you do cook with these, make sure to pour the excess into a non-recyclable container, wait for it to solidify, and throw it in the trash rather than down the drain.

Reduce gift waste. Giving gifts? Try to reduce the amount of plastic packaging, or go for gifts that use materials other than plastic. Opt for unpackaged products or those packaged in cardboard and reusable or recyclable packaging. Hope to get gifts? Keep or recycle your wrapping paper and boxes! Both can be reused for future gifting or various craft projects. Check out our previous Green Tips about gift-giving here.

And, as with every vacation, try to carpool or take a bus whenever possible to cut down on carbon emissions. Safe travels to everyone leaving town and a happy vacation to all!

Cool Campus Challenge update!

With week 5 kicking off for the Cool Campus Challenge, we’ve achieved a lot! Over 1,100 students, staff and faculty have signed up for a total of 2.3 million points earned. This adds up to 2.3 million pounds of CO2 saved from our pledged actions. It’s an awesome achievement, but we can do more. There are also plenty more PRIZES to be given out to people who sign up and more for top earners!

However, despite all we’ve achieved, UCSC fell from 3rd to 5th place since last month. We can move back to the top, but we need YOU! Invite your friends, professors, and co-workers to sign up and pledge actions to earn more points!

Did you know you can earn points for taking the bus, riding your bike, or ride sharing to campus? These simple actions, and so much more, are easy ways to lower your carbon impact and earn some points for UCSC. So how can we win this challenge and prove UCSC cares the most about lowering our collective footprint? If you haven’t signed up yet, please do! If you have, then continue to log in and complete pledges. You can even make your own actions that are not on the list. You also get more points if you add pictures. If you’d like to help spread the word and get your foot in the door to the sustainability office, contact fellows Jordi Vasquez (jpvasque [at] ucsc [dot] edu) or Jamison Czarnecki (jczarnec [at] ucsc [dot] edu).

Remember, this is MORE than a friendly competition! This is a chance for UCSC to show that we collectively care and support these initiatives. Every point earned is a statement to our regents that we want more actions like carbon neutrality! Thank you for working hard at this. We have 5 weeks left to show the other UCs that we really are the Coolest Campus!

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.

City of Santa Cruz & UC Santa Cruz Install Solar Streetlamp Research Pilot at Wharf

As part of the award-winning GreenWharf partnership, the City of Santa Cruz and UC Santa Cruz have installed an innovative solar streetlamp at the end of the Wharf as a research pilot project.

Provided by Mira Bella Energy of Peoria, Arizona, the solar streetlamp mirrors the gooseneck style of the existing streetlamps at the Wharf, which were upgraded to LED technology over the past two years. This design is intended to outperform other conventional panel technologies through a bifacial solar cell capturing scattered light on both sides of the cell array, even in overcast sunlight conditions. The vertically oriented panel design also reduces the potential for seagull excrement fouling which has limited the effectiveness of previously installed solar technologies at the Wharf. The solar streetlamp is outfitted with a battery pack inside the lamp pole, yet is also tied to the electrical grid for backup to the solar-battery system. The solar streetlamp’s performance will be monitored and timing and intensity can be adjusted via an online dashboard. Research will focus on the impact of an overwater installation on energy production and performance in a harsh marine environment.

“In addition to the vertical axis wind turbine in operation since 2011, the solar streetlamp is an innovative technology being piloted at the Wharf. Its real-time, web-based performance monitoring creates many research opportunities for students and faculty” said Dr. Michael Isaacson, Director of UCSC’s Center for Sustainable Energy Power Systems and principal investigator on the project.

It is a goal of the project to provide the public and other researchers access to the solar streetlamp’s performance data. UCSC researchers currently collect data on wind speed, solar irradiance and energy generation from the wind turbine and solar panel at the Wharf Headquarters. Access to the data sets and more information on the GreenWharf partnership is at www.greenwharf.org.

Wharf Supervisor Jon Bombaci adds “The solar streetlamp research pilot is another successful public-private project launched through the City-UCSC partnership, providing valuable research opportunities, educational experiences and helping to make the Wharf green.”

For more information on the GreenWharf partnership, please contact Ross Clark at (831) 420-5113 or rclark [at] cityofsantacruz [dot] com.

UCOP seeks an Associate Vice President of Energy & Sustainability

Associate Vice President of Energy & Sustainability
The University of California, Office of the President invites qualified candidates to apply for a newly created leadership opportunity: Associate Vice President- Energy & Sustainability. The University of California is the state’s premier public research university and one of its largest employers. Our campuses are routinely ranked among the best in the world. The Office of the President is the systemwide headquarters of the University of California, managing its fiscal and business operations, supporting the academic and research missions across its ten campuses, labs and five medical centers.

Reporting to the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, the successful individual serves as a visionary leader and executive-level ambassador who will continue and expand the University of California's leadership role in energy and sustainability. The AVP creates collaborative opportunities among UC campus and medical center representatives from capital programs, sustainability offices, real estate, planning, facilities services, transportation, procurement, finance and other constituencies, including representatives and experts among the University’s faculty and researchers, to engage in cross-functional planning, problem-solving and innovation. 

Responsibilities include: 

• Collaborative Leadership: Leverage the robust and leading-edge programs and practices at campuses and medical centers. Convene operational experts, researchers and key stakeholders to further UC’s progress toward aggressive sustainability and energy goals 
• Lead and Oversee UC’s Carbon Neutrality Strategy: Oversee the refinement and implementation of the strategy and milestones needed to achieve carbon neutrality goals established by UC leadership. Oversee development of potential funding strategies and sources to effect carbon mitigation. Oversee the development and execution of a long term renewable energy strategy. Oversee work to support campuses and medical centers with resources for planning deep energy efficiency programs, zero net energy building projects and other renewable energy efficiency efforts. 
• Develop Energy Procurement & Hedging Strategy: Oversee the development and management of the procurement and hedging strategy for the University. Plan, budget, and manage commodity price risk mitigation procedures and metrics. Oversee commodity and UC equity position contract development, negotiation and execution. 
• Sustainability Program: Provide oversight and support to UCOP’s Office of Sustainability, which collaboratively develops, coordinates, and supports campus sustainability efforts throughout the UC system across the full range of sustainability areas. 
• Advocacy: In consultation with UC’s government relations leadership, represent UC’s interests and strategies with Federal and State government and regulatory agencies. Monitor regulatory actions and plans in greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction, carbon mitigation, water efficiency, waste management, and other areas of utility and sustainability services. 
• People Management: Manage a team charged with implementing the University’s strategy and achieving the strategic goals. 

Qualifications for this role include: 

• Demonstrated understanding the interlocking roles that energy efficiency, renewable energy, energy infrastructure, energy utilities, sustainability, climate action, energy contracting and wholesale electricity markets play 
• Demonstrated knowledge of a wide variety of sustainable practices and programs including renewable energy and other non-carbon sources of electricity. Knowledge of regulatory environment and risks facing UC as an Energy Service Provider 
• Strong technical utility/ energy background regarding the use commodities markets and futures to hedge UC’s fuel and energy needs, including working knowledge of the regulatory agencies such as FERC, CAISO, CEC and CPUC          
• Sound financial management expertise and oversight of matters including developing financing scenarios for energy efficiency, renewable energy, energy infrastructure and related infrastructure maintenance initiatives 
• Ability to drive and implement energy and fuel acquisition strategies across the system 
• Carbon compliance experience including: full understanding of CARB and carbon allowance and off-set markets, a pulse on future direction of applicable regulations and facilitation of campus carbon market positions 
• Knowledge of real estate development, design, construction and facility operations, contracting related to design, construction, biogas development and operations, and strong negotiations skills Working knowledge of applicable laws, regulations and UC policies 

Knowledge/Experience and Education: 

• Bachelor’s Degree required; MBA or Master’s Degree preferred 
• Engineering, Sciences, Business and/or Management desired 
• Sustainability emphasis desired (i.e., sustainability-oriented degree programs) 
• Past experience with natural gas procurement preferred 
• 10+ years’ experience in energy 
• 10+ years’ experience in sustainable practices/policies 
• 5+ years in an energy sales and or commodity product structuring role desirable 
• 5+ years’ people management and/or account management experience 

For details on how to apply, please visit: http://tinyurl.com/owmjkzq and search for the position title above.

Extended Deadline: PowerSave Housing Survey - July 11

Attention UCSC undergrads living in an on-campus residential housing unit! PowerSave Campus would like your input on energy use in your building. Please take the short 3 minute survey here and be sure to include your UCSC email address to be entered into a raffle for one $100 and 4 $50 bookstore gift certificates! The information collected in this survey will be used to help prioritize investment in energy conservation projects and programs. The deadline to participate has been extended to July 11th at midnight.