Aug 17 2013
How cool is UC? Well, three campuses just made the top 10 of Sierra magazine's Coolest Schools ranking, and nine campuses were included in its list of 162 greenest universities in the country for 2013.
UC Irvine's solar power panels generate enough power to run 500 homes for a year. Daniel A. Anderson/UC Irvine
Here, "cool" means having more green buildings than any other university in the country and setting goals for resource conservation, waste diversion and carbon emission reductions that make UC a leader among higher education institutions.
That's why Sierra ranked UC Irvine third, UC Davis fourth, UC Santa Barbara 10th, UC San Diego 20th, UC Santa Cruz 21st, UC Berkeley 25th, UCLA 32nd, UC Merced 44th and UC Riverside 102nd in its seventh annual Cool Schools rankings.
Sierra salutes U.S. universities that are helping to solve climate problems and making significant efforts to operate sustainably with its rankings.
"For the past seven years, Sierra magazine has ranked colleges and universities on their commitment to fighting climate disruption and making sure the future their students will inhabit has safe water, clean air and beautiful landscapes," said Bob Sipchen, the magazine's editor in chief. "By showing such strong leadership on so many fronts — from energy use and transportation to the courses they offer — the best of these schools are pointing the way for other institutions."
UC Irvine has been in the Cool Schools top 10 for four consecutive years. Among the attributes lauded by Sierra was the campus's commitment to conserve energy. UC Irvine's 19-megawatt cogeneration facility and other energy-conservation projects have helped save 20 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year since 2009, enough to power about 3,000 homes for a year. The campus also has solar panels that generate enough power to run 500 homes for a year.
"We are extremely pleased to be recognized by the Sierra Club for having a positive impact on our planet's future," said UC Irvine Chancellor Michael Drake. "I'm excited that at a time when sustainability is becoming ever more important, we earned our highest ranking ever. This ranking reflects the enormous dedication of our students, faculty and staff who show their concern for the global environment - and future generations - in countless ways every day."
UC Davis, last year's top Cool School, is home to West Village, the country's largest planned zero-net-energy community. Sierra singled out the campus's climate action plan, which has cut campus emissions to below year-2000 levels, and its recycling and composting programs, which have diverted more than 60 percent of the campus's trash from landfills.
Sierra highlighted UC Santa Barbara's leadership in green construction and education: Forty-four buildings on campus are LEED-certified green and 47 percent of academic departments offer a class on sustainability.
The University of California system's Policy on Sustainable Practices guides its campuses in the areas of green building, clean energy, sustainable transportation, climate protection, sustainable operations, waste reduction and recycling, environmentally preferable purchasing, sustainable foodservice and water conservation.
By 2020, these efforts will help UC achieve goals of:
- Reducing carbon emissions at its campuses and facilities to 1990 levels, a 50 percent reduction
- Becoming zero waste
- Procuring 20 percent of its food from sustainable sources
- Cutting water consumption by 20 percent