The University of California's Plan to Achieve Carbon Neutrality

Wendell Brase, University of California, Irvine

All 10 University of California campuses signed the American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment in 2007 with an initial goal of achieving climate neutrality 'as soon as feasible.' UC President Janet Napolitano has taken this a step further, announcing last year that the University will achieve carbon neutrality by 2025. Initial steps for achieving this challenging goal were put forth by UC's Climate Solutions Steering Group in 2011 in the 'Prospectus for a Sustainable Future: Recommendations for Implementing UC's Commitment to Climate Neutrality.' This document is available online at http://sustainability.universityofcalifornia.edu/documents/climate-report.pdf. This plan highlights several key strategies for achieving UC's climate neutrality goals: 1) deep energy efficiency, 2) procurement of utility-scale renewable energy, and 3) biogas development and procurement.

With this as background, Wendell Brase's presentation will focus on 'deep energy efficiency' – measures that reduce energy consumption and associated carbon emissions by half or more. This is seen as the most immediate, cost-feasible strategy to effect a substantial reduction in UC's carbon footprint. Targets for deep energy savings include lighting, information technology, and laboratories. The latter typically account for two-thirds of the energy use at most research universities.

Vice Chancellor Brase will briefly describe UC Irvine's approach to savings in each of these areas, with particular emphasis on the campus's award-winning Smart Labs Initiative, a proven, comprehensive program for re-engineering laboratory buildings from bottom to top to safely achieve energy savings averaging 60 percent.

Vice Chancellor Brase's presentation is intended to be part of a campus-focused panel in the session on 'Carbon Neutrality and Net-Zero Energy for Laboratories and Campuses' that Otto Van Geet of NREL is hoping to coordinate.

Learning Objectives

  • Participants will gain an understanding of how the University of California plans to realize its goal of attaining climate neutrality by 2025.
  • Participants will learn about "deep energy savings" -- measures that reduce energy consumption and associated carbon emissions by half or more.
  • Participants will gain an understanding of the relationship between laboratory energy savings and greenhouse gas emission reduction goals.

Biography:

Wendell Brase co-chairs UC President Janet Napolitano's Global Climate Leadership Council and leads an award-winning sustainability program in his role as Vice Chancellor for Administrative and Business Services at the University of California, Irvine. Under his leadership, UCI was recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency with a 2014 Climate Leadership Award for Organizational Leadership for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and addressing climate change.

 

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