University of California

College Sustainability Report Card 2007

The University System has or is in the process of hiring a sustainability coordinator at each of its campuses (a system-wide sustainability specialist is already on staff), who will help the University work towards the State of California's goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. All new buildings will be LEED Certified at the minimum, if not Silver-rated, and the University's goal for purchases of electricity from the grid is that 20 percent of its electricity come from renewable sources by 2017. Four campuses have joined the California Climate Action Registry (CCAR) and are cataloging greenhouse gas emissions; other campuses are exploring joining the CCAR.

The University System is measuring the fuel use of its campuses' fleets, working towards including 50 percent more low-to-zero emission vehicles by 2010. The University's goal for energy efficiency is to reduce system-wide growth-adjusted energy consumption by 10 percent or more by 2014 from the year 2000 base consumption level. While both the Berkeley and Santa Barbara campuses have solar PV projects installed on their buildings, UC's policy states a goal of providing up to 10 megawatts of local renewable power for the system by 2014.

Most of the University’s campuses buy some local and organic food, and two of the dining halls on the Berkeley campus are certified as Bay Area Green Businesses, with a pressing goal of certifying all four. Most campuses donate their compost to local farms.

All new buildings will meet the LEED Certified standard at a minimum and will strive to achieve a Silver rating if possible. All new laboratories will work within the LAB21 standards for energy efficiency in laboratories, and the University is exploring development of LEED standards for existing buildings.

The UC Office of the President makes a detailed list of endowment holdings accessible via the web. However, shareholder voting records are not available.

The UC endowment prioritizes investing to maximize profit and has not made any public statements about investigating or investing in renewable energy funds or community development loan funds.

The UC Office of the President has stated that it “considers the active voting of proxies an integral part of the investment process,” however, documentation is lacking about current voting practices.