Green Building Program

Design Objectives and Guidelines - Sustainability: Led by the UC Sustainable Practices Policy, UC San Diego pushes the boundaries of excellence in sustainable construction. The university routinely evaluates design features that strive for in U.S. Green Building Council LEED Gold or higher ratings. Examples of sustainability elements considered at the project level include:

• 20% post-consumer recycled content material
• Bicycle facilities/employee showers
• Carbon dioxide sensors
• Cool roof system
• Dedicated parking for low-emission vehicles
• Displacement ventilation system
• Grey water use potential
• Naturally ventilated office modules
• Photovoltaic infrastructure
• Reclaimed water for irrigation
• Storm water treatment system
• Ultra-low flow plumbing fixtures

Life cycle costing analyses are part of the building design process so that economy and sustainability in the design of systems and selection of equipment may be achieved. Parameters evaluated include cost, energy savings, operation and maintenance, replacement cost and upgradeability. Further, projects that have upgraded both the campus and medical center utilities plants, renewal of building systems and implementation of new energy-management and energy-conservation equipment, have proven to be efficient and cost-effective.

Working with private sector energy experts and in partnership with industry, UC San Diego has developed an alternative energy program to use the campus as a living laboratory engaging students and faculty from multiple disciplines and working with campus operations staff in designing and deploying renewable energy systems to provide power for the university. In addition, plans are under consideration for expanded use of photovoltaic systems, enhanced energy-efficiency programs, installation of stationary fuel cells powered by renewable methane, use of renewable methane at the cogeneration plant, and electrical power produced by Southern California wind farms, so that UC San Diego develops into a state-of-the-art, carbon-neutral campus.

See UC San Diego Physical Design Framework

• Continue to meet UC Sustainable Practices Policy objectives and implement greenhouse gas reduction strategies in building design
• Optimize the use of existing facilities, sites, and campus space through repurposing, renovation, infill, and consolidation where appropriate
• Embrace sustainable facility designs and encourage “green” operations where appropriate
• Continue to provide and expand on-campus housing opportunities to reduce vehicle miles traveled to/from campus, thus reducing the campus’ carbon footprint

See 2018 Long Range Development Plan (Amendment #1)

Adaptive reuse provides ongoing use of existing older buildings that may have substantial deferred maintenance and require significant upgrades. These projects reduce embodied carbon by reusing significant portions of the building superstructure and existing utilities when possible. A good example of this is the HSS exterior retrofit that maintains the original building character and provides a new life to the building envelope.

In addition to maintaining a link to the past and celebrating historic buildings along with new ones on campus, reuse of an historic building is one of the most sustainable actions the campus can take to promote green buildings and sustainability. The university has several notable historic buildings and it should maintain their eligibility for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Campus Planning has a list of campus buildings that are potentially eligible for listing on the National Register that should be sensitively upgraded and/or maintained.

The National Register of Historic Places is the nation’s official list of buildings, structures, objects, sites and districts worthy of preservation because of their significance in American history, architecture, archeology, engineering, and culture. The National Register recognizes resources of local, state and national significance that have been documented and evaluated according to uniform standards and criteria. The National Park Service, which is part of the U. S. Department of the Interior administers the National Register. In California, the State Historic Preservation Office administers National Park Service.

For proposed capital development projects, campuses utilize the Operational Carbon and Energy Assessment tool for new buildings (OCEAN) to forecast utility costs and operational carbon emissions. The results are presented to the Board of Regents for information relative to achieving our overall carbon reduction strategies on a project-by-project basis. The tool introduces a uniform methodology for considering energy and carbon in capital asset development. It enables and facilitates campus design teams to evaluate various major building system and sustainable strategy options to support carbon neutrality goals.

To reduce energy and water consumption, avoid carbon emissions and improve resilience and comfort, University of California buildings and infrastructure are designed with local climate conditions in mind. As the Earth warms, these local conditions are changing. The University of California recognizes that buildings and infrastructure will need to react to shocks (e.g., extreme weather events), stressors (e.g., warmer temperatures),and their indirect effects (e.g., power outages). Since the historic design criteria used by designers may not accurately reflect future conditions, future-shifted climate data is needed to improve awareness and enable decision makers to better tailor designs to respond to these shocks and stressors. This guide equips University of California stakeholders with improved tools to assess impacts and adjust design for our changing climate.

During project siting and building design, the campus aims to avoid any impacts to sensitive cultural resources that may lie beneath the ground surface. However, to account for potential unknown cultural resources to be unearthed during building construction, the campus will employ Native American and archaeological monitors to monitor the top 3-4 feet of soils removal. This applies to both construction on native soils and redevelopment sites alike. Learn more