Overall Rating Platinum - expired
Overall Score 86.82
Liaison Richard Demerjian
Submission Date March 28, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of California, Irvine
PA-1: Sustainability Coordination

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Richard Demerjian
Assistant Vice Chancellor
Office of Environmental Planning and Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution have at least one sustainability committee?:
Yes

The charter or mission statement of the committee(s) or a brief description of each committee's purview and activities:

In 2007, the University of California adopted a Policy on Sustainable Practices and signed the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, articulating the University’s intentions to incorporate sustainability into operations, educational programs, research, and outreach activities. To facilitate this integration, UC Irvine created a Sustainability Committee that convenes under the leadership of Wendell Brase, Associate Chancellor for Sustainability; Richard Demerjian, Assistant Vice Chancellor of Environmental Planning & Sustainability; and Abigail Reyes, Director of UCI Community Resilience Projects. The committee convenes quarterly and champions campus activities that meet or exceed requirements established in the University of California’s comprehensive Sustainable Practices Policy.

For additional information, see:
http://sustainability.uci.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2015/01/charter.pdf

http://policy.ucop.edu/doc/3100155/Sustainable%20Practices


Members of each committee, including affiliations and role (e.g. staff, student, or faculty):

UCI Sustainability Committee Members:

CHAIR
-- Wendell C. Brase, Associate Chancellor for Sustainability

CO-CHAIRS
-- Richard Demerjian, Assistant Vice Chancellor, Environmental Planning & Sustainability

ACADEMIC UNITS
-- Peter Bowler, Ph.D., Senior Lecturer, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
-- Linda Cohen, Professor of Economics and Law, School of Social Sciences
-- Jesse Jackson, Assistant Professor, Arts
-- Martha Mecartney, Professor, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science

DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION SERVICES
-- James Brittell, Quality Assurance Architect
-- Brian Pratt, Assistant Vice Chancellor and Campus Architect
-- James Wahlmeier, Quality Assurance Mechanical Engineer

ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING & SUSTAINABILITY
-- Matt Deines, Senior Planner
-- Carrie Metzgar, Communications Manager

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH & SAFETY
-- David Melitz, School of Medicine EH&S Coordinator
-- Dick Sun, Associate Deputy Director

FACILITIES MANAGEMENT
-- Fred Bockmiller, Manager, Engineering
-- Matt Gudorf, Assistant Director, Energy, Engineering and Inspection
-- Anne Krieghoff, Recycling and Sustainability Program Manager
-- Robert Rice, Assistant Director, Custodial & Grounds Operations
-- Allen Shiroma, Director, Project Services, Engineering & Energy
-- Karl Wolonsky, Assistant Vice Chancellor

HOSPITALITY & DINING SERVICES
-- Karen Douglas, Aramark, Assistant Director
-- Tyson Monagle, Aramark, Marketing Manager
-- Lin Phu Tang, Associate Director, Hospitality & Dining
-- Sean Tedder, Aramark, Resident District Manager
-- Lotus Thai, Aramark, Sustainability Coordinator

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
-- Allen Schiano, Director, Instruction and Research Infrastructure

PURCHASING & RISK SERVICES
-- Snehal Bhatt, Chief Procurement Officer and Director of Risk Services
-- Shauna Niswonger, Purchasing Training & Support Assistant

RECREATION
-- Greg Rothberg, Associate Director, Campus Recreation

RESEARCH CENTER OR INSTITUTE
-- Jessica Debats Garrison, Administrating Director
-- Travis Huxman, Professor, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and Director, Center for Environmental Biology, School of Biological Sciences

STUDENT AFFAIRS
-- Melissa Falkenstien, Director, Capital Projects and Asset Management
-- Louis Gill, Director, Housing
-- Rachel Harvey, Sustainability Coordinator
-- Connie Malone, Director, Housing Administrative Services
-- Stacey Murren, Director, Student Center and Event Services
-- Rachel Pennington, Programs Coordinator, Sustainability

OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY
-- Abby Reyes, Director, Community Resilience Projects, Office of Sustainability
-- Susan Forbath, Executive Assistant to the Associate Chancellor

TRANSPORTATION & DISTRIBUTION SERVICES
-- Ronald Fleming, Director
-- Carolyn Hernandez, Employee Transportation Coordinator
-- Saul Valdez, Employee Transportation Coordinator

UC IRVINE MEDICAL CENTER
-- Paul Da Veiga, Project Manager, Planning Administration
-- Joe Brothman, Director, Environmental Health & Safety
-- Tony Dover, Energy Manager, Planning Administration
-- Greg Eikam, Director, Facility Maintenance

STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS AND REPRESENTATIVES
-- Anteaters for Animals: Rana Hallak
-- Association of Energy Engineers: Van Wifvat
-- ASUCI Food Security Commission: Natasha Amonkar and Ernest Rankin
-- ASUCI Garden Commission: Alexandra Singca
-- ASUCI Sustainability Project Commission: Truong Xe and Lucia La Roche
-- ASUCI The Green Initiative Fund: Priscila Morales-Toledo
-- Campus as a Living Lab Interns: Staff Contact - Jessica Debats Garrison
-- Cimatepedia: Kimberly Duong
-- Costa Rica Program: Kabria Allen-Ziaee and Lupe Pena
-- Earth System Science Club: Alice Shen
-- Engineers for a Sustainable World: Brandon Macias
-- Engineers without Borders: Amber Ganapathy
-- Global Engineering Brigades: Steven Winter
-- Global Partners for Sustainability: Ezra Monroy
-- Global Sustainability Resource Center: Tamar Deirmendjian
-- Green Health Initiative: Harrison Kim
-- Housing Sustainability Program: Paola Granados
-- Merage Net Impact: Lucy Perkins
-- Students for Global Peacebuilding: Elsie Dominguez
-- Theta Psi: Karen Chavez
-- UCI Aquaponics: Samantha Carlson
-- Urban Studies Student Association: Erwin Cruz

The website URL where information about the sustainability committee is available
http://sustainability.uci.edu/about/sustainability-committee/


Does the institution have at least one sustainability office that includes more than 1 full-time equivalent (FTE) employee?:
Yes

A brief description of each sustainability office:

The UCI Sustainability Office is led by Wendell Brase, Associate Chancellor for Sustainability, and houses the Office of Environmental Planning and Sustainability as well as UCI Community Resilience Projects.

-- Office of Environmental Planning and Sustainability (EPS)
EPS has primary responsibility for environmental and land use planning at UCI. Its goals include the promotion of well-planned, environmentally responsible development and re-development of lands under UCI's jurisdiction. EPS also provides planning services to all campus organizations involved in physical development projects. EPS identifies the potential environmental impact of proposed development and recommend solutions.

-- UCI Community Resilience Projects
UCI Community Resilience seeks to understand, engage, and lift up the interests, contributions, and leadership of underrepresented communities on our campus and in communities in our region that are more vulnerable to the impacts of the changing climate. Current projects include:
- A community resilience co-lab on campus;
- A project on regional resilience in Orange County;
- A resource center for students;
- A project on climate refugees’ stories; and
- Multiple training, design, and facilitation services that build skills for transformation.


Full-time equivalent (FTE) of people employed in the sustainability office(s):
9

Does the institution have at least one sustainability officer?:
Yes

Name and title of each sustainability officer:
Wendell Brase, Associate Chancellor for Sustainability; Richard Demerjian, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Environmental Planning & Sustainability; and Abigail Reyes, Director, Community Resilience Projects

Does the institution have a mechanism for broad sustainability coordination for the entire institution (e.g. a campus-wide committee or an officer/office responsible for the entire campus)?:
Yes

A brief description of the activities and substantive accomplishments of the institution-wide coordinating body or officer during the previous three years:

As Associate Chancellor for Sustainability, Wendell Brase oversees UCI's campus-wide sustainability strategy and activities initiated and supported by the Office of Environmental Planning & Sustainability (EP&S) and UCI Community Resilience. He also serves as Chair of UCI's Sustainability Committee (UCI's primary coordinating body for sustainability).

Sustainable operations at UC Irvine are championed by EP&S, which oversees the implementation of the UC Sustainable Practices Policy as it relates to operations. The following activities are addressed in this policy:
A. Green Building Design
B. Clean Energy
C. Climate Protection
D. Sustainable Transportation
E. Sustainable Building Operations for Campuses
F. Recycling and Waste Management
G. Environmentally Preferable Purchasing
H. Sustainable Food Services
I. Sustainable Water Systems

"Community resilience" describes UCI's efforts to create human infrastructure through which climate and sustainability solutions foster and reflect social cohesion and inclusion of diverse voices in our university community and beyond.


ACTIVITIES AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS

In August 2017, UCI became the only campus to score in Sierra magazine’s top 10 “Cool Schools” ranking for eight consecutive years. UCI ranked eighth in 2017 and No. 1 in 2014 and 2015.

UCI was selected for The Princeton Review’s 2018 Green College Honor Roll. It was the fifth time UCI made the list, which salutes universities earning a perfect score of 99 in the publication’s sustainability rating system.

Abigail Reyes, UCI’s Director of Community Resilience Projects, launched the Community Resilience Co-lab, an experimental co-curricular education response to the enduring and intersecting crises of environmental, racial, and social injustice. The Co-lab operates on the theory of change that a campus’s sustainability becomes more possible with environmental justice. The Co-lab enables coordination among the professional and paid student staff of the campus’ Cross-Cultural Center, FRESH Hub (for food security and basic needs), DREAM Center (for immigration-related student support), Center for Black Cultures, Student Housing, and Global Sustainability Resource Center. To date the Co-lab has produced one high visibility public event through Student Affairs, provided strategic planning support to a individual center member to integrate sustainability values, funded three, year-long student fellows to increase cross-pollination in sustainability and diversity programming, and initiated a set of community awareness trainings to increase zero waste and sustainability practices at the member centers. See: http://communityresilience.uci.edu/

In January 2018, the Office of the Associate Chancellor for Sustainability co-hosted a daylong “Smart Labs” workshop with the U.S. Department of Energy. 120 individuals from U.S. and international universities and seven national laboratories attended the workshop, which outlines UCI’s program to safely reduce energy use in research laboratories by as much as 60 percent. The DOE has designated UCI the national leader for laboratory energy efficiency and has asked UCI to provide the core content and training for its national Smart Labs Accelerator program.


Job title of the sustainability officer position:
Associate Chancellor for Sustainability

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The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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