University of California, Irvine
EN-11: Inter-Campus Collaboration

UC Irvine is an active member of several national and international sustainability networks, in which UCI collaborates and shares information with other higher education institutions.

HIGHER EDUCATION FOCUSED SUSTAINABILITY NETWORKS:

-- APPA: Leadership in Educational Facilities - https://www.appa.org/index.cfm

-- Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) - http://www.aashe.org/

-- Second Nature's Climate Leadership Network (formerly the American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment or ACUPCC) - http://secondnature.org/who-we-are/network/ (See below for more information)

-- U.S. Department of Energy Better Buildings Alliance (Higher Education Sector) - https://betterbuildingssolutioncenter.energy.gov/alliance/sector/higher-education

-- University of California (UC) - California State University (CSU) - Investor Owned Utilities (IOU) Energy Efficiency Partnership - http://www.uccsuiouee.org/

UC Irvine also participates in national sustainability networks that have members from higher education institutions as well as other organizations, such as non-profits and corporations.

-- Association for Commuter Transportation (ACT) - http://actweb.org/
Note: UCI is a member of the University Council group of ACT

-- National Association of Climate Resilience Planners - https://www.nacrp.org/

-- League of American Bicyclists - http://bikeleague.org/
Note: UCI is a member of the Bicycle Friendly University network within the League of American Bicyclists overall network

-- U.S. Green Building Council - http://www.usgbc.org/

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT UCI'S COLLABORATION WITH THE SECOND NATURE'S CLIMATE LEADERSHIP NETWORK:

In February 2018, the University of California launched the University Climate Change Coalition, or UC3, a new coalition of 13 leading North American research universities that will prototype a collaborative model designed to help local communities achieve their climate goals and accelerate the transition to a low-carbon future. UC3 will operate in close partnership with Second Nature’s Climate Leadership Network, a group of hundreds of colleges and universities that have committed to taking action on climate.

All UC3 members have pledged to reduce their institutional carbon footprints, with commitments ranging from making more climate-friendly investments to becoming operationally carbon neutral.

Participating institutions include:
-- Arizona State University
-- California Institute of Technology
-- Tecnológico de Monterrey
-- La Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
-- The Ohio State University
-- The State University of New York
-- The University of British Columbia
-- The University of California
-- University of Colorado, Boulder
-- University of Maryland, College Park
-- The University of New Mexico
-- The University of Toronto
-- The University of Washington

For more information, see: http://secondnature.org/uc3-coalition/

UC Irvine is an active member of regional, state/provincial and local sustainability networks, in which UCI collaborates and shares information with other higher education institutions.

-- California Higher Education Sustainability Conference (CHESC) - http://chesc.org/

-- Sustain OC (Orange County sustainability network including local higher education institutions) - https://sustainoc.org/

-- Orange County Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council (including local higher education institutions) - https://www.usgbc.org/usgbc-orange-county

UC Irvine has collaborated and shared information with other higher education institutions at the following sustainability conferences:

BREAKING BARRIERS THROUGH INNOVATION: UNIVERSITY FACILITIES SUMMIT (June 2016)
http://tuffsummit.org/
-- "Innovating with Attitude" presented by Wendell Brase, UCI Associate Chancellor for Sustainability

CALIFORNIA HIGHER EDUCATION SUSTAINABILITY CONFERENCE (CHESC) (June 2017)
http://chesc.org/2017-conference/overall-schedule-2017/
-- "Climate Literacy: Empowering Future Leaders through Education" presented by Kimberly Duong, Graduate Student in Engineering
-- "Methane: A Different Lever for Slowing Climate Change" presented by Donald Blake, Professor of Chemistry, and Harwood Garland, Graduate Student in Biomedical and Translational Science

HIGHER EDUCATION FACILITIES FORUM (April 2016)
https://www.higheredfacilitiesforum.com/
-- "Deep Energy Efficiency: The Greenest Form of Renewable Energy" presented by Wendell Brase, UCI Associate Chancellor for Sustainability

SECOND NATURE'S 2017 PRESIDENTIAL CLIMATE LEADERSHIP SUMMIT (February 2017)
-- "Co-Benefits of Energy Efficiency" presented by Wendell Brase, UCI Associate Chancellor for Sustainability

UC CARBON AND CLIMATE NEUTRALITY SUMMIT
http://uc-carbonneutralitysummit2015.ucsd.edu/
-- October 2016: "UCI's Strategy: Life-Cycle Performance" presented by Wendell Brase, UCI Associate Chancellor for Sustainability
-- July 2017: "Pathways to Zero Waste" presented by Anne Krieghoff, Recycling and Sustainability Program Manager

WESTERN ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGE AND BUSINESS OFFICERS 2016 ANNUAL CONFERENCE (April 2016)
http://www.wacubo.org/programs/annual-conference.html
-- "Campus Energy Efficiencies: Alternatives to Consider, Planning and Implementing" presented by Wendell Brase, UCI Associate Chancellor for Sustainability

UC Irvine also presents at sustainability conferences where collaboration and informational sharing takes place amongst higher education institutions, as well as other organizations and corporations. List of conferences and presentations provided below:

CALIFORNIA COASTAL RESILIENCY: ADVANCING COASTAL RESILIENCY IN CALIFORNIA AND BEYOND (July 2017)
https://socialecology.uci.edu/pages/california-coastal-resiliency-advancing-coastal-resiliency-california-and-beyond
-- "Welcome and presentation on UCI’s sustainability efforts" presented by Wendell Brase, UCI Associate Chancellor for Sustainability

CLIMATE LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE (March 2017)
https://www.climateleadershipconference.org/2017-program/
-- "Carbon Cutting Solutions for the Built Environment" presented by Wendell Brase, UCI Associate Chancellor for Sustainability

INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF SUSTAINABLE LABORATORIES ANNUAL CONFERENCE (I2SL) CHINA CHAPTER INAUGURAL CONFERENCE (August 2017)
http://www.i2sl.org/conference/2017/index.html
-- "UCI Smart Labs Initiative - What We’ve Learned" presented by Wendell Brase, UCI Associate Chancellor for Sustainability

SHAPING A SUSTAINABLE BUILT ENVIRONMENT IN ORANGE COUNTY (April 2017)
http://aiaorangecounty.org/event/uciaiaoc-symposium-shaping-a-sustainable-built-environment-in-oc/
-- "Energy and UCI’s future planning" presented by Wendell Brase, UCI Associate Chancellor for Sustainability

UC Irvine has applied for and received the following awards, recognizing sustainability in higher education.

California Higher Education Sustainability Conference Best Practice Award 2017
Overall Sustainable Design - New Construction and Major Renovations
"Mesa Court Tower"
Case Study Application: http://sustainability.uci.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2018/05/Application_MC-Towers-CHESC-2017.pdf
Project Description: https://chesc.org/best-practice-awards/2017-best-practice-award-winners/

California Higher Education Sustainability Conference - Best Practice Award 2016
Sustainability in Academics: Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences
"UCI Sustainability Initiative"
Project Description: https://chesc.org/best-practice-awards/2016-best-practice-award-winners/

Award: U.S. Green Building Council Orange County 2017 Eco Awards
Submitted: UCI's campus wide sustainability program achievements
Category: Most Sustainable School
Received: Runner-Up
https://www.usgbc.org/articles/orange-county-recognizes-more-dozen-sustainable-leaders-southern-california-annual-eco-awar

Wendell Brase, Associate Chancellor for Sustainability, serves on the following boards and committees pertaining to sustainability in higher education:
-- Co-chair - University of California Global Climate Leadership Council, https://www.ucop.edu/carbon-neutrality-initiative/global-climate-council/index.html
-- Chair - University of California Energy Services Governing Board
-- Member - University of California Carbon Neutrality Financial and Management Task Force
-- Member - University of California Sustainability Steering Committee, https://www.ucop.edu/sustainability/policy-areas/sustainability-steering-committee.html
-- Member - TomKat Natural Gas Working Group, https://www.nceas.ucsb.edu/featured/auston

Anne Krieghoff, Recycling and Sustainability Program Manager, serves on the following committee pertaining to sustainability in higher education:
-- Co-Chair - University of California Zero Waste Working Group

Wendell Brase has also serves on the following boards and committees that focus on sustainability in higher education as well as within other organizations and corporations.
-- Member - National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) Sustainability Advisory Committee
-- Member - U.S. Department of Energy Better Buildings Smart Labs Accelerator Partner, https://betterbuildingsinitiative.energy.gov/accelerators/smart-labs

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY KNOWLEDGE ACTION NETWORK
UCI has advised and mentored the development of the faculty knowledge action network between UC faculty and Cal State University (CSU) faculty for teaching transformative climate and sustainability education. The network is described here: http://climatechampions.ucop.edu/uc-csu-knowledge-action-network-for-transformative-climate-and-sustainability-education-and-action/. In 2015-16, Abby Reyes, UCI Community Resilience Projects Director, advised UC faculty in starting the network and brokered relationships between UC and CSU faculty and administrators. In 2016-17, Reyes mentored UC and CSU faculty network members through 4 statewide, multi-day residential workshops. In 2017-18, Reyes advised and mentored UC and CSU faculty network leaders in the development of their successful proposal to UCOP and CSU for the next phase of network development in conjunction with the UC Climate and Sustainability Education Resource Library (http://cserl.ucop.edu).

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SYSTEMWIDE SUSTAINABILITY LEADERSHIP TRAINING
Student engagement is a key component of the University of California's Carbon Neutrality Initiative (CNI) and Global Food Initiative (GFI), and UCI staff lead systemwide sustainability leadership trainings to mentor climate and food student fellows from all 10 UC campuses.

To date, UCI staff have designed and facilitated five Sustainability Leadership Retreats to mentor and train CNI and GFI fellows from other campuses to gain or increase their skills in transformational leadership, communications about critical climate and food issues, and select organizing skills. This ongoing mentoring relationship provides a community-building forum for participants to reflect more deeply and critically about the global context in which their fellowship projects take place; provide a platform for participants to engage in dialogue and peer learning to enhance their current carbon neutrality and food sustainability practices and projects; and formulate collective reflection and input for broader sharing and impact.

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA (UC) CAMPUSES
UCI has an ongoing mentorship relationship with UC Riverside (UCR). At the request of Chancellor Kim Wilcox, UCI organized a training workshop for UC Riverside to ramp-up an energy efficiency retrofit program. Additional advice included drafting an initial energy efficiency retrofit plan for use by UCR.

UCI also has an ongoing mentorship relationship with UC Santa Cruz. At the request of the Vice Chancellors for Administration and Budget, UCI provided planning and implementation recommendations for a large solar energy project now being planned for the Santa Cruz campus.

SMART LABS INITIATIVE
UC Irvine mentors other higher education institutions about its Smart Labs Initiative, a proven, comprehensive energy-savings program that involves re-engineering building control systems in already-energy-efficient laboratory buildings from bottom to top to safely reduce energy consumption by an average of 60 percent. The program is the cornerstone of UC Irvine's partnership in the U.S. Department of Energy's Better Buildings Challenge. A key focus of this ongoing program is the sharing of best practices.

UC Irvine has also collaborated with other institutions on sustainability in the following areas:

UC CARBON NEUTRALITY AND GLOBAL FOOD INITIATIVE
UCI has advised and mentored the student fellows from the UC Carbon Neutrality and Global Food Initiatives every year since AY 14-15. Abby Reyes, UCI Community Resilience Projects Director does this by offering, designing, and facilitating the annual multi-day residential fellows' retreats and leadership trainings. At the trainings, student fellows workshop and receive professional and peer coaching on the collaborative sustainability efforts that they lead through their fellowship projects. Fellows consistently cite the mentor weekends as the highlight of their fellowship year in terms of increasing their ability to collaborate effectively across campuses with other fellows.

ADDITIONAL COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS WITH UNIVERSITIES IN 2017:

-- UCI shared solar energy Request for Proposal (RFP) documents and Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) business terms and contract materials with several other UC campuses, and with the City of Irvine to assist them in the development of solar energy installations.

-- Recommended a strategy to UCLA to avoid doubling the size of their combined heat and power plant by implementing a Smart Labs deep energy retrofit program, installing solar canopies on all UCLA parking garage top decks, and doubling the size of their chilled water storage.

-- UCI shared findings and best practices regarding responsible urban forest stewardship related to the regional polyphagous shot hole borer (PSHB) invasive species infestation with Cal State Fullerton, other UC campuses, and other public institutions via site visits, partnering with the University of California Agricultural and Natural Resources Division on outreach, and presentations to multiple University professional education conferences.

UC Irvine actively seeks opportunities to share information about its award-winning sustainability practices with other universities in the areas of energy efficiency, green building, transportation, food services, and waste minimization. Campus representatives make dozens of presentations at conferences and symposia throughout the year. Many of these events attract audiences not only from higher education but also from government and the private sector. UC Irvine readily shares information on its websites, provides copies of papers and presentations, and has hosted other campuses for sustainability-oriented tours and briefings.