University of California, Merced
PAE-4: Sustainability Plan

Staff, faculty, staff and community were involved in developing UC Merced’s plan. At the outset, UC Merced created mission and vision statements to capture the campus’ aspirations. This resulted in a plan that focuses on twelve specific stakeholder areas in which to focus our efforts: Energy, Green Building, Water, Food, Waste and Recycling, Procurement, Transportation, Human Resources, Outreach, Conservation Lands, Planning, and the University community. It is worth noting that UC Merced’s approach to its meeting the goals of its sustainability plan has come to resemble a small start-up company, rather than a traditional university standing committee. Specifically, the stakeholders are identified as having line or staff functions. Line stakeholders are responsible for single, defined areas, such as energy, food or waste. The staff stakeholders are responsible for functions supporting all of the line stakeholders.

The plan's goals are divided by topic area: 1. Energy: Zero net energy and climate neutrality by 2020 2. Green Building: Minimum LEED Gold for new buildings 3. Water: Create a model 21st century sustainable water-management plan 4. Food: Educate dining customers to enhance sustainability of food resources and minimize waste 5. Waste and Recycling: Zero waste by 2020 6. Procurement: Drive the market for best practices in sustainable procurement 7. Transportation: Reduce carbon footprint of UC Merced Transportation, Parking and Fleet Services 8. Human Resources: Make sustainability part of everyone’s job 9. Conservation Lands: Integrate education, research, conservation and recreation to promote sustainability 10. Outreach: Raise visibility and understanding of sustainability within and beyond UC Merced’s campus community 11. University Community: Adhere to sustainability principles in the development of the University Community 12. Planning: Ensure sustainability is integrated into all stages of campus development

The plan is measured against quarterly milestones in twelve specific areas. For accountability purposes, a committee member serves as stakeholder for a particular topic area. Each area has an overarching sustainability goal followed by two to three highest-priority objectives required to achieve the goal. To track programs, each stakeholder commits to meeting a set of quarterly milestones necessary to achieve the sustainability objectives