University of Florida
PAE-5: Climate Plan

In the summer of 2009, key institutional stakeholders committed UF to a first phase goal of reducing main campus (Site 0001) GHGE to at least 3% below 2005 levels by 2012. This goal is in line with the June 26, 2009 version of the federal American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES Act), passed by the House of Representatives and currently awaiting a vote in the Senate. Though future versions of the UF CAP will re-evaluate goals beyond phase one, UF is currently targeting the remaining interim milestones of the ACES Act (17% below 2005 levels by 2020, 42% below 2005 levels by 2030, and 83% below 2005 levels by 2050). In a fashion similar to the many excellent academic institutions taking a leadership role within the ACUPCC, UF will take a prioritized approach to addressing the complex challenges contributing to climate change. This approach consists of two overlapping hierarchies as bulleted below. One prioritizes the desired actions chronologically by outcome and the other prioritizes the desired actions categorically by key GHGE source types where UF has the most institutional power to affect change. We believe Tavey Capps, our colleague at Duke University, said it best in stressing an approach to “reduce, renew, then offset…in ways that are local, tangible, and reliable.” Hierarchy of Actions (Temporal Prioritization of Outcomes) 1. Organizational Leadership 2. Conservation / Behavior 3. Efficiency / Infrastructure 4. Low Carbon Energy 4.1. Fuel Switching 4.1.1. UF Owned (First)  Purchased Power (Last) 4.2. Renewable Energy 4.2.1. On-Site (First)  Off-Site (Last) 4.2.2. UF Owned (First)  Purchased Power (Last) 5. Carbon Offsets 5.1. Local (First)  Distant (Last) Hierarchy of Actions (Categorical Prioritization of Source Types) 1. Buildings 1.1. Electricity – General 1.2. Electricity – Chilled Water 1.3. Hot Water 1.4. Steam 1.5. Natural Gas 1.6. Electricity – Water/Wastewater 2. Transportation 2.1. UF Vehicle Fleet 2.2. Commuter 2.3. UF Sponsored Air Travel 2.4. UAA Air Fleet 3. Non-Energy Related GHG Emissions

During implementation of the UF CAP v1.0 (FY 2009/2010 through FY 2011/2012), UF will focus on the following: 1. Foster organizational leadership and create a foundation for long-term institutional culture change in climate change mitigation and natural resource management. 2. Initiate, implement, and monitor the efficacy of key infrastructure energy efficiency strategies identified in the ongoing Energy Summits and outlined in the Office of Sustainability Vision and Implementation Plans. 3. Continue and expand GHGE reduction campaigns via the Office of Sustainability Green Team Network and other outreach efforts with a focus on the conservation of electricity and water, the reduction of vehicle miles traveled, and utilizing the three R’s (reduce  reuse  recycle) of materials and waste. 4. Evaluate, finance, and install a minimum of 100 kW of on-site renewable energy generating capacity within the main campus and/or its local environs.