UC Office of the President Earns LEED® Silver
The University of California (UC) continues to be a leader in reductions. In March 2007, the policy was further extended to
sustainable business practices. Over the past several years, cover the areas of green building renovations, sustainable op-
UC has adopted comprehensive policies that will improve its erations and maintenance, waste reduction, and environmen-
environmental performance. The implementation of these tally preferable purchasing. With the most recent expansion,
policies at a system-wide level will make each of the ten UC the policy was renamed the “Policy on Sustainable Practices.”
campuses a leader in climate protection, clean energy, green The policy can be viewed online at:
building, sustainable transportation, environmentally prefer- www.ucop.edu/facil/sustain/
able purchasing, and waste reduction.
Greening the Franklin Building
Before crafting an expanded green building policy, the UC The Franklin Building achieved a total of 40 LEED-EB points,
Office of the President (UCOP) recently piloted a range of earning it a Silver certification level. The building earned cred-
sustainable operations and maintenance practices at its own its in every LEED category, which represents a wide range of
headquarters, located in downtown Oakland. The Franklin operations and maintenance improvements that impact both
Building is now certified under the U.S. Green Building Coun- environmental and human health. Highlights of the building’s
cil’s Leadership in Energy and Envi- achievements are described below
ronmental Design for Existing Build- under the headings of the six LEED-
ings program, or LEED-EB. Building on EB credit categories.
the success of this project, UC policy
now requires all campuses to submit Sustainable Sites
one building for LEED-EB certifica- The rooftop terrace garden is now
tion by June 2008. UCOP is pleased maintained using sustainable land-
to announce that the Franklin Build- scaping practices. The leaf blower
ing achieved a Silver rating. UCOP and gas-powered soil tiller have
will use the valuable lessons learned been replaced by brooms and shov-
though this project to aid campuses els. Conventional fertilizers are no
undertaking certification in the near longer used in the garden. Instead,
future. compost and mulch are applied once
each year, followed by the release
This case study provides background of earth worms. Roundup and other
on UC’s sustainability program and forms of chemical weed control have
gives highlights of the Franklin Build- been exchanged for least-toxic pes-
ing’s LEED-EB achievements. ticides. All green waste generated by
the garden is composted.
History of Collaboration
UC students first brought the issue of Water Efficiency
environmental sustainability to the The East Bay Municipal Water District
UC Board of Regents in 2002. Since (EBMUD) performed a free irrigation
then, UCOP has worked with students audit to ensure that the irrigation
and campuses to develop the sustain- equipment was functioning properly
ability policies described below. The resulting initiatives have and was not over-watering the landscape or watering the
gained the University national recognition, and demonstrated concrete instead of the plants. EBMUD also donated low-flow
the unique role that higher education can play in addressing faucet aerators for all restroom sinks in the building.
global warming and other pressing environmental issues.
Energy and Atmosphere
UC Policy on Sustainable Practices Several energy efficiency retrofits to the building’s light-
In June 2004, UC President Robert Dynes issued guidelines for ing system were funded by a partnership between UC, the
the Policy on Green Building Design and Clean Energy Stan- California State University, and the state’s investor-owned
dards. This comprehensive policy established the University utilities. This partnership also provided incentive funding
as a leader in promoting environmental stewardship among for a monitoring-based commissioning project to inspect the
institutions of higher education. building’s HVAC system and install permanent utility sub-
In January 2006, the policy was expanded to include sustain- metering. This will allow continuous monitoring of building
able transportation practices and greenhouse gas emissions systems and enable staff to identify and fix problems that are
wasting energy. The annual utility cost savings are anticipat- over $5,000 by purchasing this environmentally preferable
ed at roughly $26,500, giving the project a simple payback of product.
less than 3 years. However, taking the utility incentive money
into account lowers the project’s payback to less than 1 year. Indoor Environmental Quality
The upgrades will then provide significant energy cost savings A new green cleaning program uses products that are Green
for the foreseeable future. Seal-37 certified. The switch to green cleaning is a healthier
choice for the environment, occupants, and maintenance
Materials and Resources staff at the Franklin Building. The program also mandates that
Numerous sustainable practices have been implemented at hand soaps contain no antimicrobial agents and floor stripping
the Franklin Building that earned credits under the Materials products are free of zinc.
and Resources category. Some of the highlights include:
Innovation
• All of UCOP’s unwanted computers, monitors, faxes, chairs, UCOP launched a Departmental Sustainability Coordinator
phones and other equipment are re-used internally or re- Program to directly involve building occupants in the LEED-EB
sold, donated or recycled through process. The Coordinators performed
UC Berkeley’s Excess, Surplus and extensive outreach to their depart-
Salvage program. ments, raising general awareness of
• A new waste management policy and support for the LEED-EB proj-
stipulates that 75 percent of all ect and its associated operational
construction waste must be divert- changes.
ed from landfills and incinerators
through re-use or recycling. The Program was comprised of at
least one representative from most
• A new purchasing policy addresses UCOP departments, including a num-
the sustainable procurement of office ber of departments located outside
paper, office equipment and supplies, the Franklin Building. Including off-
and furniture. Sixty-eight percent of site departments created a mecha-
the building’s total purchases now nism for extending the sustainable
qualify as green under the criteria practices implemented at the Frank-
set by LEED-EB. lin Building, thereby increasing the
project’s impact.
• All janitorial paper products meet
the requirements of the U.S. EPA’s
The coordinators were especially
Comprehensive Procurement Guide-
effective in identifying potential
lines.
improvements to the building’s re-
• Climate Neutral certified carpet cycling program and in training
tiles, donated by Interface Flooring, colleagues on the proper use of new
were installed in all of the building’s recycling and composting bins. They
elevators. contributed significantly to source
reduction by educating their respective departments about
• A new indoor air quality policy mandates low volatile organic paper use reduction and programs to exchange surplus ma-
compound levels for all adhesives, sealants, paints, coatings, terials between departments, thus avoiding unnecessary pur-
carpet, carpet cushions, composite panels and agrifiber prod- chases. The Coordinators also transitioned their departments
ucts. to purchasing 30 percent (or in some cases, 100 percent)
• A new composting program combined with a desk-side mini- post-consumer recycled content paper.
bin system that emphasizes recycling has raised the building’s
waste diversion rate to just over 60 percent. The Sustainability Coordinator Program also took steps beyond
the LEED-EB program and started a Community Supported
• The Franklin Building now uses very low mercury fluorescent Agriculture drop-off. A box of local organic produce is now
light bulbs. UCOP needed to find a new distributor in order to delivered to the Franklin Building each week for participating
purchase these bulbs, and has realized annual savings of UCOP employees.
Acknowledgements
UCOP thanks the following individuals who offered their time and expertise to the Franklin Building LEED-EB project: Michael
Keleman, Maric Munn, George Getgen, Jon Giacomi, Matt St.Clair, Jubilee Daniels, Linda Furtado, Matthew Leet, Lesley Clark,
Michael Gidding, Griselda Balanza, Mark Lozano, Mark Ottinger, Larry Wong, Sustainability Coordinators, Franklin Building
Occupants. UCOP also thanks the following organizations for providing funding and technical assistance: Higher Education
Energy Efficiency Partnership, East Bay Municipal Utility District, StopWaste.Org, Green Building in Alameda County, CEC Public
Interest Energy Research.
Contact Information
For more information, please contact Matt St.Clair at Matthew.StClair@ucop.edu, or 510-287-3897.