Energy Efficiency Strategy
Our campus, a young but rapidly growing university had a unique opportunity to ensure all buildings are designed and constructed to achieve environmentally sustainable standards.
A commitment was made that each building constructed would meet a third-party verified green building standard. The university selected the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification
- Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) new construction is a third-party verification system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. It ensures that a building's design and construction strategies are aimed to maximize energy savings, water efficiency, emissions reductions, and improve indoor environmental air quality.
All buildings at UC Merced were LEED silver certified until 2009 when the university established a minimum LEED gold certification requirement. These commitments were among the first steps taken to reduce the university's carbon and environmental footprint
Our building design reduced a significant quantity of carbon emission that needed to be offset through other strategies
The money saved from lower energy usage was used to create a Savings by Design program, which funds the purchase of carbon offsets that support carbon sequestration projects
Buildings and Certifications
| 12 | LEED NC Platinum |
| 8 | LEED NC Gold |
| 1 | LEED NC Silver |
| 2 | LEED Gold EBOM |
| 1 | LEED Silver EBOM |
