Sustainability Annual Report 2024
UC Berkeley continued to make significant progress toward its sustainability goals.
Notably, the groundbreaking Berkeley Clean Energy Campus initiative (BCEC), slated to reduce building carbon emissions by 85% when complete, moved into preliminary design and to Regental project approval.
READ MORE ABOUT SUSTAINABILITY AT UC BERKELEY
The completed BCEC Integrated Resource and Activation Plan, a two-year undertaking with extensive stakeholder engagement, provides an overview of why Berkeley is taking action now and how the campus will realize a sustainable and resilient utility infrastructure transformation. The plan also includes an initial roadmap for learning opportunities and identifies equity indicators and just transition pathways for the BCEC initiative.
The Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Sustainability held its 20th annual awards ceremony honoring Chancellor Carol Christ for her outstanding environmental leadership during her seven-year tenure. The Haas School of Business appointed longtime zero waste and restoration advocate Danner Doud-Martin as its inaugural staff director of sustainability for operations. And, in the UCB tradition of student innovation, the Office of Sustainability, Student Environmental Resource Center and Residential & Student Service Sustainability Program sponsored over 60 paid student fellows working on programs ranging from hosting environmental justice forums to developing more accurate sustainable food tracking metrics to sponsoring the student zero waste coalition.
Stories
Berkeley Haas Launches New Master’s Degree in Business and Climate Solutions
The Haas School of Business and the Rausser College of Natural Resources at UC Berkeley have launched a concurrent MBA/Master of Climate Solutions (MCS) degree program to prepare the next generation of sustainability and climate leaders.
Unprecedented Campus Construction Marked Carol Christ’s Chancellorship
UC Berkeley has recently undergone significant development, with numerous new projects enhancing its academic, research and housing facilities, including the Bakar BioEnginuity Hub and the Gateway for the College of Computing, Data Science, and Society. The campus also adopted a new master plan focused on sustainability and inclusivity, reflecting a commitment to serving a diverse community.
EMISSIONS
*Interim goals for 2030, 2035 and 2040 to be developed through fossil-free planning that is underway at each location
**90% direct reduction of total emissions from 2019 levels with residual emissions negated by carbon removal
Scope 1 emissions decreased by 0.5% due to reduced refrigerant leaks. This minor reduction reflects improved refrigerant management. Scope 2 emissions dropped by 23% despite a 16% rise in electricity use, thanks to a cleaner energy mix from Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), which improved by 38%. Scope 3 emissions increased by 49%, driven by an increase in business air travel and a 2.6-fold rise in gasoline use as more staff returned to in-office work, increasing drive-alone rates.
ENERGY – RENEWABLE ENERGY USE
ENERGY USE INTENSITY (EUI)
UC Berkeley saw a decrease in its EUI in the calendar year 2023.
FOOD
of food and beverage purchases met sustainability criteria ($3.6M)
of food and beverage purchases were plant-based ($6.3M)
The data shows a reduction in UC Berkeley’s overall sustainable food spend percentage. The decrease is attributed to the prior year’s thorough investigation into the food purchasing supply chain and the release of AASHE’s STARS 3.0 rating system, which excluded Best Aquaculture Practices-certified seafood due to limitations of the certification, including a lack of review of fish feed issues, drug use or labor practices. This new, more transparent data presents a more accurate count of sustainable food spend.
Green building
The number of green buildings remained unchanged from last year. The total square footage is 2,720,026. Additionally, one new Parksmart project is currently in the design phase.
2 Platinum, 15 Gold, 9 Silver and 1 Certified
Total number of LEED certifications
procurement
green spend on electronics (55%)
green spend on indoor office furniture (92%)
green spend on cleaning supplies (44%)
green spend on office supplies (57%)
The University reports on green spend, as defined in the Sustainable Procurement Guidelines, and reached out to suppliers for spend data in four product categories for this year’s report.
Green spend is defined as meeting preferred or minimum criteria in UC’s Sustainable Procurement Guidelines.
Suppliers reporting: Electronics (8), Furniture (6), Cleaning supplies (4), Office supplies (4).
UC Systemwide Spend Analytics category data provided by CalUSource.
Sustainable Building & Laboratory Operations
A total of 32 labs received Green Lab certification. The new Ultra Low Temperature Freezer Replacement and Rebate program requires labs to be certified to be eligible for the rebate.
total assessed green laboratories
Transportation
of students and employees are utilizing sustainable commuting methods
of all vehicles and 60% of sedans and minivans acquired in 2024 were electric (zero-emission), plug-in hybrid or clean transportation fuel
EV charging ports
In December 2024, a project is scheduled to install 25 Level 2 electric vehicle charging ports.
WATER
*Based on a 3-year average of fiscal years 2005-08
**2025 goal is a 36% reduction from baseline.
Per capita water consumption declined by 2% from the prior year and now represents a 41% reduction from baseline. Thus, UC Berkeley is on track to meet the UC 2025 water conservation goal.
ZERO WASTE – GENERATION
*These numbers might include a small amount of incineration that is being phased out.
**In 2021, waste generation per weighted campus user spiked due to pandemic-related closures as base-level operations continued but the number of users on campus decreased.
Overall municipal solid waste generation remained relatively stable, with 194 tons less generated in fiscal year 2023–24 compared with 2022–23. The tonnage of included organics also remained similar. There was a visible decrease in the amount of material recycled, from 1,934 tons in 2022–23 to 1,576 tons in 2023–24. Diverted construction and demolition waste increased this fiscal year, primarily due to large construction site clearings and cleanups, along with the presence of encampments across campus locations.
ZERO WASTE – DIVERsion
*Waste incineration was counted as diversion prior to July 2022.
Waste diversion, with the exception of construction and demolition, remained relatively constant. The zero waste program at the Haas Business School contributed to reductions in all waste streams.
Single-Use Plastics Phase-Out
Complete Phase-out*
- Beverage bottles in UC dining facilities
- Beverage bottles in vending machines
- Plastic bags
Partial Phase-out
- Foodware in UC dining facilities
- Foodware in third-party dining facilities
Starting Soon
- N/A
*Complete phase-out of single-use plastics may include exemptions where reasonable alternatives to plastic do not exist.
UCB adopted a stricter Single-Use Plastics Elimination Policy, aiming to eliminate all single-use plastics by 2030. A monthly working group engaged campus stakeholders to create a roadmap and communicate progress. This year’s goal was to replace all single-use compostable plastics with reusables or fiber-based materials. UCB established a new contract with Pepsi to phase out single-use plastics by 2024, with the exceptions of Gatorade and Naked Juice, which will have alternatives by 2030. Berkeley is also partnering with Polycarbin to develop a circular economy solution for lab plastics.
Awards
The UC Berkeley Business Air Travel Carbon Mitigation Program was honored with a 2023 California Higher Education Change Leader Award. The award recognizes the UCB Office of Sustainability for the program’s innovation and focus on efficiency. The program was selected by the California Higher Education Collaborative conference committee, which recognizes programs at California’s community colleges and California State University and University of California campuses that demonstrate innovative practices to improve operational performance, services and outcomes for higher education in California.
A full list of awards is featured on the UC Office of the President’s website.
