Sustainability Annual Report 2025
University of California Merced works at the forefront of innovation as it continues to deliver on its mission to provide experiential opportunities in the sustainability discipline to help enhance the social mobility of its students.
Through hands-on, real-world opportunities combined with academic preparation, UC Merced students receive professional tools to enhance their post-graduation opportunities. For example, financial support to help initiate UC Merced’s living lab pilot was provided by the University’s Global Climate Leadership Council. Additionally, students gain invaluable experience through internships, fellowships and research opportunities.
READ MORE ABOUT SUSTAINABILITY AT UC MERCED
As UC Merced completes its 20th year since it opened in 2005, the university’s building portfolio has been at the forefront of green building innovation from its early beginnings. The campus has 19 LEED Platinum buildings, 11 LEED Gold buildings and 2 LEED Silver buildings that helped solidify UC Merced’s position as a sustainability leader in higher education. The Medical Education and Promise Housing buildings are currently under construction with the expectation that each will be high-performing, high-efficiency green buildings in alignment with the University’s decarbonization objectives. In the future, potential innovations include on-site renewable energy, stormwater management, and electrical and thermal energy storage.
UC Merced continues to prioritize its waste minimization efforts on campus. The University continues its work to establish an on-campus composting program for green waste. The program will serve as a demonstration site for student learning, faculty research and efficiency in the dining operation.
Stories
From Strawberries to Smart Farm: Alum Adamaris Alvarez Grows Passion Into a Career Path
Growing up in Watsonville, a vibrant agricultural community on California’s Central Coast, Adamaris Alvarez always knew she wanted to work in agriculture. She worked on her family’s berry ranch, Alvarez Farms, where she grew a deep appreciation for the hard work agriculture demands. But it wasn’t until she saw an Instagram post about an internship at UC Merced’s Experimental Smart Farm that she realized she could help shape the future of farming.
UC Merced Brings Climate Justice Course to Title I High School Students Across the Nation
Climate Justice, a UC Merced course, is offered through a unique partnership between the University of California and the National Education Opportunity Network. Climate Justice seeks to educate a new generation of high school students through transformative lectures centering on intersectional equity issues and using a holistic systems perspective. The course was designed by Professor Tracey Osborne, founding director of the UC Center for Climate Justice and Presidential Chair in the Management of Complex Systems Department at UC Merced.
EMISSIONS
*Methodological changes in scope 3 accounting introduced beginning in 2019
**90% direct reduction of total emissions from 2019 levels with residual emissions negated by carbon removal
The recently completed decarbonization study has identified a pathway for UC Merced to achieve a 90% reduction in scope 1 emissions by 2045.
ENERGY – RENEWABLE ENERGY USE
ENERGY USE INTENSITY (EUI)
Between 2018 and 2020, UC Merced’s ambitious 2020 Project added approximately 1.2 million gross square feet of buildings. Almost a third of this new space consists of very energy intensive laboratories — at a much higher ratio than the rest of the Merced campus. Although substantially complete in 2020, steady increases in energy use through 2024 occurred as the laboratory spaces continued to be outfitted and the buildings progressively move towards full utilization.
FOOD
of food and beverage purchases met sustainability criteria ($598K)
of food and beverage purchases were plant-based ($597K)
UC Merced’s sustainable and plant-based food spend dropped significantly this year, reaching only about 11% each of total purchases. This means roughly one in every 10 dining dollars went toward sustainable or plant-based options — well below the 25% target. The decline was largely due to the Yablokoff-Wallace Dining Center operating at only 60% capacity because of a hood system failure and the temporary pause of the campus food recovery program.
Green building
The number of electric and LEED buildings has not increased since last year. There are two buildings, Medical Education and Promise Housing, currently under construction at UC Merced. These buildings will be brought online in 2026 and 2027.
19 Platinum, 11 Gold and 2 Silver
Total number of LEED certifications
procurement
green spend on electronics (63%)
green spend on indoor office furniture (94%)
green spend on cleaning supplies (53%)
green spend on office supplies (9%)
Green spend is defined as meeting preferred or minimum criteria in UC’s Sustainable Procurement Guidelines.
Suppliers reporting: Electronics (8), Furniture (5), Cleaning supplies (4), Office supplies (3).
UC Systemwide Spend Analytics category data provided by CalUSource.
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.
Sustainable Building & Laboratory Operations
The UC Merced Green Labs and Operations program was not active due to staff vacancies and leaves. The program will be reactivated in the 2025–26 academic year.
total assessed green laboratories
Transportation
of all vehicles acquired in 2025 were sustainable vehicles*
46%
of the fleet consists of sustainable vehicles*
EV charging ports
Sustainable vehicles are defined as electric (zero-emission), plug-in hybrid or clean transportation fuel
Additional electric carts were added to the fleet. The gas-powered fleet is still significant, and the campus is working on increasing electric light-duty vehicles.
WATER
*Based on a 3-year average of fiscal years 2005-08
**2025 goal is a 36% reduction from baseline.
Central Plant staff identified two major leaks in the heating hot water system, which were repaired late in the fiscal year. These leaks, combined with increased utilization of newer laboratory buildings, accounts for most of the water use increase in fiscal year 2024.
ZERO WASTE – GENERATION
*These numbers might include a small amount of incineration that is being phased out.
The campus generated 864 tons of waste in 2024–25, averaging about half a pound per person per day. While this is above the campus’s 2025 target of 0.43 pounds per person per day, it highlights the ongoing challenge of managing materials on a rapidly growing campus. Waste levels were influenced by increases in campus population and activities, combined with limited infrastructure for food recovery and composting.
ZERO WASTE – DIVERsion
*Waste incineration was counted as diversion prior to July 2022.
No data is available for 2019.
UC Merced diverted 33% of its total waste this year, showing progress but still short of the UC systemwide 90% zero waste goal. Put simply, 1 in every 3 pounds of campus waste avoided the landfill through recycling or composting. The reduced diversion rate compared with prior years reflects limits in composting access and operational challenges, though recycling efforts helped stabilize the overall rate.
Single-Use Plastics Phase-Out
Complete Phase-out*
- Plastic bags
- Beverage bottles (UC dining facilities)
Partial Phase-out
- Foodware (UC dining facilities)
- Foodware (third-party dining facilities)
- Beverage bottles (vending machines)
Starting Soon
- N/A
*Complete phase-out of single-use plastics may include exemptions where reasonable alternatives to plastic do not exist.
UC Merced continues to make strong progress in eliminating single-use plastics from campus operations. Plastic bags and beverage containers in dining facilities have been fully phased out, meaning students and staff no longer receive these items on campus. Foodware has been partially phased out, with many locations transitioning to compostable or reusable options. These changes reflect UC’s single-use plastics policy and demonstrate the campus’s commitment to reducing landfill waste and supporting a culture of reuse.
Awards
UC Merced’s Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education STARS Platinum ranking expired in May 2025, marking the end of its most recent certification cycle. While the expiration means UC Merced is no longer listed as Platinum, the campus remains committed to sustainability excellence. With greater staff capacity, UC Merced will begin preparing its next STARS submission in early 2026, ensuring that its achievements in waste diversion, sustainable food and related programs are fully documented and recognized.
A full list of awards is featured on the UC Office of the President’s website.