Working with UCSF Health, Facilities Services is in the process of selecting a consultant to study ways to reduce carbon emissions by 90 percent by 2045 for the campus and health associated buildings and utility plants, including UCH Benioff in Oakland and UCSF Fresno, per UC’s Sustainable Practices Policy.
The $1.5 million UC-funded decarbonization study is expected to begin in August and will take approximately nine months to complete. “We are focusing much of our effort in finding ways to transition away from burning natural gas at the central utility plants at Parnassus, and Mission Bay, and all major buildings including hospitals” said UCSF Campus Energy Manager, Ben Levie. “Our goal is to both electrify and to reduce overall energy consumption.” The electricity that UCSF purchases is already 98 percent carbon free.
The all-electric transition began with the Mission Bay Tidelands Housing project and now includes the Bayfront Medical Building and parking garage at Mission Bay. At Parnassus, the focus is on an all-electric Parnassus Research Administration Building (PRAB) and the New Hospital at Parnassus Heights (NHPH).
“UCSF’s own faculty has emphasized that the climate crisis is a human health crisis," said Anna Levitt, Manager of Energy, Utilities & Infrastructure at UCSF Health. "As a significant contributor to UCSF’s greenhouse gas emissions, UCSF Health is committed to being a part of the solution.”
Levie said building energy and water consumption at UCSF is monitored and analyzed to make sure they operate efficiently and determine where we can improve or be more easily decarbonized. For instance, Levie expects Rock Hall at Mission Bay to replace a traditional chiller with a new heat recovery chiller to capture the heat generated by cooling surrounding buildings and use it to heat Rock Hall. This will both lower carbon emissions and energy consumption at the Mission Bay Preliminary Utility Plant.
“Rock Hall is one of a number of projects we have planned which will reduce carbon emissions while larger decarbonization efforts take shape,” Levie said. “These include deep energy retrofits of a few lab buildings to optimize lighting and heating and ventilation via better control systems. It is important to make short term progress while we plan for the eventual future of carbon neutrality to take place.”
“This decarbonization study will produce the roadmap for UCSF to transition from fossil fuels to clean electricity, reduce our carbon emissions to slow down climate change, and protect human health” says Sustainability Director Gail Lee. “This aligns directly with UCSF’s mission of Advancing Health Worldwide and is fully supported by UCSF leadership.”
Working with UCSF Health, Facilities Services is in the process of selecting a consultant to study ways to reduce carbon emissions.
