As directed by the UC Office of the President, all UC campuses are to comply with UC Sustainable Practices Policy which are developed and implemented by their respective work groups. Progress towards the policy is reported annually in the UC Annual Sustainability Report and reported by UC San Francisco (campus) and UCSF Health Below are the descriptions of the sections of the policy.
Green Building Design
New building construction and renovations use energy, water, and generate a lot of waste. By constructing buildings certified by the US Green Building Council as Leadership in Energy and Efficiency Design (LEED), it aims to save energy, conserve water, reduce waste, and provide multiple healthy benefits to occupants and the community. UC Policy requires LEED – Silver certification, but UCSF has committed to meeting the LEED-Gold standard and strong preference for all-electric buildings.
Note that because of the use efficient construction practices and direction towards all-electric buildings, UCSF’s continuous growth in square footage should not hinder emissions reduction progress or meeting UC policy.
Clean Energy
Using clean energy results in no air pollution or release of carbon emissions that contribute to global warming. This is achieved first by increasing energy efficiency in our operations (UC policy required reducing energy intensity by 2%/yr which UCSF has met). Secondly, by purchasing electricity that are carbon-free such as hydroelectric power, or renewable sources such as solar PV, solar thermal hot water, wind, geothermal, or wastewater heat recovery. These can be achieved either off-site from a third party, or on-site, directly reducing emissions. Lastly, it can be achieved by purchasing biogas, a captured methane gas previously released into the atmosphere. By capturing these “leaks” and putting them back into the pipeline, carbon emissions are significantly reduced and the accounting for this is zero emissions. UC policy requires each campus to obtain 100% clean electricity by 2025. UCSF is now receiving 98% clean electricity.
Climate Protection
Reducing carbon emissions directly mitigates climate change and its consequences to public health and the environment. In order to demonstrate this, we must identify and report all our carbon emissions sources annually so that we can track progress from our reduction efforts.
Scope 1 emissions refers to direct emissions from our owned buildings including burning natural gas, fleet fuel, anesthesia gases or refrigerants. Scope 2 emissions are generated from purchased electricity that burn fossil fuels.
Commute and air travel are the two scope 3 emissions we report and we need the support of the entire UCSF community to meet policy. We also encourage increasing use of teleconferencing, teleworking and public transit. Department and individual actions such as purchasing energy efficient equipment and turning off lights, appliances, and computer monitors will also play a major role in reaching our emission reduction goals.
The UC policy of achieving 1990 emissions levels from all 3 scopes by 2020 was met by UCSF in 2020 and 2021. The Policy to achieve carbon neutrality by 2025 from Scope 1 and 2 is expected to be met through aggressive reductions and lastly the purchase of carbon offsets.
Sustainable Transportation
Carbon emissions from fleet, employee commute and business travel are significant sources and fall under this policy section. This strategy includes lease or purchase of at least 50% or more zero-emission or plug-in hybrid vehicles after July 1, 2023(UCSF is on track). Each location will reduce Single Occupancy Vehicle commuters by 10% from 2015 baseline by 2025 (UCSF is on track) and 30% by 2050. Incentivizing telecommuting options and flexible scheduling are also part of the policy. With regard to alternative fuels vehicles, each location will have 4.5% Zero-emission vehicles (ZEV) by 2025 (UCSF is on track) and 30% by 2050.
Sustainable Building and Laboratory Operations
Our research community works hard to advance our knoweldget through cutting edge research. This is why our sustainable lab operations focuses on best practices to help our labs reduce waste, conserve water, and reduce their energy usage. In addition, we like to recognize our labs for their efforts in sustinability through our Green Labs Assessment program . We are working to develop a plan to replace single pass cooling autoclave systems at each campus.
Zero Waste
The proliferation of plastic waste is one of the most challenging issues for all campuses. Not only do these waste fill limited capacity in landfills, but they are a source of demand for fossil fuels. UC Policy requires achieving zero waste in the following order: reduction, reuse, recycling and compost. Targets include waste reduction per capita: 25% from FY16 levels by 2025 and 50% from FY16 levels by 2030.
The ultimate goal is 90% total waste diversion of solid waste from landfill considering that 10% of waste cannot be diverted.
Scope 3 carbon emissions from landfill waste will also begin reporting.
Elimination of styrofoam in food take away containers and packaging. Exceptions are provided for laboratory or medical related foam packaging, however efforts should continue to shift to other alternatives.
- No single-use plastic beverage bottles (UCSF in progress)
- Reusable foodware and foodware accessory items or compostable alternatives (UCSF in progress)
Sustainable Procurement
Procurement decisions have a significant impact on the environment, society and the economy, and UC policy prefers sustainable products and services through the following strategy as defined by the UC Sustainable Procurement Guidelines
- Reach 25% Preferred level Green Spend
- Reach 15% Economically and Socially Responsible Spend. UCSF is focusing on reaching out to local and diverse vendors for many contract goods and services.
- Allocate <15% points utilizing sustainability criteria in competitive bid contracts
Sustainable Foodservices
The distribution and purchase of food has a substantial carbon footprint and offers sustainability opportunities to improve the environment, society and the economy. Institutions can use their food purchases to support their local economies; encourage safe, environmentally friendly and humane farming methods; and help eliminate unsafe working conditions and alleviate poverty for farmers. The UC policy addresses these concerns through preferences for sustainable food as defined by AASHE STARS. The UC policy required procurement of 25% sustainable food by this definition.
For Health systems, the procurement requirement is 30% sustainable food as defined by Practice GreenHealthv. UCSF has exceed its 2020 goal% of food service spend is from sustainable products
Sustainable Water Systems
One of the serious impacts of climate change is drought so that water conservation has become a primary focus. UC Policy required we reduce growth-adjusted potable water consumption by 20% by 2020 and 36% by 2025, both of which UCSF has met. With projected drought conditions into the future, UCSF and UCSFH has focused on eliminating irrigation with potable water and designing new buildings with reused of water for non-potable purposes.
Sustainability at UC Health
Health systems are 24/7 operations which indicates high energy and water demand with the primary mission of patient care. This provides challenges for waste reduction, energy savings, and water conservation. Yet opportunities exist to implement significant changes in practice and efficiencies for ongoing savings/reductions. UCSFH is already purchasing 100% clean electricity at Mission Bay. As longtime members of Practice GreenHealth, UCSFH has made great strides and earned many awards for our sustainability practices over the past 12 years. UC Policy requires we reduce waste to 25 lbs total waste/APD by 2025 and 20 lbs total waste/APD by 2050. UCSFH is on track for both.
Sustainable Food
UCSF has exceed its 2020 goal of ensuring that 20% of food service spend is from sustainable products. In fact, as of FY18, 28% of food spend was on sustainable food products.
Campus convenience stores offer a wide variety of Fair Trade and Organic snacks, Peasant Pies at the Mission Bay campus is certified as a Green Business by the City and County of San Francisco, campus eateries continue to eliminate the sale of sugar-sweetened beverages, and weekly farmers’ markets are held at both the Parnassus and Mission Bay campuses. With sustainable food options like these, it is easy for the UCSF community to maintain healthy lifestyles and make environmentally friendly choices.
