Energy

MERCED, Calif. — A global sustainable architecture competition is turning all eyes to the University of California, Merced, the newest campus in the UC system, and the only one to have all its buildings certified by the US Green Building Council as meeting LEED standards.

Architecture at Zero 2012 is a competition in which student and professional participants from around the world are invited to design examples of a new administration or student housing building and a district energy plan using the principles of zero net energy use.

MERCED, Calif. — Researchers at UC Merced are taking an important step toward a statewide water-monitoring system by installing wireless sensors across the American River basin.

The system, which is also being used in the Sierra Nevada, is designed to give continuous information about how much water is available to users, and could go live online at the beginning of 2013.

There’s a reason the UC Merced plasma lab is isolated behind a locking fence near the entrance to campus.

There’s some serious heat being produced down there.

They traveled nearly 20 hours by plane and bus across 5,700 miles to spend three weeks in the Central Valley sun.

California's Central Valley environment is getting healthier, but not fast enough. Its air quality is still among the worst in the nation, according to a report released today. 

The Sierra Nevada Research Institute at the University of California, Merced, and The Great Valley Center jointly produced "The State of the Great Central Valley: Assessing the Region Via Indicators — The Environment 2006-2011."

The report tracks a variety of environmental indicators within the Central Valley and shows mixed results.

Making an entire campus sustainable takes a lot of planning, education and work.

But those efforts are what earned two of UC Merced’s sustainability leaders systemwide recognition.

It’s no surprise UC Merced graduate student Siyu Wu’s research — rooted in mechanical engineering — has veered toward the environmental. Wu, who grew up in China, was raised by parents who felt strongly that the environment should be protected and all efforts should be made to reduce one’s footprint.

The University of California, Merced, recently earned what might be the most prestigious of a growing list of awards for its Long Range Development Plan, while the campus had its seventh building certified “Gold” by the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program.

The burning of sugarcane fields prior to harvest for ethanol production can create air pollution that detracts from the biofuel’s overall sustainability, according to research published recently by a team of researchers led by scientists at the University of California, Merced.

From improving the performance and efficiency of solar cells to using solar technology to speed up fruit drying, a wide array of topics were covered by distinguished scientists at the UC Solar Research Symposium at UC Merced on Dec. 9.