MERCED - The California Climate Action Registry (CCAR) has
pronounced the University of California, Merced, a Climate Action
Leader. The newest campus in the UC system completed the voluntary
reporting and verification process for 2006 and recently received
notice of its acceptance.
“The acceptance of our first emissions report is an important
component of our ongoing commitment to sustainability,” said campus
energy manager John Elliott. “Anyone can log onto the CCAR site and
see what we’re doing, so it creates public accountability as well
as a record of our efforts for our own use and benefit.”
The first emissions report from UC Merced can be found online at
http://www.climateregistry.org/CARROT/public/Reports.aspx.
Users should select “University of California, Merced” in the
Entity Name drop-down menu and then click the blue “View Report”
button on the right.
UC Merced is able to report unusually low emissions because of a
campuswide commitment to green building and operations. Campus
buildings must be certified LEED Silver through the green building
certification program sponsored the U.S. Green Building Council.
Going beyond the LEED requirements, UC Merced is shooting for its
buildings to use only half the energy of comparable buildings in California.
CCAR has also accepted 2006 reports from five other UC campuses
- Berkeley, Los Angeles, Riverside, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz.
The California Climate Action Registry was established by
California statue as a non-profit voluntary registry for greenhouse
gas emissions. A first report such as the one UC Merced has
completed can be used as a baseline against which future
emission-reduction requirements or goals may be applied.
“As we add more buildings, we plan to continue pushing
commitment to sustainable practices, looking toward a long-term
goal of climate neutrality,” Elliott said.
