Completed Projects

This project aims to increase UC Berkeley students’ global citizen leadership through participation in International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU) programs and cultivation of this citizenry on campus. The IARU, of which Berkeley is a member, was established as a platform for faculty, staff and students from the 11-member institutions to work together to address the major challenges of our time, including sustainability and environmental justice, both through academic programs and campus operations. The project supports three students’ experiences abroad...

The Rainwater Harvesting Project was founded with the ideals of sustainability and conservation firmly rooted in mind. It aims to address two issues: UC Berkeley mostly uses municipally supplied water that is treated to the standards of drinking water for irrigation, while rainwater from many campus-building rooftops is diverted directly into Strawberry Creek without filtration. Additional money and energy resources are wasted when potable water is consumed for non-potable demands and excess chlorine from treated water runs off into the stream during rain...

Scientific instruments that go to low temperatures generate large amounts of waste heat along the way. Water-cooling is the primary method used to cool such equipment. Water-cooling is often open loop (also called "single pass"), meaning all the cooling water used runs through the system only once, with a continuous supply and drain of water through the system, leading to enormous water waste. In contrast, recirculating water systems, which consist of a water chiller that uses common refrigerants to cool a recirculating, closed water loop, use the same quantity of...

Our overall objective is to boost climate neutrality and sustainability education at UC Berkeley, especially targeting faculty and students for whom sustainability may not be a focus. This project will not only impact the faculty and departments involved, but the countless students that will benefit from having sustainability education integrated into a variety of disciplines. A pilot project was implemented in 2015‐2016, as part of the UC Carbon Neutrality Initiative. With funding from the UC Office of the President (UCOP), each UC campus organized a course...