UC Merced gets 15th energy efficiency certification
The Half Dome student housing building at UC Merced has been officially certified for its energy efficiency, the university announced Wednesday, which makes it the 15th certification on campus.
The 364-bed residence hall is the fifth building on campus to get a platinum rating, the highest possible from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.
The certification of Half Dome is the first the campus has earned for a housing structure. The 2-year-old building is expected to get solar panels on its roof later this year.
“The campus is close to having all of its occupied buildings certified,” said Mark Maxwell, who is the campus’s coordinator for the certifications.
Platinum certification is pending on buildings that opened last fall, including other housing units and the Science and Engineering Building 2.
The campus dining area, Social Science and Management Building, Student Activities and Athletic Center, and the Student Services Building all have earned platinum ratings.
The campus also has eight gold certifications and a silver certification, which are the next two steps down from the highest efficiency rating.
The Classroom and Office Building 2, which is supposed to open in April 2016, is expected to get a platinum certification.
The university’s staff doesn’t quit chasing certifications after the buildings go up. They want to get certified as efficient for the operations and maintenance of the structures.
The Leo and Dottie Kolligian Library, for example, recently earned a gold certification for operation and maintenance.
Director of Energy and Sustainability Zuhair Mased said getting that certification takes a collaborative effort from all departments on campus. “It tells us we’re not only building in a sustainable manner, but operating the campus the same way,” Mased said in a news release. “Everybody here is a stakeholder in that.”
Mased and other staff conducted an audit of the 178,000-square-foot library to get that certification. The process examines attributes of a building, including how staff moderate the temperature, handle waste and offer commuting programs.
University staff members said they intend to audit the operations and maintenance of other buildings across campus.
Sun-Star staff writer Thaddeus Miller can be reached at (209) 385-2453 or tmiller@mercedsunstar.com.
AT A GLANCE
Half Dome’s highlights
98 percent – The amount of wood from sustainable forests.
96 percent – The amount of construction waste diverted from landfills.
60 percent – How much more efficiently landscape water is used than required by the state.
48 percent – The amount of the building materials that come from recycled content.
40 percent – How much more efficiently the building’s water is used than required by the state.
Source: UC Merced
This story was originally published March 5, 2015 at 1:33 PM with the headline "UC Merced gets 15th energy efficiency certification."