The country's first new research university of the 21st Century is also likely the greenest.
Planners of the University of California, Merced, campus say it was built and will operate around the concept of sustainable development -- an eco-friendly idea that growth can be maintained without depleting finite resources.
From a 1.9 million-gallon storage tank for chilled water to a 700-foot tunnel that pipes utilities, the campus is on the cutting edge of an international green building movement.
Ceramic-coated windows that take in light, but block out heat, shaded arcades, and the placement of buildings and pathways to catch wind off of Lake Yosemite, are a few important features in a region with long, scorching summers.
Light fixtures that project toward the ground to prevent "light pollution" and retention ponds that purify runoff water are a few more samples of what makes UC Merced green.
"It isn't all apparent," said Vice Chancellor for Administration Lindsay Desrochers while giving a tour of mechanics of the campus earlier this week.
UC Merced's lofty environmental goals were the topic of the July cover story in Engineering News-Record, a building news magazine with a readership of more than 270,000 people.
They were also highlighted in an April story that ran in the Chronicle of Higher Education, a newspaper with a readership of 400,000.
Energy and water conservation are built into the design of the campus and its infrastructure, setting a new standard for green colleges, said Desrochers.
Computers in a central station constantly monitor consumption of electricity, water and gas in every building on campus.
"For students who want to study energy, the buildings can serve as a living laboratory," said Karl Brown, deputy director of the UC system's California Institute for Energy Efficiency and a consultant to UC Merced. "One of the benefits is it is going to be an educational tool for the students."
The campus is projected to use 20 to 30 percent less water than a typical college campus and 30 percent less electricity than standards set by the state of California for public buildings .
Additionally, 75 percent of the leftover wood, steel and other materials used to build the campus was sent back to manufacturers or recycled.
Much of the building material itself is recycled to begin with, including carpets and ceiling tiles.
The campus isn't equipped to collect solar energy, but there are plans for "co-generation" in the future. Space is being set aside solar panels or fuel cell equipment.
Taking the LEED
The University of California's 10th campus aims to attain silver status through the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design system.
LEED certification is a voluntary point-based system for green building projects.
Max Zahniser, with the Green Building Council, said the scale of UC Merced's application is probably the largest.
Instead of submitting just one building at a time, Merced's application hopes to certify every major building at the university.
The three basic levels of certification -- silver, gold and platinum -- emphasize water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.
Towering savings
The almost 2 million-gallon water tower that pumps chilled water to air-conditioning units around the campus is a key component to the university's energy savings plan.
By running water chillers at night, when electricity rates are cheaper, the campus can cut 25 percent of its peak energy demand, said Brown.
Over time, that will result in big cost savings and cut down on the consumption of fossil fuels burned to generate electricity.
"This is exactly the kind of thing that will require less power plants in California," said Ric Notini, UC Merced's environmental and permitting manager. "The amount of money that the university is going to save in operational costs over the next 20 years will be huge. We're talking tens of millions of dollars."
John Lund Kriken, a design partner with the San Francisco office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, said the university's planning team chose to keep the water tower and central utility plant as prominent landmarks on campus.
Placing them near the Science and Engineering building will help remind people about energy consumption, he said.
"They won't be put underground or in a corner somewhere," said Kriken. "It's how a campus can teach about sustainability by its very design."
Kriken, a master plan architect for the campus, said relocating the campus closer to the lake on a former golf course because of environmental concerns was a good move.
He said moving closer to the county park placed the university closer to the community. It also allowed him to develop a plan to orient the campus' pathway system at an angle that can be cooled by the lake's breeze.
"While there's more interest in green design today, this is a very unique opportunity to think of it over such a large scale," Kriken said.
"It will be a very special campus."
Reporter David Chircop can be reached at 385-2453 or dchircop@mercedsun-star.com.
