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Sustainability Program

UCSF has a robust sustainability program covering sustainability activities across the entire campus and medical center.  Formal and grassroot efforts are happening in many areas of the organization.  Find out more about these efforts at the Sustainability Dashboard above.

 

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Things to do

In keeping with Chancellor Susan Desmond-Hellmann’s top priorities to improve business efficiencies and conserve resources, UCSF recently debuted its new “Conservation is Contagious” energy conservation campaign. The university spends nearly $45 million per year on energy to support its healthcare, research and education mission. So any percentage of utility cost reduction directly impacts UCSF’s core business, while advancing the university’s progress toward environmental sustainability. 



In 2009, UCSF’s Facilities Management Department embarked on a pilot education campaign intended to accomplish three goals:
  • Raise awareness of current energy consumption among faculty and staff;

  • Encourage building occupants to take active steps to reduce energy use; 

  • Reduce UCSF energy use by 2.5 to 5% per year by maintaining changes in behavior. 


Designed using Community-Based Social Marketing (CBSM) theory, UCSF’s environmental education and marketing campaign interweaved building performance data with individuals’ conservation recommendations. The informative-yet-playful approach was designed to encourage continuous participation. In addition to traditional print and face-to-face communication efforts, the campaign also leveraged low-cost, social networking tools such as Twitter to keep the UCSF community informed and engaged. 



The pilot program was a great success, with more than 250 people making a total of 3,564 action-oriented conservation pledges that ranged from turning off lights at the end of each day to shutting down computers. Metering was instituted selectively in several buildings to measure the impact of these actions. The resulting downtrend underscored the importance of occupant behavior in reaching the campaign goals. 



Based on these positive results, the program is being expanded to more UCSF facilities, including:
  • Parnassus Campus – HSIR East, HSIR West, School of Dentistry, Millberry Union and Library

  • Mission Bay – Genentech Hall, Byers Hall and Rutter Center

  • Mission Center Building

  • Laurel Heights

  • Mount Zion – 2340 Sutter Street


Join the crowd and make a difference! Check the utility bill for your department, pledge to conserve personal energy use, and watch the results each month as you take part in creating a sustainable UCSF. Find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter – UCSFGreen. 

Take the Pledge and become part of the solution!