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Green Movement in the University of California, San Diego
To make our campus environment be green; indoor and outdoor.
A research proposal submitted to the Urban Studies and Planning Program
University of California at San Diego
Jeannie Park
USP 187
February 1, 2011
Abstract
San Diego is developing day by day and the population is increasing each year.
Compare San Diego city to other major cities; New York City, Chicago, San
Francisco and more, San Diego is known as part of the cleanest and greenest
city in the United States. I believe that we could make our city or communities
build in green design. This proposal outlines a research strategy to examine how
green design can affect the way campus society makes use of space in UCSD.
Current UCSD research team is working on the environmental issues of Green
design and benefits. This goes to the questions: which part of area is the green
building in our campus? And what are the benefits of the green building? And
how could non green design building and green building effect to students and
staffs? Specifically, I will do research on the Green building in UCSD; price center
and newest graduate student dorms. And also the research will contribute to
the literature on benefits of Green Design in UCSD.
Key term; Green Design, Reducing the energy, Solar System
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Introduction
In the United States, the green building movement has a history. By the
late 1970s, many environmental code and policy adopted and passed by the
states. However saving and developing the energy system costs more than
people expected so some projects were holding for long time and some were
declined. The early 1990s, many companies created the associations for the
green movement so they could focus on the future environmental projects;
American Institute of Architects (AIA) and Committee on the Environment
(COTE). The earliest examples of green building were the result of major U.S.
environmental organizations requiring holistic approaches to the design of their
office building. (Kibert 48) This office built by natural materials, day lighting, and
excellent indoor air quality. Following these projects, the White House was part
of the green building later. Green Building is environmental improvements to the
design, construction, operation, and the building demolished. So that is the
goal of Green movement; energy conservation and environmental preservation
to energy load reduction, efficient energy facilities, recycling, environmental
pollution reduction technology and maintain over the life of the building
dismantled and even damage to the environment architecture.
Green building or Green environment is basic concept for the future
generations of mankind to survive and to contribute to global environmental
issues as an alternative proposal for the construction. Also the green design
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movement means that using the resource of high level of energy and water
efficiency, and makes our landscape environment to be friendly.(Kibert 45).
UCSD is a living laboratory for climate solutions, and has been an early adopter
for real-world tools and leading-edge technologies to support and advance
environmental sustainability. (UCSD)
UCSD has been installing solar energy systems on building rooftops; The
Gilman Parking Structures; Campus engineers have also procured solar energy
systems for two major campus buildings and have identified roof space for at
least 1 Megawatt of solar power modules. (UCSD) I choose the UCSD campus
for my research area because I live in campus most of my times. So I wanted to
know how UCSD campus is involved in Green Movement. According to the
journal UCSD Recognized for Sustainable Operations, UCSD became one of the
seven greenest campuses in the country based on its green building design,
waste program, food selection, campus vehicle fleet, water conservation
measures, climate performance, renewable energy usage, and the overall
environmental transparency. I want to show you the Green Buildings projects in
UCSD campus and the Green Technologies that UCSD has been working on
today.; the Parking Structures, Rita Atkinson Residences, and Price Center
Conceptual Frame Work & Literature View
The City of Bloomington, they are also working their City to make a green.
According from their study of Green Design, Green building is not a simple
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development trend; it is an approach to building suited to the demands of its
time, whose relevance and importance will only continue to increase. The
benefits to green building are manifold, and may be categorized along three
fronts: environmental, economic, and social. I agree with their points. It is true
that we have thought of Green Design as three parts: Environmental, economic
and social benefits. I do agree with that the view of economic benefits of Green
Building. A common impression about green building is that the green design is
too expensive to be considered economically feasible. However following City
of Bloomington, studies have shown that the costs of green buildings are not
substantially higher than regular development project. Additionally, green
buildings provide an assortment of economic advantages. Today, most
companies and cities are opened and interested in the green movement for
their city but still people doesn’t know which area is build by green project or
how we could make our local area to be green. Everywhere we look our city or
community, people and cities making the move to go green. I believe that
green movement is leading the way with powerful changes that are making
real differences in our daily lives and our impact on the environment. UCSD is
currently undergoing a green building experience. UCSD campus saves the
energy on each Halls, and saving a water system. Relyea’s study of campus
shows enough of her point of view about the campus design should be. “By
becoming a member of the Green Grid, we hope that other academic
institutions will join the consortium so that universities everywhere can benefit
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from this exchange of innovative ideas and solution.” said Relyea. I agree with
Relvea’s point of view. I think that UCSD is already research and actions on
green building design, waste program, food selection, campus vehicle fleet,
water conservation measures, climate performance, renewable energy usage,
and the overall environmental transparency of the school. There are few
projects are ongoing in UCSD campus.
One of my favorite project was that the newest UC San Diego student
apartment. The team of Rita, Designers want to try things out for the building
and other student dorms. The successful story about this design is that water
system or solar system is already been green. It helps student’s health and
environmental design. So if we want our campus to be part of green movement
then we should let our students know we need to do this together. The Rita acts
a focal point with an implied symmetry on a larger geographical scale, forming
the terminus of the future academic mall on the medical campus. Also their
focal point was on the Indoor green environmental quality. The University of
California, San Diego, which strives to be one of the nation’s “Greenest” college
campuses, is installing solar trees on the roof of two of its parking garages. Steel
components at the University of California have already taken shape, forming
frameworks that will soon be fitted with a canopy of Kyocera photovoltaic
modules to provide energy for the campus. Each solar tree at UCSD will
generate more than 17,000 hours of energy per year; enough to power more
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than four single-family homes; and avoid 13.2 metric tons of carbon emissions.
(September 6, 2008).
While I was searching on the Green Design in San Diego, I also wanted to
know how other cities are working on this project. so I was searching the City of
Los Angeles. City of Los Angeles is working on the project of green movement as
well. And I liked how they build the system of the green design for their
City. Mayor Villaraigosa is tackling air pollution and water conservation head on
with the Clean Air Action Plan and Securing LA’s Water Supply. With the Clean
Air Action Plan and Securing LA's Water Supply, Mayor Villaraigosa is attacking
air pollution and water conservation head-on. I believe that it will encourage
the interaction within the community and more on, these could probably solve
their environmental pollution. In addition to the study of green movement, one
other example of green movements is that a bus stop in Lexington, Kentucky,
used empty bottles to build a bus shelter. The city demarcates most of its stops
merely by appending a sign to a telephone pole. They used 750 bottles are
stacked within aluminum storefront frames, each green row secured to the next
by structural silicone. Residents are loving their art shelters because it pops up
the environment, and recycling the uses. And I like the idea of the using the
used bottles for creating the art. I also think that this is the step of green design.
I think that the green building should have a safety and security as well.
Green Buildings should be designed to provide physical protection to the
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occupants. Also the building needs to provide a sense of privacy. According to
an empirical study done by Oscar Newman, people own and take control of an
area where territorial demarcations are clear. (Newman 1972; Lang, Burnette,
Walter and Vachon). A green building should function productively by using
energy economically, by protecting the occupants by reacting to
environmental and ecological conditions automatically. New green energy and
technologies benefit the occupants of the building and environment because
of their timely adjustments. For example, according to Siemen’s report, heating
and cooling systems, and continuous monitoring and management of lights,
coupled with access and control detectors can cut electricity use by 45 percent
and reduce energy consumption by 17 percent.
Green Starts with Energy: Finding and Data UCSD
My specific objective for the research is green design in UCSD campus.
And how we could make our campus to be greener and how we could make
our campus environment to be part of green; Reducing Energy, water, and
lights. Average office building in the United States, workers expends more than
30% energy from the building; heating, cooling, lighting and other services.
(Yudelson 153). However, UCSD campus also needs to cut commuting energy
use. UC San Diego is participating for the green movement. The Group
Sustainability 2.0 researched into new possibilities for the campus. UCSD wants to
make all campus building meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
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(LEED) Silver or Gold standards. Since 2004, UC Sand Diego’s new building
projects have all outperformed Title 24 (state building code requirement for
minimum energy efficiency levels) by 20 % and meet or exceeded LEED. (Source
UCSD).
Water & Light Reduction: We wasted water and light energy every day
every minute. Water is emerging as the next big environmental concern for two
reasons: one is the relative scarcity of freshwater resources around the world,
especially in the context of global warming and increasing world population.
The second reason is that the process of capturing, storing, transporting,
distributing, and treating water is a large net consumer of significant amounts of
electric power (Yudelson 160). However, the campus uses in many ways;
washers, fountain pools, restrooms, and others. Instead of using the hot/warm
water, we could use the cold water. And using the timer, we could limit the
water. According to LEED Reference Guide, we use 1.6-gallons-per flush toilet,
but we could limit to 1.28 or 1.12 gpf. And there are many brands on the market
of both waterfree and low water urinals to reduce water use 50 to 100 percent
below that of the standard 1-gpf urinal. Availability of and access to clean
water, along with water conservation, should be the main priorities of green
building design. Buildings should avoid excessive use of groundwater for
activities other than cleaning and cooking. So what’s the UCSD movement’s for
the reducing the water? UCSD campus runs water sensors in each building’s
restroom.
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Economic benefits to the University, calculated based on expected water
usage reductions from conservation measures, will exceed 180 million gallons of
potable water reductions annually. (UCSD). According to the UCSD, the UCSD
energy system is its award winning cogeneration plan, which operates at a net
efficiency of 66%. (figure 1).
Figure 1 source; UCSD
Accordingly, as a conceptual framework “Green Architecture” has three main
categories: sustainable, ecological, and performance. These categories are
connected but they are also distinct and mutually exclusive. However, creating
the green spaces requires a “green technologies” but green technology also
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needs green architectural practices, like the creation, fabrication and the use of
green concepts. This includes the green energy; solar energy.
Solar energy: Just using the solar energy, it is huge steps forward to the
Green movement. Solar energy is gained directly from the sun, our most rich
source of energy. Since 2001, UCSD has completed more than $58 million in
energy efficiency projects, reducing annual energy costs by more than $12
million a year. UCSD was the first university in California to have been recognized
by the California Climate Action Registry. Also Consequently, the amount of
solar energy the each receives in a year is approximately 3.1 million exajoules .
(Attmann 73). Basically, existing solar technologies convert solar energy into
other forms of energy, namely electricity and heat.
According to the University of California, San Diego has installed an
energy dashboard to help the school improve the efficiency of their operations,
reduce energy use, and combat climate change. From their saving results, the
university saved $900,000 a year, reducing energy consumption by 19 million
kilowatt hours, and reducing 9,600 metric tons of green house gases. One of the
major green movements in the UCSD campus was we have a Solar Energy
system; Price Center, East Campus Utility Plant, Fleet Services garage,
Engineering Building, Gilman parking structure, Hopkins parking structure,
Campus Services Center and Birch Aquarium. The John Dilliott, who is manager
of energy and utility services, said, the San Diego campus has 1.2 MW of
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photovoltaic modules installed, mostly under a power purchase agreement with
Solar Power Partners. According to UCSD source, the Gilman parking structure
holds 195kW of solar panels. As with all solar generation technologies, their
output varies, depending on whether the day or hour is partly sunny or overcast.
One of the examples of the solar structures in campus is UCSD Hopkins Parking
Structure Solar Array. According to UCSD, this project required an attention to
detail and an expertise with materials in order to incorporate the new solar
arrays into an existing parking garage. This parking array will long be recognized
as the leader in parking lot solar design and installation.
The other example of Green Design space is the Price Center. Price
Center is one of the chaos and open space for the students. Price Center is
opened 24-hour study lounge with a computer lab. so this area needs extra
cares of energy savings. According to UCSD, Price Center East expansion
received a LEED silver equivalent rating for sustainable elements and
construction practices. Price Center East HVAC system is more energy-efficient,
using half the energy of the larger Price Center West. And also the East offices,
meeting rooms, and restrooms have motion sensor light switches. This below
chart shows that the saving energy by the Price Center. (source; UCSD).
Total Power
207 Kilowatts
Annual Energy Production
367 Megawatt/Hour/Yr
Value of energy produced
$30,000/yr
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Number of Panels
1,008
System area
14,200 sq.ft.
Annual CO2 reduced
185 tons
Average US homes powered
34.4
Cars off the road
27.3
Figure 2, source UCSD, Price Center
So basically, the Price Center saves lots of energy during the day. The air
conditioning systems are specifically designed to avoid addressing each area’s
ventilation requirements in isolation, instead, complementary airstreams are
used to condition adjacent spaces. (UCSD). The Price Center’s office spaces are
heated with ceiling mounted radiant panels, a new technology on the UCSD
campus. The atrium does not have a dedicated heating system, so any heating
demand in the space is satisfied by the office relief air. So this is considering
students and staffs’ health. For example of the reduce lighting, the Price Center
is participated in green movement. The Sustainability Resource Center houses
an award winning DC to DC lighting system which runs on batteries fueled by
solar panels. (UCSD)
Another Green Design is the Graduate Housing Rita Atkinson Residence.
All appliances are Energy Star rated and the modern light fixtures use in each
area. (UCSD) “This building may be a mere student-housing project, but it’s a
marvel of design, teamwork and craftsmanship that the university and greater
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San Diego also can be proud of.” The design of this building is very slim and
simple. They are focused more on the green materials than the design itself. I
think that Rita Atkinson Residence is a good example of green design. I believe
that design also matter to people but more importantly, the material is
important as well. It is the nine-story, 230,000sf, and $67 million residences.
(UCSD).
And I found out that UCSD also now working on the new energy project
with engineers. (UCSD) Another source of clean energy is blue energy, also
called osmotic energy. It is generated from a chemical reaction between fresh
water and sea water. This is no very new, renewable clean energy source with or
harmful environmental effects. It can either be installed near a salt water
resource or operated independently using stored whater. (Attmann 82).
According to Dilliott, UCSD is even evaluating the possibility of tapping the deep,
cold seawater in La Jolla Cove to displace about 10% of the campus energy use
by replacing mechanical cooling with ocean cooling. The sea water air
conditioning system would obtain cold seawater from about 1 mile offshore at a
depth of 750 feet (Dilliott). Also Saving the water is part of the green movement.
The University of California, San Diego uses nearly 800 million gallons of water a
year and does not have an effective system in place to comprehensively
measure, monitor, and manage this valuable resource. (UCSD) Price Center,
Geisel Library and other buildings in campus have the sensor in the restrooms.
Sensor helps to limiting the water uses. So these saving water helps the
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economic benefit for the UCSD. This project decreases UCSD’s use of potable
water by more 180 million gallons per year, reducing UCSD’s demand from the
State water supply by more than 20%. (UCSD)
Design Issues: But also there are problems for the green design. First,
making the green building in campus could cost lots. The indoor environment of
a building has a complex makeup. These can be classified as chemical,
physical, and biological; such as the level of sound, light, odor, temperature,
and other electrostatic charges. Changing to all green system to campus could
be the most difficult part of the project. If we need to change our lights to all
green lights, then it costs more than we expected. Also the outdoor green
design in campus, we want student participate the green movement, but
before we get to that, we need to make something inspirational design. Costs
are the single most important factor in the green project. And also the
significant of cost is when the project is started. Also it matters with the size of the
green project. Let say, we want to have green building in our campus, then it
will cost more and student and parent could think that the tuition possibly goes
up. Without that worries, how could we make our campus to be greener so
everyone could enjoy their campus lives and having a healthy experience.
John Dilliott is UCSD’s manager of energy and utility services. Dilliott said that,
since the mide-1990s, UCSD has invested $60 million in energy-related projects,
including the cogeneration plant. Also Dilliott explained that the San Diego
campus also has “a new program that’s budgeted $ 73 million for energy
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efficiency, and it’s all based upon a payback analysis. According to UCSD, the
campus uses an 85 % debt ratio for all proposed projects. The projects include
replacing older office equipment with Energy.
Conclusion
The green building movement is a relatively recent phenomenon, and in
the campus life. The concepts of using less energy and using more natural
resources could be hard and complicated in some areas but I think that we
should all focus on what’s really important for us. We use less power and more
natural resources, and water and electric reduction on the campus. Such as
limited water uses, more solar system on each halls so we could use the natural
light during the day. I think this project could make more open perspective for
the campus resources and the positive way for the campus system. I learned
that UCSD saves lots of energy by solar system, air conditioning and recycling
product. First step was the saving the energy. Each year, UCSD saves millions by
using solar energy system.
Remaining question is that can the university afford the green design cost
in the future? And how much does green cost it will be? According to Melaver,
the green project is depends on how green developer wants its project to be.
(Mealver 110). So many schools and companies are dying to part of Green
Movement. To achieve a LEED certified or LEED Silver certification, no additional
cost premium is called for. To achieve Gold Certification, there is a cost
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premium of around 2percent, and a Platinum certification entails a cost
premium of around 7 to 8 percent. (Muller 111). Before I begin this project, I
didn’t realize that UCSD are actually saving a lot of moneys for using Green
energy. And now I know how much we save day by day. And I found many
places in Campus are recycling the papers and the plastic cans for the green
movement. The Price Center is used the 90%of recycling papers in Computer
Lab (UCSD).
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References
AIA (2009). COTE Mission. American Institute of Architects (AIA).
http://www.aia.org
Attmann, Osman 2010 Green Architecture, Advanced Technologies and
Materials
Johnson Diversey case study by Stu Carron, accessed May 29, 2009 http://www.
Seco.cpa.state.tx.us/TEP_Production/h/green04.html
Kibert, Charles J. Sustainable Construction: Green Building Design and Delivery. 2
nd edition John Wiley & Sons, Inc, Hoboken, New Jersey publishers.
Melaver, Martin 2009 The Green Building Bottom Line, the real cost of sustainable
building.
Yudelson, Jerry. 2010 Greening Existing Buildings; A Green Source Book. The
MaGraw-Hill Companies, Inc
Kats, Gregory H. "Green Building Costs and Financial Benefits." Massachusetts
Technology Collaborative. 2003. Available at: http://www.cape.com/ewebeditpro/items/O59F3481.pdf
http://greensource.construction.com/features/Solutions/2010/November/1011_
bottlestop.asp
UC San Diego http://www.hpcwire.com/hpc/2003988.html Jan Zverina, UC San
Diego assessed on Jan 23. 2011
http://www.solarpowerpartners.com/services/index.html