LEED Gold building features West Coast’s first fully automated parking system.

UCLA Santa Monica Medical Office Building

UCLA Health System has added a key component to its rapidly evolving Santa Monica campus by officially opening its new Medical Office Building near the new UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica. The building, which contains numerous green features, will be the health system’s first structure to achieve the LEED Gold designation for sustainability.

The building, located at 1223 16th St., also features the West Coast’s first fully automated parking system, which automatically parks and retrieves visitors’ cars while they wait in a nearby parking lobby.

The three-story, 50,000-square-foot medical building houses eight operating rooms for outpatient surgery, a linear accelerator for radiation oncology, as well as space for future growth, a laboratory and a pharmacy. It also contains clinical offices for several UCLA Department of Medicine practices, including the Food and Drug Allergy Care Center, Center for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, digestive diseases, pulmonary and sleep medicine, and nephrology.

“This magnificent building will be a great addition to our new Santa Monica campus,” said Dr. David Feinberg, president of UCLA Health System. “It not only increases our surgical capacity in Santa Monica, but also helps us provide a better patient experience to those undergoing outpatient procedures or radiation therapy.”

Its green features include a passive solar design, recycled and locally sourced materials, efficient water systems and a rooftop photovoltaic system that provides approximately 15 percent of the building’s energy needs.

Inspired to create a patient-focused, healing environment that achieves a high level of efficiency, the architects designed a Modernist structure formed by a pair of rectangular concrete volumes joined by an expansive glass box housing the grand, naturally lit atrium. The atrium brings life to the facility while serving as its main pedestrian thoroughfare.

The building is innovative automated parking system automatically parks and retrieves visitors’ cars while they wait in a nearby parking lobby. The state-of-the-art system accommodates 385 cars in a footprint 50 percent smaller than conventional garages.

Visitors to the parking garage pull onto one of six parking platforms, exit their cars and visit a nearby kiosk for their parking ticket.  The system then automatically places the car into a compartment based on its size. When leaving the building, visitors swipe their ticket, make a payment and wait while the system retrieves the car.

“It’s like a giant vending machine for your car,” explained Randall Miller, president of Nautilus Group, who developed the customized system based on technology in use on the East Coast and in Europe.

Prior to its opening, the building captured awards for its innovative design from the AIA Academy of Architecture for Health, AIA/Los Angeles Chapter, Southern California Development Forum and Westside Urban Forum. It was designed by L.A.-based Michael W. Folonis Architects.

Practice Greenhealth honors outstanding environmental achievements in health care sector.

Practice Greenhealth awarded points to the UC Davis Health System for Food and Nutrition Services' sustainability plan.

UC Davis Health System has been selected to receive a 2012 “Partner for Change” Award from Practice Greenhealth, the nation’s premier membership organization for health care facilities committed to environmentally responsible operations. The award is one of the organization’s Environmental Excellence Awards given each year to honor outstanding environmental achievements in the health care sector.

The Partner for Change Award recognizes health care facilities that continuously improve and expand upon their mercury elimination, waste reduction and source-reduction programs. At a minimum, facilities applying for this award must be recycling 15 percent of their total waste, are well along the way to mercury elimination, and have developed other successful pollution prevention programs in many different areas.

The award will be presented on May 2 in Denver at CleanMed 2012, a major national environmental conference for leaders in health care sustainability.

“This award demonstrates UC Davis Health System’s commitment to protect public health and preserve the environment,” said Laura Wenger, executive director, Practice Greenhealth. “UC Davis Health System is truly demonstrating leadership for the future of health care.”

John Danby, sustainability administrator at the health system, said that many of the sustainability achievements recognized by Practice Greenhealth are associated with the health system’s cost-containment strategies. One notable example is the reprocessing of single-use medical devices, a program that keeps the devices out of the medical waste stream.

Once the devices are reprocessed to a level where their quality equals a new product, the health system can purchase them back at a fraction of the cost of a new device, Danby said.

“Most of the labor is expended by the vendor, so the cost to the health system is minimal,” Danby said. “It’s a great program, with room to grow.”

Practice Greenhealth also awarded points to the health system for Food and Nutrition Services’ sustainability plan, which sets ambitious goals for procuring locally produced, sustainable and organic products.

Other sustainability efforts at the health system cited by Practice Greenhealth include:

• Appointment of sustainability administrator
• Pharmaceutical waste segregation program
• Elimination of Styrofoam by Food and Nutrition Services
• Elimination of mercury in patient-care areas
• Waste-diversion and recycling program
• Chemical-use and waste-management programs

“We are pleased to be recognized for this significant achievement,” said Danby. “We are proud to be a model of how health facilities develop and implement programs to improve the health of our patients, staff and community.

“The award shows that we are doing well, but we have a lot of work to do to establish a program that can attain Practice Greenhealth’s Partner for Change With Distinction and Environmental Leadership Circle awards,” Danby said. “We’re really just getting started down the road to sustainable health care.”

Practice Greenhealth is the nation’s leading membership and networking organization for institutions in the health care community that have made a commitment to sustainable, eco-friendly practices. Members include hospitals, health care systems, businesses and other stakeholders engaged in the greening of health care to improve the health of patients, staff and the environment. Practice Greenhealth is a source of environmental solutions for the health care sector. For more information on Practice Greenhealth, visit www.practicegreenhealth.org.

First UC Riverside building to receive recognition from U.S. Green Building Council.

The windows of the UC Riverside School of Medicine Research Building have automatic solar shades that control the amount of natural light that enters the building.

The School of Medicine Research Building at the University of California, Riverside, has received LEED Gold certification by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), recognizing efforts to design and build a facility with measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions.

The award, along with information about the green building will be on display Thursday at the UCR Bell Tower as part of the campus’ Earth Week events. The building is the first on the UCR campus to receive any level of LEED certification.

The School of Medicine Research Building (SOMRB) is a three-story, 58,000 square foot building that features highly flexible biomedical and population health research facilities that can accommodate a variety of disciplines. It was originally designed by SRG Partnership Inc. to meet LEED Silver requirements, but Campus Architect Don Caskey and Sustainability Coordinator John Cook were able to document that the university had taken its environmental efforts to the next level.

“We went back in and found points that hadn’t been applied for, such as restoring habitat, maximize open space, alternative transportation parking, heat island effect,” Cook said, explaining that the certification process requires documentation of all claims.

LEED certification was developed by the USGBC in 2000 and features four different levels: platinum, gold, silver and “certified.” Buildings are given points for reaching specific milestones in a variety of areas, including sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality. The University of California Office of the President has made a systemwide commitment that all new campus construction and renovations meet a minimum of LEED Silver standards.

“To have our School of Medicine Research Building achieve the LEED Gold rating is a tremendous accomplishment because it is challenging especially to design and construct a laboratory building with the sustainability features necessary for this prestigious certification,” said G. Richard Olds, dean of the medical school. “In addition to its green design and operation, this building will provide the advanced research facilities necessary to recruit the additional faculty we will need to open the medical school and train more physicians for our region.”

“For our first LEED certified project to make gold is marvelous,” Caskey said. “It has a lot of innovations, and I like the fact that we are on the cutting edge, trying things. We are out of the box with a bang and it sets the stage for where we are going with future construction.”

Caskey said that the new Glen Mor II housing project will seek LEED Gold certification in 2014 and that the campus would be pursuing LEED Existing Building: Operations and Maintenance (EBOM) certification on several older campus buildings.

Cook said it is a major accomplishment for a laboratory building like SOMRB to earn LEED Gold Certification due to the power demands of laboratory equipment.

“It is much harder to get the energy efficiencies with a lab because of the amount of energy needed for the vent hoods. You are taking all the air out of the building about every six minutes,” he said. “And yet, we were able to achieve that without increasing risk.”

Cook said that his favorite feature of the building is the automatic solar shades that measure the amount of light coming into a room and deploy as necessary. They are one of the more obvious energy efficient refinements that also include natural habitat landscaping instead of turfgrass, ceiling fans and LED lighting. But Cook said there are many behind-the-scenes aspects that most people will never see.

“That is just the way you want it,” he said. “You don’t think about it, but you are able to see better, to breathe better, to work better. That is what we are looking for.”

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New building is first LEED Gold certified acute care medical facility in San Diego region.

UC San Diego Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center

The UC San Diego Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center is the first hospital-based project in the region to receive LEED Gold certification from the United States Green Building Council. Representatives from the USGBC – San Diego Chapter recently presented a plaque to the building project and design team.

“I am extremely proud of this team and the UC San Diego Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center,” said Randy Leopold, LEED accredited professional, director of Health Care Architectural Services, UC San Diego Facilities Design & Construction. “The design decision we made from the beginning laid the foundation for our being able to pursue LEED certification. This Gold level certification recognition is the jewel in our crown.”

LEED — Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design — promotes a “whole-building” approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in several key areas. Though the Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center project began in 2005, prior to LEED guideline establishment, leadership at UC San Diego, along with the design and construction teams, believed in creating a building that was environmentally thoughtful.

The facility design takes full advantage of the movement of the sun with shading devices and massing elements to minimize heat gain and reduce energy consumption. The design also embraces the idea of blurring the lines between interior and exterior regions, to provide the facility with a “natural” feel that picks up on the stunning geography of the nearby coastal canyons.

“It is no small task to achieve LEED certification after the design of the project was mostly complete,” said Doug Kot, executive director of the USGBC – San Diego Chapter. “This team had established the right goals and accountability and was intuitively on their way toward building sustainability when we started working with them.”

Kot went on to explain that the indoor environmental quality of UC San Diego Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center makes this building a superior facility for patients and staff. “This building promotes good health by combining energy conservation techniques with the very best care available and that is what we are here to celebrate in this LEED project,” said Kot.

UC Irvine’s second LEED Platinum in one month is added to eight gold awards.

UC Irvine's Sue and Bill Gross Hall

It’s a simple pleasure: the ability to open a conference-room window and let in the afternoon breeze. But operable windows are also a good energy strategy and just one of the many green features and amenities that earned UC Irvine’s Sue & Bill Gross Hall: A CIRM Institute its second LEED Platinum certification in a month from the U.S. Green Building Council. A platinum designation is the agency’s highest honor; the campus has received eight LEED Gold certifications.

“This is a great day for UC Irvine’s sustainability program,” said Richard Demerjian, director of environmental planning & sustainability. “Gross Hall is one of the most energy-efficient lab buildings in the U.S.”

Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design ratings are determined on a point basis in the following categories: site sustainability, water efficiency, energy & atmosphere, materials & resources, indoor environmental quality, and innovation & design process.

Gross Hall scored points for such features as dimmable and occupancy-controlled lighting, use of energy-saving building materials, and mechanical systems that are 50 percent more efficient than required by California’s Title 24 energy code. The operable windows are tied into the heating and air-conditioning controls so that when a window is opened, mechanical ventilation of that room shuts off.

An $80 million, 100,000-square-foot structure, Gross Hall was designed to facilitate contact between patients in the first-floor clinic and rehabilitation center and stem cell researchers on the first, second and third floors. Labs are equipped with Aircuity technology that monitors indoor air quality and adjusts air-change rates based on contaminant levels.

“This LEED Platinum certification recognizes Gross Hall’s extraordinary energy efficiency, plus its many other green building features,” Demerjian said, “further establishing UC Irvine as a national leader in campus sustainability.”

About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UC Irvine is a top-ranked university dedicated to research, scholarship and community service. Led by Chancellor Michael Drake since 2005, UC Irvine is among the most dynamic campuses in the University of California system, with nearly 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students, 1,100 faculty and 9,000 staff. Orange County’s second-largest employer, UC Irvine contributes an annual economic impact of $4 billion. For more news, visit www.today.uci.edu.

Hospital complex is expected to open in 2015.

UCSF Medical Center CEO Mark Laret and San Francisco Supervisor Malia Cohen

Much has been said and written about the UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay, a $1.5 billion project years in the making that will result in San Francisco’s first new hospital in decades.

Some people point to the facility’s high-tech features and environmentally sustainable design; others to the collaborative environment that will result from the placement of specialty hospitals for children, women and cancer patients just steps away from UCSF’s 42.5-acre biomedical research and teaching campus.

But the goal of the ambitious project may be best summed up by five words scrawled in small print on a steel beam resting atop the emerging hospital complex: “We make life better here.”

The 29-foot white beam was installed Oct. 17 as part of a “topping out” celebration to mark the end of the project’s structural steel phase, as a crowd of hundreds of construction workers and project supporters looked on. The event — a tradition in building construction — was an opportunity to recognize and thank the massive team that contributed to the design and initial construction of the 878,000-gross-square-foot facility.  

When it opens in early 2015, the 289-bed medical center will set a new standard for patient- and family-centered health care, safety, sustainability and translational medicine.

“The steel structure of our new medical center rests on a foundation that is much more than concrete,” said Mark Laret, chief executive officer of the UCSF Medical Center and the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital. “This construction milestone only is possible because of the talented workers we salute today, in addition to the ongoing support of our community of neighbors and most important, our visionary, generous donors.”

[Related: See additional UCSF coverage]

“It has taken an entire community to bring us to this very special milestone,” added Cindy Lima, the project’s executive director, who described the steel structure as “a house in which we’ll provide caring, healing, teaching, and discovery.”

Weighing in at 1,600 pounds, the symbolic beam represents just a fraction of the 9,272 tons of steel that will comprise the hospital complex. In addition to messages and signatures from UCSF staff, patients, donors, and construction workers, the beam was decorated with artwork by adult and pediatric patients, an American flag, and a small, live tree symbolizing “good luck and hope for the future,” Lima said.

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UC’s sustainability efforts pay off.

UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine research building

If you build it, they will come. But who will pay the electricity bill?

That’s the conundrum UC Davis faced with a new building for its School of Veterinary Medicine. The $58.5 million project is scheduled to be completed at the end of 2012, but with its facilities budget stretched to its limit, the campus needed creative solutions to cover the research lab building’s $1.4 million a year operating costs.

“How do you absorb $1.4 million in energy costs, custodial costs and groundskeeping costs — all the costs that keep a building running?” said Sid England, UC Davis’ assistant vice chancellor for environmental stewardship and sustainability. “It’s like somebody gave you money to buy a toy, but you don’t have the batteries for it.”

So the campus turned to sustainable practices to cut energy use and other costs to fund the new building’s operation. Some of the options included tweaking the design and operations plan of the new building to maximize efficiency while expanding conservation efforts and consolidating unused space in other veterinary school buildings.

While plans haven’t been finalized, England said there’s enough potential savings from utilizing high-efficiency lighting, heating, cooling and by retiring underused low-temperature lab freezers and other measures to get the new building up and running.

“The budget issue has brought us to the point,” England said. “We have to look for ways to save energy, and saving on energy of course also reduces our carbon footprint, which is another one of our goals.”

In an era of reduced budgets and cost cutting, UC’s sustainability efforts are allowing it to save money while furthering its goals to make its campuses greener.

The topic is what England, UC Berkeley Sustainability Director Lisa McNeilly and UC systemwide Sustainability Manager Matt St. Clair have been invited to present in a panel called “Crisis Into Opportunity: Can Sustainability Programs and Budget Cuts be Mutually Supportive?” at the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education’s national conference this week in Pittsburgh.

UC Riverside Chancellor Timothy White is one of the keynote speakers at the conference. He is chair of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment and the UC Riverside Chancellor’s Committee on Sustainability. White’s speech focuses on the important role universities play in sustainability, serving as a resource and role models for the communities they serve, even during a budget crunch.

“Despite significant budget challenges in the state of California — and perhaps because of them — I continue to fund UCR’s sustainability program, not only because I believe it is the right thing to do, but because in the long run I believe it will not only conserve precious natural resources but also save our institution money,” White said in his prepared remarks.

The University of California is one of the pioneers of sustainability within higher education, and the cost savings associated with being green takes on greater importance as public universities face the budget ax.

“The more we spend on energy, water and waste disposal, that’s less money we have to spend on academics and research,” St. Clair said. “UC was focused on sustainability before this budget crisis. Now more than ever, sustainability is the right thing to do, for our environment and our bottom line.”

It’s no coincidence that reducing energy use and dependence on fossil fuels play a large role in UC’s systemwide sustainability policies and its Working Smarter program to improve administrative efficiency. Three sustainability initiatives are among the Working Smarter projects that are projected to save $500 million per year when fully implemented:

• UC’s ambitious goal to become carbon neutral — zero-net emissions of greenhouse gases — cannot happen without aggressive energy efficiency and conservation efforts.
• In a pilot program, all UC campuses are moving some data servers — the energy intensive machines that run computer networks — to the San Diego Supercomputing Center to test the viability of a systemwide data center, which has great potential for energy and cost savings.
• UC is part of the Higher Education Energy Efficiency Partnership with the California State University system and the state’s four investor-owned utilities, which provide financing for efficiency projects. Coupled with a systemwide Strategic Energy Plan, UC saved $25 million on energy costs in fiscal 2010-11; when fully implemented, it’s estimated that annual cost savings will be $40 million a year.

UC adopted its first sustainability policy in 2003 and it has evolved to include mandates for cutting carbon emissions, energy efficiency, sustainable food service, use of renewable resources, recycling, waste reduction, water conservation and environmentally friendly construction methods.

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UC San Diego facility combines greenness with state-of-the-art treatment.

The exterior shiny metal louvers and heat-reflecting glass, combined with interior spaces sprinkled with modern art and low-wattage lights gives the newly opened UC San Diego Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center the lean and healthy crispness of a salad with non-fat dressing.

The final garnish, as cool as a slice of cucumber, is a circular etched-glass plaque from the U.S. Green Building Council in recognition of the center’s attainment of LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) “Gold” certification standards, the first hospital in San Diego County to achieve such a high rating. The center is the eighth UC San Diego building to achieve LEED certification, and 21 additional projects are expected to receive a minimum of LEED Silver certification.

“The LEED plaques have become standard in all our building projects, but they’re not decorative – they reflect the university’s commitment to energy savings, water efficiency, reduction of CO2 emissions and stewardship of our resources,” said Gary C. Matthews, UC San Diego’s vice chancellor for resource management and planning.

The 127,000-square-foot cardiovascular center’s mechanical and energy systems are designed for high efficiency and the building itself is constructed with environmentally friendly regional materials where possible. “We’re all thrilled to see how beautiful this green building, dedicated to patient care, research and education, turned out,” Matthews said.

The design of the Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center minimizes most patient movements. The center was designed to consolidate outpatient and inpatient cardiovascular services, accommodate the expected increase in demand for services, and prepare for more complex cases in Southern California’s booming population of seniors.

The new facility has grouped diagnostic cardiovascular services, interventional catheterization, and operating rooms under one roof to streamline the delivery of a full range of cardiac treatments. Patient wait times have been reduced with the more efficient use of space.

As part of the design process, RTKL Associates, the Los Angeles health care studio of a global architectural design firm chosen to design the project, built temporary mock-ups of rooms in an off-campus warehouse. UC San Diego physicians, nurses, donors, medical technologists and project managers visited the warehouse and offered suggestions to streamline efficiencies while increasing patient comfort.

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“I think it is really important for a health sciences campus to not just focus on the short term and the patient in front of you, but to also think about our own habits and lifestyle.”

UCSF Chancellor Sue Desmond-Hellmann often takes public transportation

UCSF has launched a new website focusing on the latest news and information about the University’s ongoing efforts toward environmental sustainability.

The UCSF Sustainability website is the product of the input of many across the campus and the medical center and its development was led by Gail Lee, sustainability manager at UCSF.

“We urge the UCSF community to get involved, stay informed, and take the pledge to support our goals to reduce our emissions, waste, and water and become more resource efficient,” Lee says.  “We hope that everyone can be a part of the global climate solution!”

The website features a story on UCSF Chancellor Sue Desmond-Hellmann, MD, MPH, who speaks about the importance of sustainability and puts those words into practice as she often takes public transportation instead of hopping in a car.

“I think it is really important for a health sciences campus to not just focus on the short term and the patient in front of you, but to also think about our own habits and lifestyle,” Desmond-Hellmann says. “The upside of commuting by public transit is that it can improve your quality of life and provide the opportunity to interact with people in a different way.”

An avid biker who got her first taste of commuting by public transportation when she was working at Genentech, Desmond-Hellmann is passionate about public transportation and praises its benefits. “While I give up some control, I enjoy not driving and I enjoy reading. I can use the time to throttle down and relax after work.” Read more here.

The University of California system, of which UCSF is a part, is committed to minimizing its impact on the environment.

In fact, the University of California has been recognized as a leader in its sustainability practices, gaining momentum and national recognition by expanding its sustainability policy, which was first adopted in July 2003.

UC’s Policy on Sustainable Practices includes guidelines and commitments in eight areas – operations and maintenance, purchasing, climate protection, energy procurement and generation, transportation, waste reduction, food systems, and green building design – making it one of the most ambitious and comprehensive institutional sustainability commitments in the nation.

For its part, UCSF’s sustainability efforts began as a staff initiative in 2004. Today, sustainability at UCSF has evolved into a program drawing in representatives from the campus and UCSF Medical Center.

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UCSF Medical Center and UCSF Children’s Hospital received a Partner for Change Award from Practice Greenhealth for integrating environmental responsibility into its operations.

Practice Greenhealth is the nation’s leading membership and networking organization for institutions in the health care community committed to sustainable, eco-friendly practices.

The award, issued on May 12, recognizes health care facilities that have developed successful pollution prevention programs and recognizes outstanding environmental innovation in health care. UCSF is the first UC campus to achieve this sustainability award. In addition to giving UCSF the award, Practice Greenhealth will plant 100 trees in Haiti in UCSF’s honor.

David Odato, chief administrative and human resources officer of UCSF Medical Center and co-chair of the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Sustainability (CACS), is pleased by the recognition.

“UCSF Medical Center and UCSF Children’s Hospital are committed to environmentally responsible operations for the health and safety of our patients,” he said. “I am proud of our commitment and the hard work of our staff and physicians who make UCSF Medical Center and the environment a healthy place for patients, visitors and employees.”

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Faculty, clinicians, staff and students will all benefit greatly by attending the 9th annual 2010 California Higher Education Sustainability Conference, June 20-23 at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College. This year has an excellent track designed to benefit hospitals like yours. Hear from professionals who work in hospitals. See descriptions below. For more information, go to: http://2010higheredsustainabilityconference.org.

The conference will address the unique challenges of implementing sustainability practices into medical centers, hospitals, outpatient clinics and student health facilities through a series of five workshops in the health care track. Topics that will be addressed this year are:

• How you can achieve real savings and develop a safer workplace through efficient and responsible waste management, supply reuse, donation and  environmentally preferable purchasing.

• How to implement sustainability efforts in hospital dining facilities.

• How your organization can use existing organizational structure/committees to develop sustainability programs in a complex medical center.

• How implementing sustainability programs in a medical center has a synergistic benefit  for the work place environment, patient and staff safety,  emergency management, and increasing regulatory compliance.

Register now at http://2010higheredsustainabilityconference.org.

For more information, contact Matt St. Clair, UC Office of the President sustainability manager at (510) 287-3897 or Matthew.StClair@ucop.edu.

UCSF’s ongoing efforts to be more sustainable were honored on March 5 at a dedication ceremony celebrating the certification of the Arthur and Toni Rembe Rock Hall as a LEED (Leadership in Engineering and Environmental Design) Silver building.

The certification is a prestigious and credible green seal of approval for sustainable buildings from the US Green Building Council (USGBC). The LEED building rating system is the leading industry standard – measuring strategies that save energy, promote water efficiency, reduce CO2 emissions and improve indoor environmental quality, among other environmental impacts. From lowest to highest, the LEED rating system categories are certified, silver, gold and platinum.

“Rock Hall is unique because it is the first time UCSF has successfully operated an existing building to fulfill the LEED standards,” said UCSF Chancellor Sue Desmond-Hellmann, MD, MPH, who attended the certification ceremony at Mission Bay.

A typical laboratory is much more energy intensive than an office building, but Rock Hall integrates a range of green operating practices, including using more efficient water devices, implementing a green cleaning program, expanding the recycling program and enhancing indoor air quality measures.

By improving its environmental performance, Rock Hall has decreased annual electricity use costs by 5 percent and reduced water use by 25 percent—both of which add up to $100,000 in savings compared to a conventional building, according to Maric Munn, director of Facilities Management.

“UCSF is showing important leadership with this accomplishment,” said Matthew St. Clair, sustainability manager at the UC Office of the President. “Rock Hall is the first laboratory building in San Francisco to receive LEED for existing buildings certification, and one of the first lab buildings in the country to earn a silver certification.

“The certification of Rock Hall and efforts to build on this accomplishment by certifying several additional buildings make UCSF a leader in efficient, sustainable operations of its buildings both in the University of California system and among universities around the country,” St. Clair added.

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