University of California, Irvine

Background

University of California, Irvine is dedicated to research, scholarship, and community service. Led by Chancellor Michael Drake since 2005, UC, Irvine educates nearly 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students. The campus is a 2011 recipient of Second Nature's Climate Leadership Award and a 2008 recipient of the California Governor's Environmental & Economic Leadership Award for Climate Change, the state's highest environmental honor.

As a Better Buildings Challenger Partner, the campus is committing 7 million square feet of its most energy-intensive building space, including more than 180 buildings housing instructional, office, complex laboratory space, and recreational and patient care facilities. The campus will share energy innovations developed on campus as part of its commitment, including the Smart Labs program, which has successfully reduced energy consumption in laboratory space by more than 50% using advanced occupancy and air quality sensors to reduce the number of air exchanges per hour when conditions permit.