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UC Berkeley students, joined by Mayor Shirley Dean, called for a significant investment in “clean energy” and “green building” techniques throughout the nine-campus University of California system Thursday. 

Students from all nine campuses plan to press their case at the UC Board of Regents, meeting in mid-November, arguing that any new or renovated university buildings should make use of 50 percent clean energy, like solar power, and should be constructed in an environmentally-friendly manner, meaning consuming less power. 

UC spokesperson Chuck McFadden said the university system has a commitment to green construction, citing a newly-built, nationally-recognized green building on the UC Santa Barbara campus – the Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management. But, McFadden said he was not aware of any university purchases of clean energy. 

McFadden added that the Regents do not typically dictate specific building techniques to staff. “I don’t think the Regents would want to put themselves in the position of laying down a dictum like that,” he said. 

Mayor Dean said she has written a letter to Richard Atkinson, president of the University of California system, supporting the student movement.  

She also said she will recommend at the Nov. 12 City Council meeting that the city of Berkeley adopt standards laid out by the students for its own buildings. 

Her chief mayoral opponent, Tom Bates, said he also supports solar energy for the university and city. 

Students, working with the environmental organization Greenpeace, say half of the clean energy in any new university building should come from on-site solar panels. The other half, they say, should be purchased from vendors of environmentally-friendly power, like wind-, water- and sun-driven facilities. 

The students also want all new and renovated buildings to be constructed using green building guidelines developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, a coalition of builders, architects, environmentalists and other groups. 

Kristen Casper, a Greenpeace campaigner working on the issue, said she presented the proposal to a Regents sub-committee on buildings and grounds a few weeks ago and got “no clear indication” of the level of Regents’ support. 

But she remained confident that a strong student movement can convince the university to move toward clean energy and building practices, noting that the Los Angeles Community College District has already moved in that direction. 

Dean raised the possibility of working jointly with the university to fund solar power in Berkeley. A large-scale enterprise, she said, might require a solar power bond approved by voters. 

San Francisco voters passed a $100 million solar and wind power bond last year, which will help fund clean energy production at civic buildings. 

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berkeleydailyplanet.net