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Energy Use on Campus
Two committees and the Office of Sustainability at UC Berkeley work formally to implement sustainability initiatives on campus. The university encourages green purchasing when possible including installing energy-efficient technologies around campus such as steam trap systems and economizers. In 2012 the President’s Climate Committee decided against adopting an energy-efficient appliance purchasing policy requiring purchase of Energy Star certified products.

UC Berkeley has a green building policy. Two buildings on campus are LEED certified, and six others meet LEED standards. Multiple building spaces have been repurposed for alternative use, and almost all waste from construction projects is diverted from landfills. Water conservation technologies have been installed across campus, and the university employs a variety of techniques to manage storm water.

Energy Profile
UC Berkeley heats, cools, and powers its lab equipment utilizing power from an on-campus natural gas plant. According to a report by the UC Berkeley Climate and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Research/Analysis team, "UC Berkeley consumes over 706 million pounds of steam a year, and this is equivalent to about $5.7 million dollars in steam costs alone, each year. This is a large figure, and being that steam is the largest contributor, contributing to 41% of current campus greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs)." The emissions are shared with the electricity production at the cogeneration plant which burns natural gas. Steam is generated by a third party-owned cogeneration plant, also known as a natural gas combined cycle plant, and it is purchased in 1000 pound increments by the campus. Additionally, UC Berkeley owns and operates three auxiliary boilers that supplement the campus steam supply under high demands. At the end of the report, the UC Berkeley authorized committee authors "recommend keeping the plant running, but strongly discourage the university from taking over the plant, because UC Berkeley is better off not assuming the responsibilities for the power plant’s emissions..." . The only renewable energy produced by the school is through a 59-kilowatt photovoltaic array.

The President’s Climate Committee in 2012 refused to adopt a policy of offsetting all greenhouse gas emissions generated by air travel paid for the University. The University also refused to begin purchasing or producing at least 15% of the institution’s electricity consumption from renewable sources.

In 2007, oil company British Petroleum announced that it would give $500 million to UC Berkeley in partnership with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to lead research efforts on energy.

Energy Investments
In 2012 the President’s Climate Committee refused to establish “a policy or a committee that supports climate and sustainability shareholder proposals at companies where our institution's endowment is invested”. According to the College Sustainability Report Card, “The university aims to optimize investment returns and does not invest in renewable energy funds or community development loan funds”.

In 2011, the California Student Sustainability Coalition launched a campaign to end California higher education’s use and support of coal and the coal industry “as it is fundamentally incompatible with our colleges and universities’ strong commitments to sustainability”. They point to the UC's heavy investment in the Russell 3000 Index, “a pooled fund that contains holdings in the top 3000 companies in the US by size…through the Russell fund, the UCs own shares of every major coal company in the US”.

In 2011, the California Student Sustainability Coalition released a press release reporting the following: “According to data released today, the University of California Regents hold $234 million in 15 of the largest coal mining and coal burning corporations including Massey Energy, Patriot Coal, and Ameren Corp., with millions more possibly in individual campus foundations. Records of endowment holdings through 2011 show that the $234 million the UC holds in the ‘Filthy 15’ coal companies includes: -	$25.8 million in Southern Company, the 4th largest carbon polluter internationally; -	$12.1 million in Peabody Energy, the world’s largest private sector coal company; -	$19.1 million in Duke Energy, responsible for 1,248 deaths due to pollution in 2009”.