Climate Action & Adaptation Plan
UC Irvine and Climate Action
The planet is heating up, with rising seas, extreme weather, and disrupted ecosystems already affecting millions of lives. Human activity is fueling this crisis, pushing natural systems to their limits. Urgent climate action is essential to protect people, communities, and the planet’s future.
UC Irvine acknowledges the role of greenhouse gas emissions in causing climate change and seeks to mitigate those emissions in its own operations. The Campus Planning & Sustainability Office, along with UCI Health sustainability staff, are leading an effort to update the university’s Climate Action & Adaptation Plan or CAAP. This plan will assist us in finding a path to decarbonize the Irvine campus and UCI Health - Orange while also building resilience in response to the effects of climate change that are already affecting our communities.Â
Clouds drape a snow-capped Santiago Peak as seen from the UC Irvine campus
photo: Steve Zylius/UC Irvine
UC Sustainable Practices Policy
In 2023, UC updated the Climate Action section of the Sustainable Practices Policy from one that required the use of carbon offsets to one that centered on decarbonization. UC Irvine is committed to achieving at least a 90% reduction in total emissions (Scopes 1, 2, and 3) by 2045 and prioritizing reductions in Scope 1 emissions. The CAAP, in combination with our Decarbonization Study, will guide us towards achieving that goal.
Progress to Date
UC Irvine has a long history of climate leadership and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions. While the campus has continued to grow, our greenhouse gas emissions associated with operations has reduced by approximately 10,000 mtCO2e annually. This is largely due to deep energy efficiency programs, on-site solar, all-electric new buildings, and participation in the UC Clean Power program – which now provides 100% carbon free grid-imported power.
Definitions
Scope 1 Emissions:
- Direct emissions - for UCI this means the emissions generated by burning natural gas at our Central Plant.
Scope 2 Emissions:
- Indirect emissions - these are emissions that are not directly generated on our campus. This is all the electricity we purchase from the UC Clean Power Program.
Scope 3 Emissions:
- Indirect emissions - from an organization's value chain, not owned or controlled by the company itself. It includes activities like purchased goods and services, business travel, employee commuting, and the use and disposal of sold products. UC tracks only waste, commute, and business travel (air travel).
Central Plant:
- UCI's source of energy - this facility is a cogeneration plant that creates electricity and heat for the campus to use. Burns natural gas to power a jet engine to accomplish these goals. Constructed in 2007 and highly efficient.
UC Clean Power Program:
- Clean Power Program (CPP) manages a portfolio of renewable and carbon-free electricity sources that is delivered to participating campuses by the state’s investor-owned utilities.
Decarbonization
In 2024 UC Irvine, along with the other UC campuses and medical center locations, received funding from the State of California to study pathways to eliminate its largest contributor to emissions – the natural gas combined heat and power plant. The campus plans to continue evaluating decarbonization options through 2030, while focusing GHG reduction efforts on replacing auxiliary natural gas use outside the central plant. Replacing these auxiliary emission sources will result in approximately 5% of our total scope 1 emissions.
Energy Efficiency
Energy efficiency continues to be an important component of UCI's overall emissions reduction strategy. UCI’s award-winning Smart Labs Initiative has safely reduced laboratory energy use in new and retrofitted laboratories by as much as 60 percent. This is a comprehensive program that re-engineers building control systems – ventilation, exhaust, and lighting – from top to bottom. Smart Labs use sensors and software to control lab and building systems (ventilation, HVAC, exhaust, illumination) precisely and responsively rather than relying on massive safety margins or conventional wisdom for ventilation rates, exhaust air discharge velocity, and other design criteria. Laboratories typically account for two-thirds of the energy used by research universities and have an enormous impact on their carbon footprint.
On-Site Solar
In 2008, UCI installed 1.3 megawatts of solar PV on the roof of 11 campus buildings. In 2015, the campus installed 11,700 solar panels on the top of three parking structures generating up to 3.2 megawatts of power, which at least tripled the amount of solar energy generated on campus. New buildings also have received solar power arrays, and new parking structures are made solar-ready in preparation for future solar expansion. As of February 2025, UCI has approximately 4.4 megawatts of solar PV installed on its microgrid. UCI is evaluating additional opportunities to add solar PV and battery storage on campus to support its decarbonization goals.
Green Building
As the campus continues to grow, new developments are all-electric, allowing them to become carbon-free by participating in UC’s Clean Power Program. Recently, the campus has built carbon-free graduate and family housing (Verano Place), and a new in-patient specialty hospital – the first all-electric hospital in the United States.
Green Health
In 2022, UCI Health signed The White House/Department of Health & Human Services Health Sector Climate Pledge. In signing the pledge, UCI Health has committed to climate resilience and emissions reduction that includes cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030 and achieving net zero emissions by 2050. UCI Health successfully reduced its overall emissions by 43% since 2019. Its commitment has driven progress in numerous other areas, including:
- Reducing operating room emissions: In 2021, it eliminated the use of desflurane, an inhaled anesthetic gas with the highest global warming potential. It also decommissioned central piped nitrous oxide and reduced usage more than 75% since 2021.
- Reducing energy use and generating clean power: UCI Health reduced its energy use intensity by 2.4% in 2023 exceeding its annual goal of 2%, implemented a peak load shifting strategy and installed a 1.9MW battery storage system. It also decommissioned a fossil fuel cogeneration plant, reducing natural gas consumption by more than 30%.
- Purchased electricity: UCI Health has achieved its goal of purchasing 100% clean electricity by 2025 through the UC Clean Power Program.
Decarbonization Study
The University of California, Irvine completed a decarbonization study in 2024. It was a collaboration between UCI Facilities Management, Campus Planning & Sustainability, and a consultant, Black and Veatch. The study charted a path toward a 90% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 1–3) by 2045. This effort included evaluation of technical feasibility, economic viability, and equity considerations, emphasizing alignment with UC-wide climate goals and educational missions.
Recognizing that over 90% of UCI’s operational GHG emissions stem from natural gas combustion at its Central Plant, the study aimed to identify pathways to achieve decarbonization without compromising reliable campus operations.
Three Core Decarbonization Pathways Under Consideration:
Electrification
Electrification is the pathway that is currently the most viable option. By implementing early, we have the potential to avoid over 700,000 metric tons of C02 emissions between 2035 and 2045. A major disadvantage to this pathway is that there would be a high operational cost due to the price of electricity.
Emerging Technology
Green Hydrogen
One emerging technology that is under consideration is switching to green hydrogen. Some benefits would include the ability to retain existing distribution infrastructure and low capital costs. Some disadvantages include needing to build a new, dedicated hydrogen pipeline, and unpredictable future pricing.
Small Modular Nuclear (SMR)
Another emerging technology under consideration is the implementation of a small modular nuclear plant to power the campus. This technology is not currently commercially available nor legal in the state of California. Some benefits of this system include a low operating cost by avoiding costs associated with fuel/electric market volatility. Some disadvantages include high initial capital costs and regulatory hurdles.
Each of these pathways has their own strengths and weaknesses. All of them would include the continued use of renewable energy through solar panel development and increased battery storage onsite. Before 2030, we will continue to switch out small gas boilers and other point sources of carbon emissions. The decarbonization strategy also incorporates equity and educational dimensions, leveraging UCI’s central plant and campus facilities as a living laboratory for research, innovation, and training.
Scope 3 Emissions
The Scope 3 emissions that UC Irvine seeks to address are: waste, commuting, and business-related air travel with commuting being the lion’s share of Scope 3 emissions. They account for a small portion of the total carbon emissions but require the most engagement from the UCI community. The decarb study examined sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), zero emission vehicle (ZEV) infrastructure expansion, and waste diversion goals.
Current Status and Updates
After completion of the decarbonization study UC Irvine set greenhouse gas reduction targets for scope 1 emissions (Table 1) and all scope emissions (Table 2).The updated CAAP will detail the mitigation strategies for the academic campus and medical center to meet the 2045 overall target as well as interim targets for scope 1 emissions.   Â
The graph on the left demonstrates our carbon emissions over time. Due to the integration into the UC Clean Power Program, UC Irvine has close to zero scope 2 emissions (purchased electricity). Read more about the CPP here.
The pie chart on the right shows our challenge to achieve our decarbonization goals. Over 90% of our emissions come from the Central Plant that uses fossil fuels to power the campus. Addressing the plant’s operations is vital to meeting our 90% decarbonization target.
UC Irvine is currently working on updating the Climate Action and Adaptation Plan. In the next four years, the campus will continue to monitor emerging technologies like nuclear and hydrogen while simultaneously electrifying specific operations on campus and implementing resilience measures. The projected decarbonization is 2045 with a stretch target of 2040.
UCI Health has a slightly quicker timeline than the Irvine Campus. In 2022, UCI Health signed The White House/Department of Health & Human Services Health Sector Climate Pledge. In signing the pledge, UCI Health has committed to climate resilience and emissions reduction that includes cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030 and achieving net zero emissions by 2050. Despite government changes, UCI Health continues to use this as a target.
LRDP Support
This CAAP will be a supporting document to the university’s 2027 Long Range Development Plan (LRDP). The LRDP goes through an environmental review process and the CAAP can serve as an additional document to demonstrate emissions mitigation as the campus continues to grow.
Climate Resiliency
The climate resiliency portion of the CAAP addresses the widespread impacts of climate change already affecting the students, faculty, staff, and overall communities of UC Irvine and UCI Health. As part of this project, we have conducted a Climate Impact Assessment to understand the impacts of climate hazards on our campus and medical center and how best to adapt to them. Through a series of stakeholder engagements, we have been working over the past 2-3 years to understand what adaptation actions could be implemented in order to increase our resilience capacity. We are now in the process of prioritizing these actions for integration into our Climate Action & Adaptation Plan (CAAP).Â
Living Labs
In order to integrate our climate action strategy into the teaching and research mission of our university, the CAAP will propose Campus as a Living Lab opportunities. Currently, Campus as a Living Lab (CLL) is an undergraduate hybrid seminar and internship program that prepares students to become sustainability leaders while advancing their career readiness in the green economy. Co-coordinated by UCI Biological Sciences, the UCI Sustainability Resource Center, and UCI Housing Sustainability, CLL provides an interdisciplinary learning experience that integrates academic coursework with applied research. The CAAP proposes the development of this program to include decarbonization and resiliency placement sites.
Working Group
| Matthew Deines (co-chair) |
Principal Physical Planner | Campus Planning & Sustainability |
| Anthony Dover (co-chair) |
Energy Management and Sustainability Officer | UCI Health |
| Joseph Fleshman | Director of Energy and Engineering | Facilities Management |
| Courtney Lusk | Sustainability Program Manager | UCI Health   |
| Melissa Falkenstien | Senior Director, Facilities Operations & Capital Projects | UCI Housing |
| Rachel Harvey | Sustainability Program Manager | UCI Housing |
| Erika Hennon | Sustainable Transportation Programs Manager | Transportation & Distribution Services |
| Lindsey Hashimoto | Principal Environmental Planner | Campus Planning & Sustainability |
| Aarushi Gupta | Senior Sustainability Planner | Campus Planning & Sustainability |
| Sheri Ledbetter | Director, Internal and Critical Communications | Strategic Communications |
| Steve Allison | Professor | Ecology & Evolutionary Biology |
| Bill Tomlinson | Professor | ICS |
| Cecilia Del Rivo | Resilience Fellow | Campus Planning & Sustainability |
| Isadora Wiener | Decarbonization Fellow | Campus Planning & Sustainability |
Feedback and Involvement Opportunities
Advisory Committee:
As UC Irvine moves forward with completing the CAAP, we are seeking dedicated students, staff, and faculty who are interested in the implementation of the plan. The CAAP will be a living document and serve as direction for departments to integrate resilience throughout their operations. Please contact aarushi.g@uci.edu for more details.
Want to provide feedback? Scan the QR code below or click the link to take our Climate Actions Survey: CAAP Feedback Form
Interested in taking action now?Â
Green your commute!Â
UCI Transportation has partnered with RideMatch to provide an exclusive carpool matching platform for UCI students and affiliates. The program streamlines the process of finding a carpool partner by allowing users to customize their search based on their commute route and connect with fellow UCI community members or anyone in the broader RideMatch network. Participants can save on travel costs, minimize their carbon footprint, and enjoy a more convenient, community-focused way to commute to campus.