Sustainability Map: Map Points

The sustainability map shows where to go on campus to see and experience how UC Davis is working towards meeting its sustainability goals.

The sustainability map can be used to find places or things on campus that express or demonstrate ways that UC Davis and the campus community are taking action towards creating a more sustainable future.

Users can start with this introduction page and explore by clicking whole categories of points open (such as green buildings or recycling), or start with the map and by clicking the "Sustainability Information" link for each point jump to this page for more information.

The map is not exhaustive and is a living document. The mapmakers hope that members of campus will suggest points and additional information through either emailing sustainability@ucdavis.edu, or submitting comments on the blog post about the map.

Sustainable Transportation

Transportation choices affect air quality, greenhouse gas emissions, and land use planning. Find out how you can improve your commute, and campus progress toward transportation goals.

Bike services

• Bike Barn: A student-run on-campus bike shop with bike rentals and sales, bike parts and accessories, repairs and a limited-hours air station.
• Bike Garage: Do-it-yourself bike repair on the main floor of the North Entry Parking Structure near the metered parking; amenities include an air station, a trained mechanic on site and tools to support bicycling, a sustainable and fun transportation option.

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Bike tire air station

Biking is easier and more pleasant with fully inflated tires; fill your saggy tires at the bike tire air stations available 24/7. There are also limited-hours air stations at the Bike Barn and the Bike Garage.

• Transportation and Parking Services (TAPS), near the bike racks in front of the building
• Memorial Union, west side, near loading dock
• Tercero, between Kearney and Laben Halls
• Tercero, north side of Pierce Hall, near Tercero Hall Circle
• Police/Fire Station, west side, behind building
• Fleet Services, by the gas pump islands
• Regan Main, just west of the building
• Segundo, just east of Thompson Hall
• Cuarto, South Castilian
• Cuarto, Southeast Webster
• Cuarto, Thoreau Garage

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Bike tool station

Basic bike repair tools for simple do-it-yourself repairs; the station at TAPS has a Presta valve.

• TAPS
• Segundo
• Tercero
• Cuarto

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Bike locker

There are 38 bike lockers, each with 2 parking spaces, on campus. To rent bike lockers, contact TAPS. Learn more about storing your bicycle for the summer.

• North side of the West Entry Parking Structure
• Southeast side of South Entry Parking Structure
• North side of Hickey Gym
• East side of Mrak Hall
• North side of Parking Lot 25
• East side of Parking Lot 5

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Unitrans terminals

Founded in 1968 by students, the Unitrans bus system today uses compressed natural gas (CNG), a cleaner burning fuel than gasoline or diesel, for 95 percent of its travel.

• Hutchison
• Silo

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UCD/UCDMC Shuttle

A shuttle runs between the Davis campus and the Medical Center in Sacramento. Shuttle information.

Berkeley Bus

A bus makes two weekday roundtrips between UC Davis and UC Berkeley, providing a sustainable transportation option. Bus information.

Electric vehicle charging station

Transportation and Parking Services currently provides 29 EV charging stations on campus.

• North Entry Parking Structure: 1 claw conductive, 1 paddle inductive, 2 110 Unit
• South Entry Parking Structure: 1 110 Unit
• West Entry Parking Structure: 1 claw conductive, 1 paddle inductive, 1 110 Unit
• Lot 1: 2 claw conductive, 1 paddle inductive, 1 Tesla
• Lot 27: 2 110 Unit
• Lot 31: 2 110 Unit
• Lot 35: 2 110 Unit
• Lot 44: 2 110 Unit
• Lot 80: 1 claw conductive, 2 paddle inductive
• Hopkins Lot: 4 110 Unit
• Bowley Center: 1 110 Unit
• Sciences Lab: 1 110 Unit

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Zipcar location

The car-sharing company, Zipcar, has 7 cars available on campus.

• 3 cars available at Parking Lot 25
• 2 cars available at Parking Lot 43
• 2 cars available at Mrak Hall Circle

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Green Buildings

Buildings have major environmental impacts, as documented in an EPA report (PDF). Learn about green building practices on campus, which aim to reduce buildings' impact. Find out more about LEED and about the key features of the green buildings on the sustainability map.

LEED Certified Platinum

• Gallagher Hall and Conference Center (New Construction)
• Gladys Valley Hall (New Construction)
• Tahoe Environmental Research Center (New Construction)
• Teaching & Research Winery August A. Busch III Brewing and Food Science Laboratory (New Construction)

Open all of the LEED Certified Platinum points on the map

LEED Certified Gold

• Coffee House renovation (Commercial Interiors)
• Cuarto Dining Commons (Commercial Interiors)
• Robbins Hall renovation (Commercial Interiors)
• Student Health and Wellness Center (New Construction)
• Tercero Student Housing: Wall, Campbell and Potter halls (New Construction)

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LEED Certified Silver

• no buildings are yet certified at this level

LEED Certified

• no buildings are yet certified at this level

LEED Registered

• Emerson Hall and Webster Hall (Existing Buildings)
• King Hall expansion (New Construction) and renovation (Commercial Interiors)
• Segundo Services Center (New Construction)
• Student Community Center (New Construction)

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Waste Reduction and Recycling

Minimizing or eliminating waste can have a positive effect on greenhouse gas emissions and material sourcing. Find out about campus progress in waste reduction, or how you can recycle, compost or host a zero-waste event.

Recycling multi-bins

Find out what you can recycle in the blue multi-bins, including small electronics. The multi-bins are located in a main public area of the following buildings:

• Activities & Recreation Center
• Carlson Health Sciences Library
• Earth and Physical Sciences
• Memorial Union
• Peter J. Shields Library
• Plant & Environmental Sciences
• Regan Residence Halls
• Silo
• Tercero Commons

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Composting

Compost materials are collected from various campus dining outlets and composting on-campus is done by Project Compost at the Student Farm.

• UC Davis Coffee House
• Scrubs
• Gunrock Pub
• Aggie Stadium concessions
• Segundo Dining Commons
• Tercero Dining Commons
• Cuarto Dining Commons
• Project Compost
• Student Farm

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Zero-waste capable buildings

Learn about how some campus buildings have already committed to zero waste.

• Aggie Stadium
• Human Resources
• John Muir Institute of the Environment (The Barn)
• Mrak Hall
• UC Davis Extension

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Waste infrastructure

The campus has its own landfill, in addition to a pilot biodigester (the biodigester is listed under energy).

• Campus landfill

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Smart Purchasing

Smart, green purchasing choices have broad impacts on sustainability, from waste reduction to water consumption, social equity, healthy ecosystems and more. UC Davis Sociology lecturer Ellis Jones wrote The Better World Handbook: Small Changes That Make a Big Difference to help consumers make smarter, greener purchases. Learn more about how campus is using smart purchasing to reduce waste and how you can take action to buy smart.

Purchasing

• Arboretum Teaching Nursery: For Arboretum All-Stars plants and other drought-tolerant, Valley-friendly landscaping plants.
• Bargain Barn: For used furniture, equipment and other materials.
• Repro Graphics: For photocopies and other printed materials using recycled-content papers and Forest Stewardship Council-certified practices.
• UC Davis Bookstore: For Campus Grown products from salvaged campus materials and olive-oil body products

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Energy

Learn more about how campus has reduced energy consumption, look up a campus building on the energy dashboard, find out how you can take action to save energy and learn about Store Smart, a laboratory cold storage energy saving program.

Solar photovoltaic (PV) installations

• Tri-Coops
• Teaching & Research Winery August A. Busch III Brewing and Food Science Laboratory

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Geothermal: ground-source heat pumps

• Colleges at La Rue
• Conference Center
• Gallagher Hall

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Energy infrastructure

• Central Heating and Cooling Plant

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Biomass

• Biodigester (pilot)
• Landfill methane gas collection

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Climate

Read about the UC Davis Climate Action Plan and learn about ways you can take action to help the campus reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.

Lighting initiative

The Smart Lighting Initiative will reduce the campus's electricity use for lighting by 60% by the end of 2015. The initiative is an action step described in the campus Climate Action Plan.

• South Entry Parking Structure Bi-Level Lighting

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Zero net energy development

• West Village will be the largest planned zero net energy development in the nation (zero net energy means the development will put back into the electrical grid, annually, as much electricity as it consumes).

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Climate science

• Governors' Global Climate Summit 3 Research Posters on display at John Muir Institute of the Environment; only a few of the posters are displayed here, nearly all of the posters are available online in PDF.

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Biology

UC Davis has a depth of research in environmental sciences and biology. The campus maintains a 640-acre riparian reserve and habitat mitigation area as well as notable plant collections, which help evolve our understanding of ecosystems and species.

Putah Creek Riparian Reserve

Experience a riparian setting on campus.

• Brooks Road Trailhead
• Levee Road Trailhead
• Old Davis Road Trailhead
• Pedrick Road Trailhead

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Collections and habitats

• Shields Oak Grove - with more than 80 oaks, including many native to the Western U.S. and several rare species, this oak collection is significant scientifically and is registered with the North American Plant Collections Consortium.
• Russell Ranch Habitat Mitigation Area; part of the Putah Creek Riparian Reserve, the Russell Ranch Habitat Mitigation Area is not open to the public for recreation, but access arrangements for research, teaching and class use can be made.

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Land

There are many beautiful gardens and landscapes on the UC Davis campus. The ones profiled below demonstrate progress towards more sustainable gardens and landscapes. Low-impact landscapes use less water and energy to maintain them, often through the use of native plants that are not pruned as frequently, drought-tolerant plants that require less water, and durable materials that require less intense maintenance. Many of these gardens and landscapes also have signage or other teaching elements to educate visitors about their lower impact features. Learn more about campus progress and what you can do.

UC Davis Arboretum

• Mary Wattis Brown Garden of California Native Plants: See and learn about native plants in a garden setting
• Ruth Risdon Storer Garden: Visit a garden of hardy Arboretum All-Stars; this garden needs watering only once per month during dry, hot summer months

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Ornamental gardens

• Environmental Horticulture Demonstration Garden: See how rainwater capture, low-water landscaping and solar-powered water pumping work together in this low-impact garden
• Haagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven: This bee-friendly half-acre garden showcases plants that promote bee health year-round. Learn how to plant your own bee-friendly garden from the California Center for Urban Horticulture.

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Low-impact landscapes

• Math Sciences: This "garden walk" uses native and drought-tolerant plants.

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Water

The Davis campus pumps aquifer water for domestic use and irrigation. The campus has a remnant stream channel, the Arboretum Waterway, that functions as a major stormwater management pond, as well as provides habitat for aquatic life. Find out more about campus water management.

Stormwater

• Arboretum Waterway
• Water quality test plots

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Water infrastructure

• Wastewater Treatment Plant

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Agriculture

The campus is a powerhouse in agricultural research and campus members are equally enthusiastic about growing their own food, including right on campus.

Farms and community gardens

• Student Farm
• PES Salad Bowl Garden: "Bringing the farm to the people"
• Good Life Garden
• Sustainable Research Area: Domes Garden
• Sustainable Research Area: Experimental College Garden

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Food

From our start as the University Farm, UC Davis has been very influential in how and what people eat. Find out more about campus progress in dining.  

Campus dining

A Sacramento Area Certified Sustainable Business, Dining Services takes action on sustainability in the dining commons in a variety of ways, from using smaller dish sizes and going trayless to reduce waste, composting pre- and post-consumer organic waste, and providing a range of dining options, including vegan and vegetarian meals. Dining Services purchases meat, fish, eggs, coffee, local produce and other food that meets UC Policy on Sustainable Practices definitions for sustainable food systems. The UC Davis Coffee House purchases local and sustainable foods, provides vegetarian options daily, and is run mainly by students, with some full-time staff. Gunrock Pub, a full-service restaurant on campus, purchases local and sustainable foods.

• Segundo Dining Commons
• Tercero Dining Commons
• Cuarto Dining Commons
• UC Davis Coffee House
• Gunrock Pub (reservations recommended)

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Groceries

• East Quad Farmers Market: For fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts and more
• Meat Barn: For campus-grown meat and eggs
• UC Davis Bookstore: For campus olive oil

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Community

Being engaged, connected to and involved in one's community is at the heart of sustainability. From our external partnerships to student involvement, UC Davis is works at building a strong community to foster sustainability. 

Student communities

Students can get involved in many ways with sustainability related classes, groups and activities or jobs. The communities profiled below offer hands-on living opportunities, use consensus-based decision making processes, or provide communal spaces for group activities.

• Tri-Cooperatives
• Sustainable Research Area (Domes, Experimental College Community Gardens)
• Student Community Center (under construction)

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Policy

Our commitment: UC Davis strives to be a model sustainable campus, meeting measurable goals by improving daily operations; planning for the long term; and employing campus research, cutting-edge technologies and community collaboration. UC Davis follows the UC Policy on Sustainable Practices, as well as campus goals and policies that go beyond the UC Policy.

Students

• Campus Center for the Environment: Learn about the CCE role on campus.
• ASUCD Environmental Policy and Planning Committee: Learn about the role of EPPC in student government.

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Administration

• Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability: Find out more about ESS.
• Student Housing: Learn how Student Housing is taking action on sustainability.
• Sodexo Dining Services: Learn what Dining Services is doing for sustainable dining and catering.

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