Past Cool Campus Challenges

2015: Cool Campus Challenge Brings Carbon Savings to UC

In fall of 2015, students, staff, and faculty across the UC system took action in the Cool Campus Challenge (CCC) to help UC meet its commitment to be carbon neutral by 2025.

At Berkeley 1,750 faculty, staff and students joined the challenge!  Collective actions among campus departments and organizations will reduce 1,021,720 million of pounds of carbon emissions each year.

Feedback from UC Berkeley community members was largely positive:

"Getting to carbon neutrality will require all of us to pitch in. It's never too early to start!”

-UCB staff member

 Read the final report(link is external).

Here were some exciting results of the CCC across the UC system in 2015:

  • UC wide, over 19,000 staff and student participants on 450 teams joined in on the inaugural Cool Campus Challenge.  That’s 4% of the whole UC system!

  • Coolest UC rankings: UC Irvine #1; UC Merced  #2; UCLA #3.  

  • 122,000 carbon reducing pledges were taken and 6,000 related events were attended by participants.

  • Challenge participants will reduce 20 million pounds of carbon emissions each year with their collective actions. That is equivalent to taking 2,000 cars off the road.

  • 2,500 Carbon Heroes were nominated: staff implementers, student leaders, faculty mentors.

  • 1,600 social media posts were made to #UCool.

  • UC Leadership engaged President Napolitano, chancellors, deans and students.

  • We inspired others globally: Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations highlighted the Cool Campus Challenge at the UC Climate Summit at UC San Diego.

What UC Berkeley Challenge Participants Said about the 2015 CCC

Cool Campus Challenge comments in 2015

Challenge Highlights

Cool Campus Challenge meme squirrel

Cool Campus Challenge stamp

CNI Intiative Video

UC Cool Campus Initiative