University of California, Merced
IN-1: Innovation 1

Enrollment demand at UC Merced has initiated the “2020 Project”, a capital development project to double the physical capacity of the campus by 2020 in order to accommodate long-term enrollment growth to 10,000 students. UC Merced’s growth strategy is to adopt a compact, pedestrian-oriented, high-density development pattern that will add approximately 920,000 assignable square feet of academic, residential, and student services space in a single project. Multiple design teams are currently competing to be awarded the development project through a formal Request for Proposals process. The 2020 Project is innovative because (1) its large scale lends itself to district-wide, multi-building resource efficient strategies (e.g. district wide utilities, integrated bicycle, pedestrian transit networks) and (2) because the administrative procurement strategy UC Merced is using incorporates UC Merced’s sustainability vision as a key evaluation criteria. The selection process for the 2020 Project development considers the following components that will advance UC Merced’s sustainability goals: • The extent to which LEED Gold minimum are met for all buildings • Requiring designers and engineers to use Energy Budgets for development of each building • Requiring designers and engineers to use Water Budgets for the Project development • The extent to which minimum daylighting requirements are met to ensure employee well-being and reduce energy costs • Requiring Drought-resistant landscaping • Establishing Groundwater reduction targets • Integrating Biophilic design principles into the Request for Proposals • Creating contractual obligations on the part of the development team to maintain major building systems over the long term - including those associated with sustainability.