My goal is to identify ten or more credits that UCSC qualifies for so when new building are being developed or an older building is being renovated, those credits will be already fulfilled for LEED certification. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a program run by the U.S. Green Building Society that gives people a framework to develop and use sustainable practices in green building design. LEED is important to UCSC because it is one of the sustainable practices that we implement and all new buildings and renovations must be certified by LEED. In the UCSC Sustainability Plan, it calls for the achievement of at least LEED Silver and the university must strive for LEED Gold by the year 2013. The particular credits that I will be working on will have to do more with nature outside of the building than what goes on inside. To do this project, I have been learning about LEED's credits and will talk to different staff members, ranging from grounds crew to engineers, who will be able to tell me about the sustainable practices that are in effect at UCSC.

2. Project Definition: My project will address several sustainability issues together. It will focus on the impact that buildings have on the natural habitat around them and the best way to reduce that impact. I will be looking at practices such as pest control and stormwater management which affects the surrounding environment greatly. My project relates to sustainability because buildings are designed to last for a long time and in order to preserve the environment we must not only use our resources wisely but also create buildings and communities that will flow well with the environment while leaving little or no mark on its surroundings. Buildings are some of the highest energy users in our world and if we want to preserve the Earth for future generations we must start thinking sustainability and applying this way of thinking into our lives which will be shown in the buildings that we use everyday. I want to discover what practices are in use at UCSC and help improve or uphold these important issues. After developing these credits I want to use my newly learned skills with LEED to help other people build sustainably and start using other vital and sustainable methods.

As a part of the implementation of my project, I have to do research on LEED itself as well as the work I have previously stated in interviewing campus staff and administrators about sustainable policies. My project will consist of this research which will be presented to LEED in June. As far as pitfall or challenges go, my biggest worry is the scheduling of meetings with important people as many staff on campus are swamped enough without seeing me. However, I plan to be very open when it comes to working around schedules and I will be patient as I can be. I have already made contact with several staff members and scheduling has been difficult but I will be able to sit down and have a thorough discussion with them.

6. Measurable Results: There is one general output that I am geared toward in my project which compromises several smaller outputs. My output from this project will be a collection of policies and data on sustainable practices on campus and I will analyze this to see if it falls under the criteria set forth by LEED. With the outcomes of my project, I hope to present these Campus Credits to LEED and start a wave of more sustainable planning and building on campus. What I would really like to see but probably won't happen is for my project to affect existing buildings and start renovating them in order to be more sustainable. If there are credits that I am unable to achieve, I want to discuss with staff on campus about possible ideas to start using more sustainable practices. I will show staff the criteria that LEED asks for and then see what we can do to achieve those credits. Nonetheless, in order for my project to reach these conclusions, I must have extensive paperwork concerning the sustainable policies on campus and the numbers to back them. This is not just a list, but a description of purchasing practices, methods by grounds services, and university policies. After I receive this information, I will then write up the necessary policies to submit for certification. I have heard that LEED is not especially harsh with their review but they do ask for more documentation when they want to. I want to make sure that at least a few credits are earned from my project, but I know that someone else will be working on this after me so I will work on setting the project up for someone else too.

7. Evaluation: In June, I will submit the documentation that I have accumulated about sustainable practices on campus and submit it to LEED for their approval. My mentor says that LEED takes its time in their review of applications, often taking several months. I will say that after submitting the application to LEED that I will feel very accomplished but the true achievement will come from their review. If they approve the credits that I applied for then I will know that my project was a success. If they disapprove of my application, then I will have to look back and see what I could have done better. My evaluation rests in their hands so until LEED gives their approval of the credits, I will be waiting.

8. Project Stakeholders, Team Member & Mentor Roles: There are many people that I will be working with on my project. First and foremost is my mentor Jim Sherman (jsherman@ucsc.edu) who is guiding me through my internship and introducing me to the important staff on campus who I will be talking to. Some of the staff who I will be talking to include Paint and Signs shop superintendent Jim Durning (jdurning@ucsc.edu), the senior superintendent of Grounds Services Roger Edberg (rjedberg@ucsc.edu), Interim director of Campus Planning Dean Fitch (drfitch@ucsc.edu), Storm Water Manager Courtney Trask (trask@ucsc.edu), Shop stores supervisor Phil Magallanes (phillipm@ucsc.edu), Roads, Drainage, and Refuse Operations supervisor Ron Dillehay (dillehay@ucsc.edu), and Custodial Superintendent George Valerga (gvalerga@ucsc.edu).

These people will help me gather information about the credits that I am applying for and they can give me the campus policies that show sustainable practices. Most of these people are involved with Grounds Services so after meeting with a few of the staff, I will have a good understanding of how that department works here on campus and what role they play in the development of sustainability at UCSC.

Budget & Budget Justification: As far as actual money going towards my project, I am not using or asking for any at all. The only resources that I will be using are a computer, LEED resource manual, UCSC maps, and campus policies and data. Within these resources lie myself, who will be using all of this equipment, and the staff that I interview who will provide me with the policies and data I need to apply for the Campus Credits. For software and media, I will be using both Word and Xcel to write up and compile the necessary data. I also have a desk at the Carriage House provided by the University, which will be very helpful in providing a space for my policy writing. With these small “investments”, my project will prove to be cost-effective. In fact, by applying for the Campus Credits, UCSC will save significant time and money attempting to achieve these credits whenever a new project is being planned. My project will save UCSC money in the long run, so I believe that it is a high priority for me to put significant time into it.

In my sustainability project I propose to do several things. First I will create a boundary for the UCSC campus to look at and see how we are addressing sustainability at every part of campus. This boundary map will be the first item that I will send for LEED evaluation to see how the land is used on campus and there is much green here at UCSC. Overall, my goal for this project is to get UCSC starting to partake in more sustainable practices and methods which will not only benefit the buildings and environment, but also the students, staff, and faculty. Specifically, I will be focusing on researching and writing policies for the UCSC LEED application which is the rating system that we are striving and succeeding in receiving here. Many of these sustainable practices are already in place, it will be my job to compile them together and be approved by LEED so any new project will receive those credits already. First I intend to learn extensively about LEED and their standards for sustainable practices. After I learn this then I can compare it to UCSC to see if we can receive these points. I will need to talk to the grounds crew, various engineers, and administrators about sustainability practices on campus. I will ask for specific data on these practices and see if they fulfill LEED's standards for their credits. When June comes I will turn in what data and policy I have to turn the application to the USGBC and await their decision on what credits UCSC will receive. My project will impact everyone at UCSC because these credits will be part of an ongoing movement towards being fully sustainable on campus. There already are several LEED certified buildings at UCSC and we can strive to create more certified structures by building new ones and renovating older buildings. My project will be extremely flexible because it will impact all future development on campus as we are now required to build LEED certified buildings so the credits that I work on will be used every time

4. Project Time line: The structure of my project does not call for a specific time line because I am focused on one particular goal. By the end of June, my goal is to have enough policy and documentation to present to LEED in order to receive the Campus Credits. What I will do for a time line is to make a goal to meet with at least two people a week for my documentation work. I will do this by working on one credit at a time, meeting with the people necessary to receive the right policies. Milestones will be completed when I have all of the correct policies for a credit and this will be presented at the end of June electronically to LEED. In order to monitor my progress on this project, I need to look at my checklist of credits and the people I need to discuss those credits with. When I am done with one credit I can put it to the side and work on the next one. Sometimes however, I think I will have to working on more than one credit at once and juggle them. The biggest issue that I will face in this project will most certainly be the scheduling of meetings because the people that I will be meeting with are top administrators who are usually quite busy. Balancing meetings with writing policy will be hard but with a clear strategy it will be very achievable.

5. Implementation Strategy: In order to prove the worth of my project, I must show others how my work fits into the Campus Sustainability Plan. By the year 2013, the campus has made a goal to “increase sustainability performance of campus buildings and facilities” (UCSC Sustainability Plan) and part of the implementation of this goal is to “achieve LEED Silver and strive to achieve LEED Gold” (UCSC Sustainability Plan). By implementing the guidelines of LEED, UCSC can make great headway into creating an efficient and environmentally conscious campus. My project will help the greater UCSC project to implement LEED standards by compiling about ten or so Campus credits that will be able to apply to any upcoming project on campus.