LEED Platinum count is up to 3

UC Davis has earned a third “platinum” certification from the U.S. Green Building Council for creating buildings that lead the way to a sustainable future, more than any other UC campus.

The newest platinum project is the 83,000-square-foot complex that houses the UC Davis Conference Center and Maurice J. Gallagher Jr. Hall, home of the Graduate School of Management. The complex was designed and built to use 30 percent less energy than a typical office building.

Worldwide, only 610 buildings have earned the rigorous platinum certification since 2000, when the building council established its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system. Platinum is the highest ranking, awarded only to the greenest buildings.

“Sustainability is one of our core values,” Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi said. “We embrace sustainability as an economic driver — and we have made it integral to our organizational culture. This is another UC Davis project that serves as a model for development that better stewards our resources.”

Read the complete news release.

Open enrollment, Oct. 31-Nov. 22

Open enrollment begins at 8 a.m. Monday (Oct. 31), giving employees their annual opportunity to make changes in benefits coverage.

During open enrollment — which closes at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 22 — employees can enroll in or opt out of medical, dental and vision plans, or transfer to different medical or dental plans.

The UC Davis Health System, in a message for the Davis and Sacramento campuses, is encouraging employees to consider joining the UC Davis Medical Group. You can do this only if your UC-sponsored medical insurance includes the UC Davis Medical Group as a provider — so, you may need to switch insurance plans if you want the UC Davis Medical Group.

For any employee with no changes to make, open enrollment is simple: You need not do anything. Note, however, that tax-saving flexible spending accounts for health care or dependent care do not renew automatically; if you want an FSA, you must sign up again.

Click here for Open Enrollment At a Glance, including the complete schedule of group presentations and help desk sessions, organized by benefits offices on the Davis and Sacramento campuses, and the Health Care Facilitator Program.

Strategic Sourcing Vendor Fair

The Strategic Sourcing team from the Davis campus’s Materiel Management unit is hosting a Vendor Fair where faculty and staff can learn about obtaining goods and services at the best value to the university.

All of the participating vendors have contracts with the university, either through the Office of the President or UC Davis.

“Our savings through utilization of these agreements has grown each year, and, given the current state of our budget, UC Davis departments are looking for every opportunity to save precious funding,” said Janice King, director of Materiel Management.

The Strategic Sourcing team oversees campus purchases valued at more than $35 million annually through the UCOP and UC Davis agreements.

Many of the agreements are available to campus users through UCD Buy — which provides additional savings through online ordering. The Strategic Sourcing team is constantly working to add new vendors to UCD Buy, King said.

The Vendor Fair is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday (Nov. 3), in the Activities and Recreation Center Ballroom. Admission is free and open to everyone in the campus community. The organizers said fairgoers will have opportunities to register for prize drawings.

For more information, contact Wayne Boney at Strategic Sourcing, (530) 754-1347 or wboney@ucdavis.edu.

John Muir researcher going to D.C.

Researcher Erica Fleishman of the John Muir Institute of the Environment is due to be in Washington, D.C., sharing “Priorities for Research on Management and Conservation of Natural Resources,” as laid out in a peer-reviewed article in the April issue of the journal BioScience.

Thirty people contributed to the article, with Fleishman as the lead author. Two other authors — Barry R. Noon, a professor at Colorado State University, and Jimmie Powell, energy team lead at The Nature Conservancy — are expected to join her for a briefing on Tuesday (Nov. 1) at the Capitol Visitors Center.

The top 40 priorities resulted from a process in which the authors collected questions from 375 people involved with natural resource policy, management or study. The priorities address a wide range of environmental issues, including energy development, land use and climate change.

The authors hope the process and questions will align scientific research agendas with the needs of natural resource decision-makers.

Asia Research Funding Workshop

An Asia Research Funding Workshop is scheduled for next month, to provide an overview of research and educational opportunities through the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and the Chinese consul general’s office.

University Outreach and International Programs, and the Institute of Governmental Affairs are sponsoring the brown bag event, from noon to 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 17, in the IGA Reading Room, 360 Shields Library. RSVPs are due by Nov. 10 to Jennie Konsella-Norene, jknorene@ucdavis.edu.

The featured speakers:

• Shao Wei, chief education consul, attached to the San Francisco office of the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China — Providing an introduction to China’s research priorities and funding opportunities available to UC Davis faculty, researchers, postdoctoral scholars and students, and addressing frequently asked questions regarding opportunities through the China Scholarship Council.
• Toko Ueta, deputy director, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science — Outlining the fellowship opportunities for research in Japan offered through the Postdoctoral Fellowship Program and the Invitation Fellowship Program.

The brown bag organizers said two other speakers will address their experiences as JSPS fellows.

Mail Services collects letters and food

Mail Services announced its sixth annual holiday food drive on the Davis and Sacramento campuses, Nov. 1 to 18.

With Mail Services involved, the donation process could not be easier: Simply put your canned food and dry good donations in the outgoing mail bin in your department or unit, and mail personnel will pick up the food when they come to get your mail.

Davis campus donations will go to the Food Bank of Yolo County, and Sacramento donations will go to the Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services.

Mail Services provided this list of suggested items for donation: canned, ready-to-eat meals; canned vegetables and tomato products, canned fruit (in juice); peanut butter (plastic container); iron-rich cereal (45 percent or more of the daily value); powdered milk; fruit juice (100 percent, in plastic containers 48 ounces or smaller); ramen; boxed macaroni and cheese; and powdered milk formula and Similac baby food.

Work party at the domes

The Solar Community Housing Association is seeking volunteers and contributions for a four-day work party to renovate the domes at Baggins End on campus from Thursday through Sunday (Nov. 3-6).

The association and UC Davis are negotiating a ground lease that would have the association repair the 14 geodesic domes and rent them to students as early as January.

Ben Pearl, project manager for the association, said volunteers will work under the supervision of licensed contractors and building professionals to rebuild interiors and lay wheelchair-accessible pathways, and to work on painting and gardening.

A sign-up system is available online, for people who wish to volunteer for one or more four-hour shifts. The website also includes information for people who wish to lend tools or help pay for materials.

Citing costs to remedy health and safety concerns, the university did not reoffer the 40-year-old structures for lease when agreements expired in July. The university's Sustainable Living and Learning Task Force is developing plans for replacement structures.

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