Did You Know? Solar Powers LEED-Platinum Gallagher Hall

UC Davis is a leading university advancing impactful energy and energy efficiency solutions addressing critical energy challenges and improving energy use through research, education and engagement.

“Our campus functions as a living laboratory allowing our faculty to collaborate with students and operational teams and transform theory into practice," says Chancellor Gary S. May. "At UC Davis, sustainability is not just a goal. It is a core value woven into everything we do.”

Did You Know?

Sunshine provides a boost of renewable energy to lower the Graduate School of Management’s campus home, Maurice J. Gallagher, Jr. Hall, and the adjoining UC Davis Conference Center, which pushed the ecofriendly buildings into the elite class of green construction.

The addition of a 102-kilowatt photovoltaic solar array atop the two buildings when they opened in 2009 qualified the $34 million project for Platinum certification two years later from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design (LEED) program, the national benchmark for the design, construction and operations of high-performance green buildings.

Gallagher Hall became the first business school building in California to earn the Platinum seal of environmental sustainability.

UC Davis signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with Main Street Power Company of Colorado to install and operate the 144,000 kilowatt/hour solar system, according to Pablo Orozco, who was then-assistant director of engineering for project management at UC Davis.

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“This is localized power that is expected to produce about 15–20 percent of the building need,” Orozco explained at the time of installation. “We anticipate no opportunities to export this power elsewhere to campus because there will always be a base load in the building bigger than the solar power the system produces.”

The solar arrays contributed three additional points toward the Gallagher Hall/Conference Center LEED submission, pushing it past the 52-point threshold for a Platinum rating, according to Strachan Forgan, a principal at Sasaki of San Francisco, the lead architects on the project.

Since opening in September 2009, Gallagher Hall has been recognized with several green building awards and presented as a case study in excellence for its pioneering, ecofriendly design, and engineering and sustainability features.

Gallagher Hall Home to Sustainable Energy Industry Immersion 

Today, Gallagher Hall is home to the GSM's Sustainable Energy Industry Immersion experience, one of three deep-dives into specific sectors that also includes food and agriculture, and biotechnology.

The interdisciplinary Sustainable Energy Industry Immersion at UC Davis brings together MBA and graduate students from several departments who are interested in the energy industry to experience first-hand the significant managerial challenges and opportunities in transforming this sector.

Powering the Future Demands Innovative Solutions

The Sustainable Energy Industry Immersion experience taps into the reputation, global expertise and connections of UC Davis in sustainable energy, transportation and climate solutions.

For nine years in a row, UC Davis been crowned the No. 1 “greenest” campus in the U.S. by the UI GreenMetric World University rankings, leading the way in developing novel ideas and innovations in the energy field.

"UC Davis walks the talk as a global leader in sustainability and climate change research," said alumnus Ben Finkelor MBA 04, the academic director of the Sustainable Energy Industry Immersion and executive director of the UC Davis Energy and Efficiency Institute. "The campus has set bold energy use goals and serves as a proving ground for new technologies, using less energy today than 20 years ago despite aggressive growth."

"Throughout UC Davis, we are dedicated to advancing California’s legacy of innovation in clean energy and energy efficiency regulation, technology, and development," Finkelor said. "As a UC Davis MBA student, our Sustainable Energy Industry Immersion offers you an educational experience unlike any other. You’ll benefit from a unique educational experience, working directly with industry leaders to tackle pressing energy challenges."