The 10 University of California campuses expect to save $36 million in annual utility costs after a series of green initiatives that include replacing 500 energy-intensive computer servers at UC San Deigo with 270 servers that require about half the electricity.
The server replacement will save the university $680,000 by slashing energy consumption by 7.9 million kilowatt-hours per year, according to projections released by the 1,200-acre campus, home to more than 27,000 students.
UC San Diego’s $74 million energy-saving initiative is part of a larger University of California program designed to cut greenhouse gases on all of its campuses, especially in older buildings that are the least energy efficient.
While California higher education has seen operating budgets cut to the bone in the past year, UC San Diego won’t have to allocate any money toward the effort.