Q1. What are the benefits of this project?
Safety, resiliency, reliability. By modernizing our aging infrastructure, we are significantly reducing the risk of system failures and ensuring that our campus remains operational and safe even during regional power disruptions or extreme weather events.
Q2. How is this project going to impact my building/department day to day?
The daily experience will vary depending on your specific location, but our primary goal is to keep your routines as intact as possible. For the majority of campus, work is confined to mechanical rooms, meaning the most you will notice is the presence of project teams moving to and from those service areas. To the extent possible, we are scheduling material deliveries and any high-vibration activities during off-hours. Similarly, while upgrades to water, heating, and cooling systems will require occasional shutdowns, we aim to execute these during off-peak windows and these will be communicated early and coordinated well in advance.
Q3. How will construction affect access, walkways, bikes, and ADA routes?
Disruption to pathways will be most noticeable when distribution work from the EHCP to campus buildings begins in summer 2027. You will see sections of roads and sidewalks temporarily disrupted, which may require taking a brief alternate route. We know how vital campus mobility is, so we are prioritizing clear signage and maintaining accessible ADA pathways throughout the process.
Q4. Is this going to impact classes, labs, research operations, etc?
We recognize that the work done in our labs and classrooms is essential, and maintaining continuity of these functions is a top priority of this project. Impact levels will differ by building; while most work stays tucked away in mechanical spaces, a few specific locations will require upgrades within hallways, offices, or labs. We have already built preliminary schedules based on direct feedback from building managers to target times of year when activity is lowest. Moving forward, we will continue to work hand-in-hand with your building managers to refine these plans, ensuring that the long-term gains of this project don't come at the expense of your vital research and academic instruction.
Q5. How long will construction last near me specifically?
The duration of activity depends entirely on your specific location and the complexity of the work required for your building. To ensure you stay informed, the project team maintains a constant line of communication with your building manager, who serves as your primary point of contact for localized updates. These managers meet regularly with our team to proactively review upcoming schedules and address any potential concerns before they impact your space. By working through this established partnership, we ensure that the timelines shared with you are accurate and that any necessary adjustments are handled with your department's specific needs in mind.
Q6. What are the most disruptive phases, and when do they occur?
The most noticeable activities typically involve the demolition of aging equipment, drilling anchors into building structures, and trenching for new utility lines. You may also notice increased activity during the delivery of heavy machinery and materials. To honor our commitment to campus operations, we have categorized these as high-impact tasks and will schedule them during off-hours to the extent possible. By shifting these loud and vibratory activities to early mornings or late evenings, we aim to keep the academic environment as quiet and productive as possible during peak hours.
Q7. How do you plan to maintain access as well as accessible pathways around and into my building when you are doing make-ready, EHCP, distribution, or building conversion work?
Whether we are performing make-ready tasks, distribution work, or full building conversions, maintaining an accessible campus is an essential priority. Because every building has a unique footprint, we develop site-specific access plans for each phase of construction. These plans are coordinated in close partnership with building managers long before work begins to ensure that ADA-compliant routes and general entry points remain clear. Our goal is to manage the construction footprint so that your ability to move through and into your building remains safe and predictable.
Q8. Will there be dust, noise, vibration, odors - and when?
You can expect the typical sights and sounds associated with an infrastructure project of this scale, including intermittent dust, noise, vibrations, and odors. To keep these impacts manageable, the project site is closely monitored to ensure that noise, odor and dust levels remain within strictly defined acceptable parameters. These activities will be contained within active work zones to prevent them from migrating into other areas, and we will work directly with your building manager to address any specific vibration or ventilation concerns. We view ongoing communication as our best tool for mitigation; therefore, any phases likely to produce these effects will be broadcast to your building manager well in advance. This allows us to work together to balance the necessary heavy lifting of construction with the daily needs of the campus.
Q9. Will this project be loud?
As with any major infrastructure modernization, this project will generate noise, particularly during phases involving demolition or drilling. While we implement localized mitigation strategies, acoustic panels will not be installed everywhere across the campus. Instead, our focus is on managing the source of the noise by scheduling the loudest tasks during off-peak hours and containing work within mechanical spaces whenever possible. By keeping your building manager informed of the high-decibel phases, we aim to ensure that the most disruptive sounds occur when they will have the least impact on research and instruction.
Q10. What is the overall schedule for this work? When do you plan to start each portion of work (i.e. make ready & EHCP, distribution, and the building conversions)?
We are developing a comprehensive logistics plan that tracks each phase of the project from the initial make-ready tasks and EHCP construction, to the wider distribution and individual building conversions. This detailed roadmap will allow us to visualize potential disruptions across the entire campus. Once distribution and building conversion schedules are finalized, they will be shared directly with building managers, who will then be able to provide you with a clear picture of when specific work will reach your area.
In general, Phase 1 will be implemented in four projects over a period of approximately four years. Phase 1 will be delivered using a mix of construction methods. We invite you to watch the video that provides a strategic overview of Phase 1, outlines the technical requirements, timeline, and critical role this modernization project plays in our collective future.
Phase 1 projects are:
- Utility relocation work for the EHCP (summer 2026 - spring 2027)
- EHCP and TES construction (spring 2027 - summer 2029)
- Piping distributionfrom EHCP to approx. 30 campus buildings (summer 2027 - summer 2029)
- Individual building conversions and electrical updates (summer 2028 - summer 2030)
Q11. What are your standard work hours? Will overnight or weekend work occur?
Our standard construction hours are 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM. However, to stay true to our goal of minimizing disruption to your daily operations, we will frequently request off-hours or weekend windows for specific tasks. This includes early-morning material deliveries to keep pathways clear before the campus gets busy, as well as vibratory activities that are better suited for times when buildings are less occupied.
Q12. What campus events are currently included in your project schedule as being planned around/to not disturb? Are Greek Theater events, graduation ceremonies, and football games included?
We understand that the campus experience is defined by its iconic traditions and events, and we have built our project schedule with those in mind. Major milestones like graduation ceremonies, home football games, and scheduled performances at the Greek Theatre are accounted for to ensure our work doesn't interfere with these high-profile gatherings. While smaller, one-off miscellaneous campus events may not be explicitly listed in the project plan, this is exactly why we maintain a constant dialogue with building managers. We rely on those regular check-ins to identify local events and adjust our timing.
Q13. This project is really expensive. Wouldn't deferred maintenance be easier, less painful, and cheaper?
Continuing to rely on our aging steam infrastructure is no longer a viable or cost-effective option. Our current system is at the end of its functional life, making it increasingly expensive and difficult to maintain; simply "patching" the existing pipes is a short-term fix for a systemic problem. By transitioning from fossil fuel-powered steam to a modern electric microgrid, we aren't just performing maintenance—we are fundamentally changing how we power the campus to be more efficient and sustainable. It is also important to note that we aren't carrying this financial burden alone. We've secured substantial external support for this transition, with the State of California funding a majority of Phase 1 to the tune of $270 million.
Q14. What happens if we just don't do this project?
Choosing not to move forward would leave the campus burdened with an increasingly fragile energy system. We would remain locked into a cycle of "reactive maintenance," where we spend millions of dollars every year just to keep an obsolete system running without ever improving its performance or reliability.
Beyond the day-to-day repairs, inaction would eventually require us to reinvest substantially in the existing steam infrastructure anyway. This path would be incredibly expensive and would still require the disruptive replacement of utility lines throughout campus—all to maintain a fossil-fuel-based system that is rapidly becoming obsolete. Ultimately, bypassing this project would mean missing our critical sustainability goals and leaving the campus vulnerable to more frequent service interruptions. Doing nothing isn't a "neutral" choice.
Q15. Students: What's in it for us?
On a practical level, the transition to a modern electric microgrid means much more reliable heating and cooling in campus buildings—eliminating the unpredictable outages that often plague our aging steam system. Beyond the comfort of your immediate environment, you are witnessing one of the most significant environmental transformations in the university's history. By moving away from fossil fuels, we are drastically reducing campus-generated greenhouse gases, ensuring that UC Berkeley leads by example in the global effort to build a resilient, carbon-free future.
Q16. How much will this actually reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions by? Will that be noticeable for me?
The impact of this project on our carbon footprint is substantial. We currently forecast a greater than 60% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by the end of Phase 1, specifically when the Cogeneration Plant is decommissioned from producing steam. While carbon emissions themselves are invisible, you will likely notice a tangible difference in the campus environment: the noise levels at the Cogeneration Plant should be markedly reduced once the turbines are turned off. This transition represents a major shift toward a quieter, cleaner, and more sustainable campus atmosphere.
Q17. How does this project's goals align with UC Office of the President and State of California climate goals?
The goals of the Clean Energy Campus are directly aligned with the University of California Regents' directive to decarbonize and electrify our campuses using renewable energy sources.
Q18. How will you keep us informed throughout the project's lifecycle, and who do we contact with any issues?
We are committed to a "no surprises" approach, where the cornerstone of our communication is the close partnership between the project team and your building manager. We hold regular, recurring meetings with building managers to present detailed project information well in advance, allowing us to discuss potential concerns and proactively resolve issues before they ever impact your day-to-day work.
In addition to the high-level updates found on our project website, you will see signage across campus to help you navigate around active work zones. We also recognize that some departments have unique needs; to address this, the project team is always open and ready to meet with individual building occupants or departments to discuss and address specific concerns directly. Your building manager remains your primary point of contact for localized updates, ensuring that the information you receive is always relevant to your specific space.
Q19. Are there going to be any utility shutdowns (heating, cooling, power, etc)? When? How are you managing that?
Yes, to successfully transition our infrastructure, temporary utility shutdowns will be required for systems like heating, cooling, power, and air handlers. We know how critical these services are to your work, so we are employing several strategies to keep these interruptions as short and infrequent as possible. For instance, we are pre-installing specialized tees and valves wherever possible to allow us to isolate work zones without powering down entire buildings.
In cases where a building requires a full replacement of its existing steam-to-hot-water heat exchangers, a more significant shutdown may be necessary. These instances will be meticulously coordinated with your building managers to identify the least impactful timeframe for your specific department. Our goal is to ensure that these essential upgrades are handled with clear, early communication so you can plan ahead with confidence.
Q20. How will I maintain my building utilities when you are doing the make-ready, distribution, and building conversion work? Am I going to lose heat, steam, and cooling to my building? What about functionality of sensitive lab equipment i.e. autoclaves—what is the plan to ensure we don't lose capability?
Heating, cooling, and steam services will experience planned interruptions during building conversions, and specialized equipment like autoclaves will be temporarily impacted as we switch over to the new system. We understand that for many of our researchers, these utilities are not just conveniences—they are essential to the integrity of their work. To protect these capabilities, we coordinate every shutdown through your building manager to identify the least impactful timeframe possible.
Q21. What is your plan for having an Archeologist, Tribal Monitor, and Biologist, to do pre-work surveys, and also during construction? Who will make sure these vital cultural and environmental resources are not lost, particularly around the strawberry creek area?
Protecting the history and ecosystem of our campus is a responsibility we take very seriously. In full compliance with CEQA (the California Environmental Quality Act), the project will contract with professional archeologists and tribal monitors to provide on-site monitoring during ground-disturbing activities. Additionally, we work with biologists to conduct pre-work surveys, especially in sensitive areas like Strawberry Creek.
Q22. What kind of impacts might there be on the existing campus landscape?
Maintaining the beauty and health of our campus landscape is a top priority throughout this project. We work closely with the Campus Landscape Architect and professional arborists to monitor the health of campus trees and ensure that any work near our green spaces follows strict protection standards. While disruption to the landscape is inevitable with a project of this scale, particularly around North Field, we are committed to minimizing these impacts and following campus policies for tree protection and replacement. Our goal is to ensure that while we modernize our energy infrastructure, we are also stewarding the natural environment that makes our campus unique.
Q23. What does the biologist report say about this project?
In alignment with our commitment to environmental stewardship and CEQA compliance, we have engaged professional biologists to ensure our work respects the local ecosystem. These experts conduct thorough surveys of project areas before any construction begins to identify the presence of protected species, including specific birds, bats, and bees. Recent surveys of the Strawberry Creek crossing areas have found no protected species in the immediate vicinity of the work, but we aren't stopping there. Monitoring will continue throughout the project lifecycle so that if any sensitive species are discovered, we can immediately implement defined protection measures to keep them safe.
Q24. What were the CEQA findings for this project?
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) process provided a rigorous framework for identifying potential environmental impacts and determining the specific mitigations needed to address them. These mitigations aren't just suggestions; they are core project responsibilities that have been fully incorporated into our construction plans. We actively monitor the implementation of these measures every day to ensure full compliance with the approved CEQA documents.
