The University of California, Davis has become number one school in the U.S. in 2019 UI GreenMetric World University Rankings. It held onto number third spot in the overall world ranking.
Wageningen University and Research Center, Netherlands ranked number 1, while the University of Oxford ranked number 2 globally.
The rankings released by the University of Indonesia evaluated 780 universities across the world which is up from 719 last year and 619 the year before. It takes various factors into account that includes energy and climate change, setting and infrastructure, transportation, waste, water, education, and research among others.
UC Davis was recognized for its efforts in sustainability such as the use of a total of some 273 million kilowatt-hours of renewable energy annually.
“Our investments on and off campus continue to pay dividends in reducing our greenhouse gas emissions,” said Camille Kirk, UC Davis’ director of sustainability.
The university is currently working on a major project that would cut greenhouse gas emissions and water use by changing the way the campus heats its buildings, going from steam to low-temperature hot water.
Other major US schools that figured in the top 50 are the University of Connecticut, the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and Western Michigan University.