The University of California, Merced has announced that all 11 buildings included in the university’s recently completed 2020 Project—an ambitious public-private partnership that nearly doubled the campus footprint—have been awarded LEED Platinum certification.

This achievement is the latest in a series of sustainability successes for UC Merced. It is the first public research university in the U.S. to be certified carbon-neutral and the only academic campus to have every building LEED certified.

SOM designed the 2020 Project’s master plan and five of the 11 LEED Platinum buildings. The team partnered with a group of highly talented consultants to execute the campus expansion, including Plenary and Webcor Builders, among others.

“SOM is proud to have collaborated with UC Merced from the very beginning, and it’s impressive to see how they have achieved the absolute highest level of leadership in sustainability in such a short amount of time,” said SOM Partner Carrie Byles. “Their significant contributions to environmental research, and ability to walk the talk with such authenticity, is a credit to their leadership, academic programs, and the entire campus community.”