The University of California, Davis, has conducted the inaugural brew in its new brewery, the first in the world built to meet the toughest environmental standards.

The newly completed Anheuser Busch InBev Brewery is expected to earn LEED Platinum certification, the highest environmental rating awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council to recognize environmental excellence. (LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design; platinum is the highest designation.)

The new brewery, a 1.5-barrel-capacity teaching-and-research facility, conducted its first brewing in late September. Similar in size to smaller commercial brewing operations, the facility is located in the new 11,500-square-foot August A. Busch III Brewing and Food Science Laboratory.

“Brewing is humanity’s oldest biotechnology, but these days it is a highly complex process,” said Charles Bamforth, the Anheuser-Busch Endowed Professor of Malting and Brewing Sciences in the Department of Food Science and Technology.

“This new brewery provides a showcase for the latest in brewing technology as well as a sophisticated laboratory for conducting research and training students in the science of brewing,” Bamforth said. “We also hope that commercial brewers and suppliers will take the opportunity to test out new recipes or processes in small-scale batches in the new brewery.”

The brewery is part of a 34,000-square-foot complex, also built to LEED Platinum standards, which encompasses a teaching-and-research winery and food-processing pilot plant. The facility has been designed, constructed and equipped entirely with funds provided by private donors; no federal or state funds were used.

The complex is adjacent to a 12-acre teaching-and-research vineyard and is located within the campus’s Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science. The institute, which opened in 2008, comprises three academic buildings and is home to the Department of Food Science and Technology, and the Department of Viticulture and Enology. (Design and construction of those academic buildings cost $73 million, paid for by a combination of state and private funds.)

Environmental design features

The new complex’s environmentally friendly features include onsite solar power generation, made possible by rooftop photovoltaic cells that will provide all of the facility’s power at peak load.

The facility also has a large-capacity system for capturing rainwater and conserving water. The stored rainwater will be used for landscaping and flushing toilets, per LEED specifications. Plans call for eventually operating the facility independent of the campus’s main water line.

Other environmental features include carbon dioxide capture, aiming for a net-zero carbon environmental footprint; maximum use of natural light; use of recycled glass in the flooring; interior paneling recycled from a 1928 wooden aqueduct; and use of lumber that was harvested from sustainably certified forest operations.

“Apart from the overall ‘green’ consciousness pervading this project, the new brewery will be used to advance investigations that are furthering the mission to ensure that brewing is as environmentally friendly as possible, with the lowest possible water usage, most economical use of energy and fewest emissions,” Bamforth said.

Private donations

Many private donors contributed funds to make the new brewery a reality, beginning with a $5 million pledge from the Anheuser-Busch Foundation for the brewery and foods lab. Sierra Nevada Brewing Company also was a major donor to the brewery. Members of the California tomato-processing, dairy and confectionery industries donated funds for other components of the building.

In all, more than 150 individuals, alumni, corporations and foundations contributed more than $20 million to design, build and equip the high-tech, environmental building that houses the brewery, winery and food-processing facility.

About the Brewing Science Program

Teaching and research in brewing science has been an integral component of the UC Davis Department of Food Science and Technology since 1958. The program provides students with a solid grounding in chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology and other foundational sciences, and offers them opportunities to develop the core skills needed for entry into the brewing profession or related businesses.

Many hundreds of students have progressed from the program to senior technical positions within the North American brewing and brewing-supply industries.

About the Department of Food Science and Technology

The Department of Food Science and Technology represents one of the oldest disciplines at UC Davis, evolving from studies in winemaking and dairy food production at UC Berkeley in the early 1900s. The current department is home to 200 undergraduate students and approximately 50 graduate students. The majority of the graduates of this program are now working in the food industry or related industries in California and elsewhere.

The department has 25 faculty members, who are involved in international collaborations in 20 nations throughout the world. Its historical strengths are in engineering, chemistry and biochemistry, microbiology, food safety, and sensory and consumer sciences.

It is developing new areas of specialty focused on foods for health; food and culture; the relationship between food-borne diseases and the environment; and the processing of food products at the microscopic level, using techniques known as micro-encapsulation and nano-encapsulation.