UCC became the first university worldwide to achieve the ISO 50001 standard in energy management and also the first public sector body in Ireland to be certified to the international standard and the first Naval service in the world to attain certification. Energit 50001 software was used to implement UCC's energy management programme and the University was certified to the standard in the space of just four months.

The ISO 50001 achievement to UCC follows on the world's first Green Campus Flag for third level institutions by by An Taisce and the FEE (Foundation for Environmental Education) in 2010 and, more recently, 4th position in the UI World Green Metric University Rankings where UCC beat off stiff opposition from 178 universities worldwide.