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- UCLA Sustainable Campus Tour by

Nurit Katz, Sustainability Coordinator in
UCLA

A sustainable campus in one of the apparently less sustainable city

UCLA counts more than 43 300 students and an academic and administrative staff of
around 30 100 people. It represents a city of around 73 416 people spread on 1.7 km²
and in 163 buildings during the day. The campus is surrounded by neighborhoods
like Beverly Hills and cannot spread outside its current area. How is one of the
biggest university of the U.S heading toward sustainable development?

In 2004, the UCLA Sustainability Committee was raise to life to help create a culture
of sustainability at UCLA in which the entire community is committed. The members
of the Committee represent a broad range of stakeholders on the campus1 with
multidisciplinary background. Initiatives are focusing on a broad scope of challenges
such as the ENVIRONMENT (biodiversity, water and waste management, building and
landscaping, climate and energy), the MOBILITY (transportation), the ECONOMY
(purchasing, food systems) but also the SOCIETY (health and recreation, education
and research, community engagement). The initiatives have to help reaching the
policy target set for each challenge.

Buildings & Landscaping

1
Committee participants include administrators, staff and students.
The policy target for sustainable buildings is that all new construction must be
certified LEED2 Silver or higher and exceed Title 24 Requirements3 by 20%. UCLA is
not only setting high goals for new building but also renovating buildings with high
LEED standards.

Completed Projects with certification Level

Source: http://www.sustain.ucla.edu/our-initiatives/green-building-design/leed-projects-at-ucla/

LEED standards focus not only on the building itself but on its surrounding. Open
spaces close by, rain water management and heat island reduction projects are part
of the certification.

2
LEED-certified buildings are resource efficient. They use less water and energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. See:
http://ch.usgbc.org/leed
3
Title 24 are the requirements toward energy efficiency for the state of California.
Seehttp://www.energy.ca.gov/title24/training/
The area around the L.A Kretz Hall was built with the LEED standards. There is a lot of
green roofs, open spaces for mixed use, a bike repair station and electric cars for the
staff working on maintenance.

Water resource4

The policy target is to reduce the use of potable water per capita of 20% on campus.
To reach this target, UCLA designed a Water Action Plan. One major project is the
smart water filtration system that filters blowdown water from the cogeneration
plant5. This new technology designed by a professor and his students enable to save
thousands of liters of water per day.

Climate and energy

The goal is to bring the University to carbon-neutrality in its operations by 2025.
UCLA campuses have invested around 250 million dollars between 2008 and 2013 to
be energy efficient and use renewable energy. The effort has resulted in reductions of
over 112 000 metric tons of carbon. UCLA developed biogas projects; one example is

4
http://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/profs-water-cleaning-system-could-211573
5
http://www.cogeneurope.eu/what-is-cogeneration_19.html
the natural gas cogeneration plant who is generating 90% of the energy on campus
and uses gas from a local landfill. A professor is also working with his students on
smart grid technology and EV charging stations, using campus buildings as
experimental test sites.
UCLA is working on integrating research, education, and operations, using the
physical campus as a learning laboratory toward sustainable development6. UCLA is
also integrated in a California-wide plan toward sustainable campus. Some of the
achievements are listed below.

Environmental sustainability, University of California, 2013

Source: sustainability.universityofcalifornia.edu

6
The charter for UCLA Sustainability Committee contains a definition of sustainable development adapted for a campus.
Sustainability is defined as: “The physical development and institutional operating practices that meet the needs of present
users without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, particularly with regard to use and waste
of natural resources. Sustainable practices support ecological, human, and economic health and vitality. Sustainability presumes
that resources are finite, and should be used conservatively and wisely with a view to long-term priorities and consequences of
the ways in which resources are used.”
 Education and research
UCLA developed a graduate interdisciplinary certificate called “Leaders in
Sustainability”; the campus is used as a living laboratory where students collaborate
with staff and faculty to apply sustainability research on campus through the Action
Research Teams course. They are tackling issues such as energy efficiency,
transportation, waste stream management, sustainable food practices, and
curriculum development. In 2014, the Recycling Team audited waste on campus and
made recommendations for the campus’ recycling program. These included optimal
bin placement, new types of bins that should be introduced (e.g. compost bins for
specific products like pizza boxes), and specific signage that could be added to the
bins to increase recycling rates. In 2015, one Action Team worked with UCLA’s
Housing & Hospitality Services and UCLA Transportation to encourage and better
accommodate bike ridership on the residential Hill. They advised the students on the
addition of a bicycle repair station in addition to the tools and equipment sold in the
residential hill student stores.

UCLA Campus: locations targeted by the Action Research Teams during 7 years of ESLP Art program
(sustainable development)
Source: http://www.eslp.environment.ucla.edu/news/2014/5/27/how-much-ucla-ground-has-art-really-covered

Over 130 faculty members are collaborating across disciplines on the Sustainable LA
Grand Challenge7, with the goal of making the LA region 100% sustainable in energy
and water while enhancing biodiversity.

UCLA is doing a great job in touching and engaging the whole community on
campus. Initiatives from the students allow them to gain knowledge and
competences. It is also challenging their creativity. We could wish to see such an
involvement in the University of Geneva even if the campus sprawl is not helping.

Learn more…

UCLA Sustainability. Official webpage

http://www.sustain.ucla.edu/

UCLA Sustainability. Official webpage on buildings and landscaping

http://www.sustain.ucla.edu/our-initiatives/green-building-design/

Interview of Nurit Katz, Chief Sustainability Officer, UCLA

http://www.aashe.org/blog/aashe-interview-series-nurit-katz-chief-sustainability-
officer-university-california-los-angele

Action Research Team Blog, project from the students of UCLA

http://www.eslp.environment.ucla.edu/news/

UC Green, University of California and sustainable living

https://flipboard.com/@ucfiatlux/uc-green-r8p0s6s0z

7
http://grandchallenges.ucla.edu/sustainable-la/