BLOG - 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. “ustaina ility 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 whi h resour es 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 recommendat”ons for t“e campus’ recycl”ng program. T“ese ”ncluded 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-sustainabilityofficer-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/