How Green Can You Go? Five Inspiring Sustainability Initiatives at UCLA

Left to right: Umbrellas with solar-powered charging stations at UCLA Anderson; UCLA’s co-generation power plant; Bruin Bike Share

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Along with the S.A.F.E. Collection Center for household hazardous waste, solar panels atop Ackerman Student Union, the UCLA Bike Shop and bike fix-it stands and air pumps stationed around campus, UCLA is dotted with numerous other green features. Anderson alumna Nurit Katz (’08), UCLA’s chief sustainability officer and executive officer of facilities management, shared these five cool campus interventions you might not know about:

1) The Marion Anderson Courtyard at UCLA Anderson is the perfect place to break for lunch and power down — and power up, as it happens. In 2015, Jason Hsu (Ph.D. ’04), assistant adjunct professor of finance and an Anderson alumnus, generously donated a ZON Powersol umbrella that provides shade as well as three weather-proofed solar-powered USB ports to charge up to three mobile devices at a time as quickly as a wall outlet, day or night. UCLA Anderson immediately purchased three more with help from donations to the Anderson Fund from students and alumni, and has added more since. UCLA was the first UC campus to use the ZON umbrellas. It’s just one of the ways Anderson is thinking in the Next.

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2) Brought online in 1994 to provide heating, cooling and electricity for parts of campus that include the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, UCLA’s highly efficient 42-megawatt cogeneration plant gets some of the gas it uses from nearby Mountaingate landfill. “Using this biomethane helps lower UCLA’s carbon footprint,” says Katz. “Because of safety issues, methane from landfills ordinarily needs to be flared, which is wasteful. Capturing the gas for use as a renewable energy source offsets the need for coal or other petroleum-based fuels.”

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3) Green roofs keep buildings cooler and help to reduce, slow and filter storm water runoff. Designed by San Diego-based Safdie Rabines Architects — known for their sustainable, site-specific solutions — the sunken food court of the Court of Sciences Student Center features a green roof with drought-tolerant plants from different zones, from riparian to high desert. The low-profiled complex blends into the landscaping and the foot-traffic patterns connecting south campus academic buildings, and provides welcoming outdoor spaces for walking, socializing and dining.

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4) Sunset Canyon Recreation Center is now the site of a community garden connected to UCLA’s Live Well Healthy Campus Initiative, which was envisioned and supported by Jane and Terry Semel (for whom UCLA’s Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior is named). The new garden, funded by HCI and Recreation and developed by One Gun Ranch biodynamic farm in Malibu, is a component of HCI’s Eat Well focus on healthy food and complements the thriving Dig Campus Garden Coalition, which educates, engages and empowers the UCLA community by growing food and bringing people into proximity with edible and medicinal gardens. “A smaller garden was started years ago by the student group E3 (Ecology, Economy, Equity),” says Katz. “It’s now managed by Dig, which established itself as the garden grew. That group will be the bridge between the student and community gardens.” The new jane b semel HCI Community Garden addresses food insecurity on campus by supplying the UCLA Food Closet and plans to provide produce to university dining halls.

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5) You’ve seen them around Santa Monica, downtown and Long Beach, and now you see them in Westwood: UCLA launched Bruin Bike Share in fall 2017 to provide bicycles that can be picked up and dropped off along a route that connects UCLA Health locations in Santa Monica with the campus. Part of the larger Bike Share Connect network in Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and West Hollywood, it’s helping to make UCLA a more navigable campus. Katz says, “We'll be adding a bike buddy app soon to help connect new riders with experienced riders to bike together.” If you already own a bike and want to start commuting to Westwood from nearby neighborhoods, join one of the L.A. Bike Trains commuter groups already cycling to campus.

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Comments

[Vandana @ PD]

Looks like UCLA was on fire! Unfortunately corporate social responsibility has become a pathetic excuse these days. Some great tech here though so kudos!

[Imran Adeyemi]

I really love the work you guys are doing @ (UCLA). These initiatives will go a long way in preserving our planet. Thanks for all your effort.

[Eric]

Green roofs are probably my favourite isolation foundation for houses. I wanted to add solar panels so I was a bit conflicted. What should I do?

[Mukesh Singh]

Great, all the Inspiring Initiatives, i live in delhi, India, and winter has started. And People already are using mask, due to high pollution in the city. I think our government should take initiative and should consider these 5 Initiatives.