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Tours

  1. Sustainability Tour

    For over 50 years, UCLA has led in sustainability and environmental research. This tour highlights key efforts on South Campus for a greener future.

    Stops

    1. Ackerman Solar Pannels

      While you can't see it from walking below, the student union and bookstore roof contains UCLA's first solar panels, installed back in 2012. This was accomplished through a student fee-funded grant program for sustainability projects in a special program called the Green Initiative Fund (TGIF)

      Additionally, Ackerman is managed by ASUCLA, a special nonprofit with a student majority board that also manages UCLA's trademarks and licensing program, which has been honored with a prestigious award in sustainability.

    2. Luskin Conference Center

      The UCLA Meyer and Renee Luskin Conference Center is LEED Platinum Certified. LEED stands for
      Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and is a certification through the US Green Building Council that recognizes green and sustainable building practices such as water and energy efficiency and sustainable sites. The Luskin Conference Center is one of more than 20 projects certified at the highest level- Platinum, and one of more than 70 buildings and projects total at UCLA.

      UCLA has been recognized by the US Green Building Council California for having one of the largest LEED portfolios in the State and has also been recognized through the national Association for the Advancement of
      Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) for green building practices. Recent projects have also addressed embodied carbon by focusing on renovating existing structures, rather than building new buildings on empty sites.

    3. Sustainable Commuting

      UCLA has a long history of leadership including supporting sustainable transportation. This started with the 1984 Olympics and preparing for transportation impacts by implementing an early vanpool program. These programs have grown and now UCLA has a comprehensive award-winning sustainable transportation program that offers transit subsidies through seven different transit agencies, a carpool program, walking and bicycling commuter benefits, and more. We also have an Air Travel Mitigation Fund which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from business-related air travel. 

       

    4. Active Transportation

      UCLA has a strong focus on active transportation making biking and walking safer and easier for those who are able. One way this has been achieved is through our bright green bike lanes. Additionally, across the street in front of our Strathmore building is one of a number of bike repair stations, including a pump and tools for people to address bike issues on the fly. 

      Active transportation is one of several intersections between sustainability and health. UCLA sustainability serves on the steering committee for the Semel Healthy Campus Initiative Center, a campus wide initiative which focuses on making UCLA the healthiest campus in the nation- with programs ranging from built environment to nutrition, to movement and mental health. Students have participated in a wide range of related research projects including hydration stations and climate resilience. 

    5. Stormwater Capture

      Students have contributed to many applied sustainability research projects on campus through the Institute of Environment and Sustainability, Sustainability Action Research Program, including a stormwater capture tank system at Parking Structure 9. An interpretive sign along the stairwell to the South of the structure describes the project, and the tanks are visible from inside the street level (3) of the parking structure by looking over the wall to the South. This project helps combat the critical water issues in CA and captures stormwater runoff from the parking structure and uses it to water the surrounding landscape.

      Additionally, we have a larger system including new capture systems on two other parking structures and, not visible, a 10,000-gallon tank in Geffen Hall. These are part of a suite of water initiatives that include an award-winning water reclamation program that captures condensate from heating ventilation and air conditioning systems and transports it for use in the campus cogeneration plant. 

    6. Congeneration Plant

      UCLA's cogeneration plant is visible from the roof of parking structure 9. It is a highly efficient trigeneration plant that produces electricity for the campus and then uses waste heat from that process to create steam in chilled water. The plant has been operating for over 30 years and produces electricity for half the carbon emissions that we would have had from electricity purchased from the grid. As the grid transitions to 100% renewable energy by 2035, the carbon advantage of the plant is shifting, and now the campus is determining a future path for energy at UCLA.

      The plan provides resilience because it can 'island' by disconnecting from the grid and power critical areas of the campus when the rest of the grid goes down in an emergency. Behind the plant you can see UCLA Reagan Medical Center, one of the leading hospitals in California. UCLA Health has a wide range of sustainability initiatives addressing the special circumstances of acute care and clinic environments.

      In 2024 UCLA did a major decarbonization study to figure out the future of energy at UCLA, selecting a nodal electric plant strategy with Cogen engines as backup. This electrification will be a key cornerstone of decarbonization along with onsite renewable electricity through solar, energy efficiency and conservation. 

    7. Solar Panels and EV charging

      These solar panels are part of a microgrid with batteries at the base of the structure and smart EV charging stations designed by UCLA researchers. 

      This project is a great example of applied research projects. The Smart Grid Energy Research Center at UCLA Engineering collaborated with UCLA transportation to provide charging for faculty staff and students while also part of important research into vehicle to grid integration- how cars can provide temporary storage to the grid during peak times. The charges are bidirectional, so cars can charge and also put energy back into the grid. A commercial pilot was recently approved in Los Angeles based on this research, showing the potential of campus applied research to demonstrate what is possible for our region and the world.

    8. La Kretez Hall (Court of Sciences)

      In the Court of Sciences, you will find La Kretz Hall which was the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified building on campus. It also contains a 5-million-gallon thermal energy storage under the building. 

      This building is also home to UCLA's Institute of Environment and Sustainability (IoES), a major hub of sustainability related teaching and research. This institute of the Environment and Sustainability moves science to action on the front lines of environmental progress. Using Los Angeles and California as a testbed, IoESs develops solutions for the broader world- and a commitment to communications makes sure those ideas are heard. The institute houses many research centers and the environmental science major, minor, and PHD program in environment and sustainability.

    9. Hummingbird Canyon Garden

      UCLA students in the Bruin Birding Club got a grant from national Audubon Plants for Birds program to transform this area filled with ivy and create a pollinator garden with plant species native to Southern California that provide resources for pollinators, including hummingbirds, butterflies, and honeybees. 

      Similar projects have begun around campus and UCLA has award winning landscape plan that prioritizes climate resilient, and native landscaping that supports biodiversity. UCLA also joined an international Nature Positive Universities Alliance, making a commitment to support and manage biodiversity on campus 

    10. Math Sciences Outdoor Study Space

      The Math Sciences Outdoor Study Space is one of a number of landscaping projects that support water conservation while also activating outdoor spaces to meet student needs. This area was previously covered in ivy and now hosts tables for studying with outlets to plug in laptops. The study space on the North campus at Bunche Hall also features native plants. As funding becomes available, the campus will continue to ad these wonderful outdoor spaces for our students. 

    11. Native Plant Installation

      This area behind Kerckhoff and Moore Hall which was previously only grass has been transformed into a mostly native landscaping installation as part of UCLA's award-winning landscape plan. 

      Students have studied plants and insects on campus and done projects on compost applications and soil health, and will be helping the campus measure the positive impacts of these projects over time. 

    12. Portola Stairs

      When the Portola stairs were redone, we added bike escalators which is the groove along the side of the stairs that makes it easier to transport bikes up and down the stairs.

      At the bottom of the stairs, in front of engineering VI, the landscaping includes plants from a list provided by our indigenous partners, the Gabrielino-Tongva Tribe, including large elderberry bushes which has traditional food and medicinal uses. The campus has a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the tribe to ensure that traditional ways of planting, harvesting and gathering are part of campus landscaping and caretaking practices, and UCLA's Botanical Garden has a special basketry garden as well planted by tribal members.

      The MOU also establishes guidelines that provide access to the descendants of the original inhabitants of the land that UCLA has occupied for nearly 100 years for ceremonial events, workshops and community educational opportunities.