Add as a preferred source on Google

LA Community Colleges Vows to Eliminate Carbon Footprint by 2040

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 07/22/20

The Los Angeles Community College District has vowed to eliminate its carbon footprint entirely over the next two decades. Trustees approved a "Clean Energy and Sustainability resolution" that committed the district to invest millions towards energy efficiency and sustainability projects; and implement a "vision plan" for 2040 that includes creation of a district-wide organization focused on sustainability.

The district, the largest in the country, encompasses nine colleges currently educating about 250,000 students.

The LACCD resolution calls for the district to eliminate its use of carbon-based electricity consumption by 2030 and all other carbon-based energy use by 2040, replacing it with "clean, renewable and/or sustainable energy sources." Those are even more ambitious than international and state energy goals. For example, California's "100 Percent Clean Energy Act of 2018" requires utilities by the end of 2030 to increase their purchase of renewable energy such that at 50 percent comes from renewable energy and to be at 100 percent by the end of 2045.

The resolution specifically calls for LACCD to:

  • Invest $75 million towards energy efficiency and sustainability projects, programs and jobs that will help the district achieve the resolution’s goals. That could include an increase in the amount of on-site electric energy generation as well as energy storage projects;
  • Develop and implement a "sustainability vision 2040 plan" to achieve a 100-percent carbon-free energy goal by 2040;
  • Create a new unit and jobs to focus on developing and implementing the plan; positions might include: a chief sustainability officer, coordinators, analysts and student interns.

Among the commitments on the table are the conversation of a quarter of existing parking stalls to zero-emission vehicles; installation of electric-vehicle chargers at the district's colleges and facilities; an increase in recycling and composting; elimination of single-use plastics; and storm-water capture and groundwater recharge projects.

According to Chancellor Francisco Rodriguez, achieving the new goals would not only benefit the colleges but also the surrounding communities and expand educational opportunities for students.

"Our District is clear in our vision to provide the education and training necessary to address workforce demands and meet employers’ needs of a clean energy and green future," Rodriguez said in a statement. "This District is uniquely positioned to adapt and expand its existing career education programs for students for future jobs and to integrate new and emerging green technologies to achieve our carbon independence."

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • Different Starting Points, Same End Goal

    Higher education campuses can enhance student experience by implementing mobile credentials to streamline building access, on-campus payments, and access to other amenities. This enables students to connect to their campuses through the technology they use most: their mobile devices.

  • classroom with crystal ball on top of a desk

    Call for Opinions: Spaces4Learning 2026 Predictions for Educational Facilities

    As 2025 winds to a close, the Spaces4Learning staff is asking its readers—school administrators, architects, engineers, facilities managers, builders, superintendents, designers, vendors, and more—to send us their predictions for educational facilities in 2026.

  • DLR Group Appoints New K–12 Education Practice Leader

    Integrated design firm DLR Group recently announced that it has named its new global K–12 Education leader, Senior Principal Carmen Wyckoff, AIA, LEED AP, according to a news release. Her teams have members in all 36 of the firm’s offices in the U.S., Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Europe, and Asia.

  • Texas State University Completes Stadium Renovations

    Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas, recently announced that it has completed a series of additions and renovations to its football stadium, according to a news release. Formerly known as the Bobcat Stadium End Zone Complex, the Johnny and Nathali Weisman Football Performance Center is an 85,000-square-foot expansion featuring hospitality spaces, banquet spaces, exterior concourses, and upgrades to the field house.

Digital Edition