Campus Green Builder

East Los Angeles College (ELAC), along with other institutions of the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD), is a signatory of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). Sustainability initiatives at East Los Angeles College are directly linked to standards set by the Los Angeles Community College District. Sustainability practices such as recycling, capital improvement that adheres to green principles and energy efficiency are currently the crucial issues the district is focusing on. To investigate the existing efficiencies of the energy systems, a baseline greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory was created at East Los Angeles College. The Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD), the nation’s largest community college district, educating nearly 200,000 students each year, is the first community college district to join the California Climate Action Registry. Over the course of the College District’s $2.2 billion Proposition A/AA construction program, all nine colleges will work with the Registry to increase awareness of GHG emission issues and endeavor to become environmental role models for California’s educational institutions.¹ A GHG report for East Los Angeles College generated on 6 July 2009 can be found here.

Green Initiatives on Campus

East Los Angeles College, separately and congruently with the standards set by the LACCD, is making considerable changes of its own to implement sustainability on its campus. The primary groups in addressing sustainability issues on campus are: The “Energy Team,” which works towards implementing energy efficiency throughout the campus, the “Green Team,” which is primarily in charge of addressing sustainability issues at East Los Angeles College while the “Sustainability Building Program” that oversees LEED® building initiatives and construction across the LACCD. The ELAC also collaborates with industry experts on its sustainability initiatives. For example, the “Energy Team” at East Los Angeles College works with the institution’s board of trustees to execute and manage campus initiatives. The “Energy Team” also oversees the program currently underway with CHEVRON. This Energy program is currently the most prominent and extensive initiative being implemented on campus with the goals to:

1. Help oversee design and operations of the central plant for each campus. Eight of the nine campuses have a central plant to improve energy efficiency.
2. Contract with utility companies to use technology that will pay for itself through efficient usage.
3. Install a suite of energy efficiency technologies (Photovoltaic and geothermal) that will relieve dependency on fossil fuel. One of the LACCD campuses has the largest energy efficiency system in the U.S. (a 500-unit collector system, which helps supply cooling and heating to the entire campus).

East Los Angeles College is also embarking upon a rigorous recycling program and offers education programs that focus on the issues, challenges and opportunities in the context of sustainability. Following is the list of such sustainability initiatives that are undertaken at the campus:

• Recycling Initiative:
  • ELAC will be soon installing a combination of twenty-five (25) Big Belly^® Solar Compactors/Receptacles. The compactors will include five (5) single standalone solar compactors for regular trash and twenty (20) combination units that will be comprised of twenty (20) solar compactors connected with twenty (20) bottle/can receptacles.
  • The institution will receive a large solar-powered Marathon GreenBuilt^® Compactor to compact their recyclable materials and reduce hauler trucks trips to the campus. This will in turn reduce the use of fossil fuels and vehicular traffic on the roadways. This strategy will save operating funds as well as reduce the campus’ carbon footprint.
  • The compactors (Big Belly^® and GreenBuilt^®) will be equipped with wireless monitoring sensors to inform the staff about when to empty the compactors.
• Operations and Maintenance Initiative:
  East Los Angeles College is also working towards developing a more efficient operation and maintenance strategy and training knowledgeable staff.
  • ELAC will receive solar-powered electric carts for passenger transport as well as for the transportation of the facilities staff.
  • The facilities operations and maintenance team will receive a variety of equipment that utilize ionized water and microfiber cloths and mops that will reduce the reliance on cleaning products that may contain chemicals and pollutants.
• Other Initiatives:
  • The institution plans on introducing a computerized irrigation control system to monitor and minimize water used for irrigate around the campus.
  • Hydration stations will be installed at the fitness center and gymnasium for students to refill water bottles with purified water while aiming to eventually eliminate the purchase of bottled water.
  • East Los Angeles College, and the other institutions of the LACCD are members of the California Climate Action Registry. As stated in the Total Emissions Summary Report of the Los Angeles Community College District dated 6 July 2009, the District began voluntarily reporting its annual greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and now the district is planning to go completely off the grid while reducing its emissions to zero by pledging to make all of its campuses solar-powered.
  • In-line with the above, the institution instituted a site management program to boost the energy efficiency of its existing building by retrofitting them with solar and geothermal energy systems. The institution has contracted CHEVRON to complete a series of photovoltaic arrays that will offset electricity usage by approximately 16%.
  • The sustainable building principles implemented at all campuses within the LACCD network follow Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system. To streamline the green building projects on the campuses of LACCD, the district has instituted a Sustainability Building Program for the oversight of green building projects – new construction as well as renovation projects. In addition, the institution has mandated that each new building will have to be designed and constructed to at least LEED^® Silver standard. Each building must receive at least 10% of its energy from the photovoltaic system.

In 2002, the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD), with the help of the Proposition A Bond Program Managers (DMJM/JGM), presented a list of recommendations, which are now the basis for the sustainability policies across the LACCD campuses. The document outlines sustainability standards for new constructions as well as renovations. Please click here to learn more. The recommendations also outline the role of the Board of Trustees in determining whether new projects should be approved or not. This document was updated in 2009 to provide specific details on mandatory and recommended actions that need to be taken. Please click here to learn more.

¹ California Climate Action Registry. (July 6, 2009). "Total Emissions Summary Report – Los Angeles Community College District."