The Energy Upgrade California team recognized the UCLA Sustainability Team at the UCLA basketball game at Pauley Pavilion on November 15. The UCLA Sustainability Team, led by Nurit Katz, the chief sustainability officer, has done an outstanding job of implementing sustainability in sports and recreation at UCLA. The game was dedicated to sustainability.

“We are delighted to recognize the outstanding sustainability team at UCLA and to support their efforts in the Cool Campus Challenge and other energy saving initiatives,” said Liz Oh, senior manager of Energy Upgrade California. Liz Oh and Patrick Purcell-Jones, account executive of IMG College Sports Marketing presented the game ball to Nurit and her team and also presented the team with a recognition award at halftime. 

A few of the energy saving projects UCLA has completed include converting the intramural field into artificial turf, which is estimated to save 6.5 million gallons of water annually. Renovations to Pauley Pavilion have earned the building Gold LEED certification and the placement of 22 multistream waste receptacles are helping to achieve zero waste at basketball games. 

“This game provided the perfect opportunity for us to show our support and appreciation to the UCLA Sustainability Team,” said Mitch Moore, marketing and outreach manager of Energy Upgrade California. To learn more about the team, visit the UCLA Sustainability website.

All UC campuses statewide are participating in the Cool Campus Challenge. Energy Upgrade California is helping to increase awareness of this important UC initiative. The goal of the challenge is for all of the UC campuses to be carbon neutral by 2025. All UCLA students, faculty and staff can help UCLA lead this effort by visiting CoolCampusChallenge.org and registering with their campus email. Each UC campus competes to get the most pledges to save energy. The challenge runs through December 11 and the competition is fierce among the UC community.

Energy Upgrade California is proud to work with UCLA and support their efforts to help educate the UCLA community and all Californians to take action to save energy. We can all do our part to help California stay golden and there are many opportunities to make a difference. Visit EnergyUpgradeCA.org for a wealth of information on saving energy. Information is available in Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Spanish and English.