Santa Clara University

We are in the midst of the 4th annual Residence Energy Challenge, taking place in February. The Challenge kicked off with "SCU Unplugged," featuring Supertonic, The JurassiC, & The Vanities. Show your enthusiasm: post on the Sustainability at SCU Facebook page, mention @sustainablescu on Twitter, and tag #sustainablescu in Instagram. Read about the event & get ready for the month-long Energy Challenge! Read More »

Did you know: SCU’s electricity use per square foot has decreased 16 percent since 2008. Read more facts about Santa Clara's energy usage and progress toward our climate neutrality goal at the end of 2015. Read More »

With the 4th Annual Energy Challenge just around the corner, students should start thinking consciously about energy use on campus. Read about SCU's new smart microgrid project, its renewable energy sources on campus, and about Proposition 39, which adds clean energy jobs to California's economy. Read More »

Santa Clara University's Office of Sustainability partnered with the Housing Office to hold the 3rd Annual Energy Challenge this quarter. On-campus residents are competing throughout the Winter quarter to reduce their building's energy consumption. Residents in the building that reduces its energy use the most compared to its historical average will be the winners! The competition is really heating up as residents try to beat last year's savings. Read More »

A student team developed a carbon footprint calculator for use at SCU, part of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics' Environmental Ethics Fellowship. The tool measures SCU students' greenhouse gas emissions associated with energy use, waste production, partying, travel to and from home during vacations, food consumption, and more. Samantha Juda, '13, was interviewed on a national radio news program about the online tool. More news this month: Art Exhibition Explores Homelessness: 1930's to Today | Santa Clara University Receives National Recognition for Community Service | Santa Clara University's School of Engineering to Launch New Scholar Program for Photovoltaic Research with $1.3 Million Gift | Alum John Cruden named President of Environmental Law Institute | New Department at Santa Clara University to Prepare Students for Studies and Careers in Environmental Fields Read More »

The solar panel system on Benson Memorial Center is the largest project of its kind built to date in California. Read More »

Santa Clara's sustainability teach-in will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday of Earth Week. The goal of the week is to spur dialogue about issues related to sustainability and environmental justice. The Commons at Kennedy Mall will host open classrooms, where faculty from several disciplines will lecture on a variety of sustainability-related topics, open to all. Events will also take place at Mayer Theatre and the Learning Commons. Read More »

The Residence Energy Challenge is making a big impression across campus. Open to off-campus residents, the Challenge is a way for students to get involved with sustainability and learn how to save energy. The Housing Office is sponsoring the grand prize; winning residents choose from: a communal Nintendo Wii or PlayStation, tickets to a Giants game (10 tickets/ton CO2 avoided) or a donation of water filters to a Honduras village in the name of the winning building's residents. The winning off-campus house will be reimbursed for its electricity bills during the Challenge. Read More »

It's pretty difficult to spend a day on campus without noticing something the University is doing to reduce energy consumption and increase its reliance on renewable energy. Students, faculty, and staff, more often than not, pass by without giving these initiatives a second thought. Though Chris Watt, Director of Utilities and Contract Maintenance, claims his last name had nothing to do with spurring him into a career dealing with energy, he has thought about the University's energy consumption on a daily basis for 25 years. Read More »

In 2008, Santa Clara University began painting building exteriors with a coating system that reflects heat from the invisible portion of the light spectrum. Read More »