Campus Sustainability Recognitions

CSUN has earned numerous recognitions for its leadership in campus sustainability, reflecting achievements across academics, operations, and community engagement.

See tabs below for more details on each recognition. 

California State University, Northridge participated in AASHE’s STARS (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System) under version 2.2. We achieved a Gold rating with an overall score of 72.81 points. STARS is a transparent, self-reporting framework used by higher education institutions to measure their sustainability performance across multiple domains.

The report highlighted comprehensive completion across key areas—Academics, Engagement, Operations, and beyond—demonstrating CSUN’s broad-based engagement in sustainability initiatives.

In short, CSUN’s Gold-level STARS rating underscores its robust, institution-wide achievements in advancing sustainability, verified through a thorough self-assessment aligned with AASHE’s recognized framework.

STARS Report

Greenhouse Gas Report 

Climate Action

California State University, Northridge has a bold vision for the future of our campus, and the community beyond. The University has pledged to achieve climate neutrality by the year 2040, and has implemented both a Climate Action Plan and Sustainability Plan to ensure that sustainability is achieved through planning and policy decisions, capital project development and campus operations.

CSUN's Climate Commitment

Soon after her arrival at CSUN, President Harrison, an early signatory of the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) in her tenure at CSUMB, established sustainability as a priority for CSUN. On March 11, 2013, she signed the ACUPCC on behalf of CSUN, asserting that the university will exercise leadership by modeling ways to minimize greenhouse gas emissions and by educating graduates with knowledge that will help to achieve climate neutrality.

Carbon Neutrality

As a part of CSUN's Climate Commitment the University developed a Climate Action Plan to achieve 1990 greenhouse gas levels by 2020 and net zero emissions (carbon neutrality) by 2040. This significantly exceeds the target set by the CSU Chancellor’s Office to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions to 80% below 1990 levels by 2040. This document defines a path to achieving these goals and describes the strategies which will be employed.

In meeting the goal to become carbon neutral by 2040, the following intermediate milestones have been established.

  • Reduce commuting carbon footprint to below 1990 levels by 2020
  • Reduce total GHG emissions to below 1990 levels by 2020
  • Reduce Scope 1 and 2 GHG emission levels to 50% below 1990 levels by 2030
  • Reduce Scope 1 and 2 GHG emission levels to 80% below 1990 levels by 2035
  • Reduce Scope 3 GHG emission levels to 50% below 1990 levels by 2035

Emission Scopes

Greenhouse gases are commonly measured in three different categories, or scopes, and each scope includes emissions from different sources.

Scope 1:

Emissions from sources that are owned or controlled by the university. These include onsite natural gas usage for heat and hot water, fleet fuels for vehicles and equipment, and refrigerants.

Scope 2:

Emissions resulting from the generation of electricity, steam or hot water purchased by the university.

Scope 3:

Emissions from sources not owned or directly controlled by the university, but related to university operations. This includes student and employee commuting and university-funded travel.

Resilience

The other aspect of CSUN's commitment to climate neutrality is a resilience assessment, which identifies the major climate-related hazards that could threaten the campus and community in the coming years. The assessment process was undertaken by a group of graduate Urban Planning students and engaged both campus and community stakeholders to design strategies that mitigate these hazards, making the region more resistant to the social, economic, and environmental impacts of climate change.  

LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a globally recognized certification program developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). It sets standards for environmentally responsible and sustainable building practices, focusing on various aspects such as energy efficiency, water conservation, and indoor air quality. LEED certification encourages builders and developers to adopt sustainable design and construction practices, leading to buildings that are more energy-efficient, resource-efficient, and environmentally friendly. The program evaluates buildings based on a point-based system, with levels ranging from Certified to Platinum, reflecting the degree of sustainability achieved. CSUN has a standard of LEED Gold or higher, making choices to improve Energy Use Intensity as well. 

Here is a list of our LEED Buildings:

Student Housing Building 22 & 23 Gold
Autodesk Technology Engagement Center Gold 
Maple Hall Gold
Extended University Commons Gold
Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts Gold
Student Recreation Center Gold
Student Housing Buildings 19-21 Gold
Sustainability Center Platinum

CSUN has maintained its Bee Campus USA status since 2018! 

What is Bee Campus USA?

Bee Campus USA fosters ongoing dialogue to raise awareness of the role pollinators play in our communities and what each of us can do to provide them with healthy habitat.

​The Bee Campus USA program endorses a set of commitments, defined in an application, for creating sustainable habitats for pollinators, which are vital to feeding the planet.

Why are pollinators important?

  • 1 in every 3 bites of food we eat is courtesy of insect pollination.
  • 90% of all wild plants and trees rely on pollinators for the survival of their species.
  • U.S honey bee colonies are seeing an annual average loss of nearly 37%.

CSUN has maintained its Tree Campus USA status since 2014! 

CSUN received recognition for the first time as a Tree Campus USA in February 2015, so we have been a Tree Campus for 11 years! This is a program that the Arbor Day Foundation and Toyota developed. These two organizations came together to recognize universities that properly care for and maintain their urban forests. These organizations developed 5 standards that each university must meet to be considered for recognition as a Tree Campus USA. The Campus Tree Care Plan is a living document that guides your policies and practices for tree planting, maintenance, protection, and removal. It helps ensure long-term campus forest health and outlines the roles and responsibilities for tree care on campus.

CSUN has been ranked as a bicycle friendly campus by the League of American Bicyclists. 

This fall, the league recognized CSUN and other universities and colleges as part of their Bicycle Friendly University program, which promotes and provides the roadmap and technical assistance to make campuses more bike friendly. To determine a university’s bike friendliness, the League of American Bicyclists looks at five essential areas, which they call the “Five E’s:”

  • Engineering (Are there safe and convenient places to ride and park?)
  • Education (Do people of all ages and abilities have the skills and confidence to ride?)
  • Encouragement (Does the campus have a strong bike culture that welcomes and celebrates bicycling?)
  • Enforcement (Are roads made safe for all users?)
  • Evaluation and Planning (Is bicycling a safe and viable transportation option?)

CSUN ranked No. 47 of 201 colleges and universities on Sierra Club’s Cool School list due to recent strides in sustainability.

CSUN has been recognized as a Green College by the Princeton Review