Sustainability Reports and Plan
Each year, Caltech's Sustainability Office issues an annual report reviewing the Institute's progress toward enhancing campus sustainability. Progress in the six main sustainability focus areas of energy, water, materials, built environment, mobility, and emissions are chronicled in each year's report.
Introductory Letter to the 2025 Annual Report
2025 began with tragedy in southern California, as the January fires burned over half a million acres and tens of thousands of structures, including 300 homes of Caltech and JPL community members. While the campus itself only sustained some minor wind damage, the human impacts to the second largest metropolitan area in the United States will persist for years. A rapidly changing climate will make such unusual events more likely in the coming years, and resiliency planning for energy sources, water supplies, and the campus built environment will increase in importance.
Looking at trends and key indicators, 2025 was a banner year for improvements in materials and recycling programs. Campus diversion doubled from 2024, spurred on by an amplified staff for materials management and coordination. Green Labs also received a boost as a former volunteer leader ascended to full-time work in coordination of a growing suite of programs. Efforts from the expanded sustainability department and a working group focused on sustainable procurement produced the campus's first comprehensive Scope 3 inventory. With a full inventory for Scopes 1, 2, and 3, Caltech now has an established baseline to measure successful implementation of any and all decarbonization initiatives.
Many of the near-term action items from October 2024's Sustainable Caltech: A Plan for a Resilient Future have now been completed, and remaining items mostly have a clear path forward to meet or exceed stated goals. Energy and water planning efforts to be discussed in next year's report have Caltech headed towards a modern, low-carbon, and flexible utility system. With a new building in 2026 and more projects on the way, cross-disciplinary sustainability efforts in 2025 have the campus headed in the right direction.
Maximilian Christman, Assistant Director of Sustainability; April 2026
