The push for a green USC has never been stronger. With the support of USC President Carol L. Folt and the Office of Sustainability, the Galen Center is making meaningful strides to expand sustainable operations.
Green Games
Every year, Pac-12 campuses compete with each other in pursuit of a zero waste home game. USC hosts two “Green Games” a year; one football game at the Coliseum in the fall and one men’s basketball game at the Galen Center in the spring.
Equal parts bragging rights and Trojan pride, the competition encourages USC to move towards zero waste and be creative in developing best practices, whether it be directly through reuse, recycling, and composting or by working with partners to drive impactful changes.
At “Green Games,” fans, concessionaires, and teams contribute toward the goal of achieving at least a 90% game-day waste diversion rate from landfill. Specialty receptacles are added to the venue to make it easier for fans to compost or recycle their waste, with landfill items pulled from stock as much as possible.
Solar & Energy
Under a new agreement with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, USC will obtain 25% of its electricity from solar-generated power and contribute to new solar programs that expand opportunities for disadvantaged communities to access affordable clean energy.
Solar panels began to be installed on the Galen Center roof in February 2020 and now provide up to 15% of the arena’s energy use. The installation marks USC’s largest solar project to date, adding to our university solar portfolio.
The Galen Center completed an LED retrofit in 2019 in its arena and practice courts. In 2021, the Galen Center has completed upgrading its entire lighting system to LED, and is now 100% LED.
These enhancements has resulted in:
- 600 kilowatts of solar energy capacity
- Up to 15% of Galen Center power
- 915,000 kW hours/year of electrical output — enough to power 88 houses annually
- 3,332 energy conserving LED light bulbs installed
- $10 million in energy savings over 25 years
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