NOCCCD Sustainability Director Updates as of January 2026

Fullerton College Achieves AASHE STARS Bronze Award

The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) has awarded Fullerton College a Bronze Award for its 2025 Sustainability Tracking and Rating System (STARS) submission. STARS is a self-reporting framework for higher education institutions to share data and progress on their sustainability efforts. It serves as an excellent network for sharing best practices and information across college systems and states and has been integral to our District’s strategic implementation of sustainable initiatives.

Fullerton College submitted a STARS Report in 2022 as a Reporter, a designation for a report submitted for data transparency without grading, and spent the last three years improving its score through a series of energy projects, engagement activities, and the Environmental Justice Career Fellowship program. Fullerton College joins Modesto Junior College, Santa Rosa Junior College, and Palomar College as the fourth California Community College to achieve STARS Bronze. The Sustainability team hopes to improve on this for the next report in 2028, aiming for STARS Silver or STARS Gold. 

Read the full 2025 STARS Report.

Green Energy Project Updates

In working towards the CCCCO’s Climate Action and Sustainability Goals, the District has begun working to increase its percentage of energy from renewable sources. In May 2025, construction concluded on the Fullerton College solar panel array, which is estimated to produce approximately 32 million kilowatt hours of clean energy for the campus over the span of 20 years. Since they were energized, the campus has already realized 1 million kilowatt hours of production, saving over $80,000 on the electric bills. This is on average 11% of Fullerton College’s electricity needs. District staff are currently exploring a second solar array for the Anaheim Campus, and more information will be available later this spring.

Upcoming: District-Wide Greenhouse Gas Inventory

The primary goal of the CCCCO’s Climate Action and Sustainability Goals for 2025 is for districts to conduct an emissions inventory baseline and create a climate action plan. Our District Sustainability Action Plan puts us ahead of others in this regard, but we have yet to develop a dedicated emissions inventory. This summer, once all of the 2025/26 fiscal year data is released, we will calculate an inventory of the District’s emissions, including from our utility use, purchasing, construction, travel, and commuting.

Thank you everyone for your commitment and hard work. Please look forward to our report on District emissions sometime in the fall!