Building the future: Caltech's Resnick Sustainability Center as a model for low-carbon education and research

Caltech's LEED Platinum Resnick Sustainability Center serves as a benchmark for how modern campus facilities can achieve ambitious carbon reduction goals while supporting the latest concepts for education and ressearch. Eugene Kim examines the 80,000-square-foot building's integrated approach—from mass timber construction reducing embodied carbon by 15-17% to optimized mechanical systems and specialized lab spaces designed for high-efficiency operations. He illustrates practical strategies for incorporating solar energy, smart water systems, and sustainable materials into campus buildings. He connects design decisions directly to operational performance, lifecycle cost, and educational impact, providing campus and facility planners actionable insights for creating facilities that serve as both high-performance buildings and living laboratories for sustainability innovation.