LAUSD eco sustainability chief outlines pilots to cut water, energy and waste

Christos Cruilio, LAUSD’s chief eco sustainability officer, told the Greening Schools and Climate Resilience Committee that the district is moving several pilot projects from study into implementation to reduce energy, water and waste costs and boost campus resilience.

Cruilio said the office has been benchmarking data and setting priorities for a final district sustainability plan, with a targeted completion in July of next year. “The data is clear. Extreme heat, water scarcity, environmental burdens are not abstract threats,” the committee chair opened; Cruilio framed the office’s work as operational steps to address those burdens.

The presentation covered multiple initiatives. Cruilio described a soil‑amendment pilot on athletic fields that uses small hydrogel beads injected 3–6 inches into turf root zones; the pilot reduced irrigation by roughly 40% at the test site. Cruilio said the application cost was about $26,700 and that the site realized about $27,000 in first‑year savings, with an accumulated multi‑year savings near…