Madeleine Falco
Madeleine Falco is the Sustainability Professional IV for the Office of Energy and Sustainability at SDSU. She plays a vital role in advancing sustainability on campus, making sure the systems that keep SDSU running are working as efficiently and sustainably as possible. Her work behind the scenes has a major impact on our campus, and it deserves to be appreciated.
She started her career in communications and marketing, the area she earned her degree in, around 16 years ago. However, Madeleine knew this wasn’t the career path meant for her. She saw an opportunity to work for the local tribes here in San Diego, where she became a program manager to implement an energy and conservation block grant through the Department of Energy.
Madeleine’s career journey shows how it is never too late to pursue a new passion and discover where that takes you. Her experience with marketing combined with her commitment to sustainability, inspired her to educate the public on climate change and how to be more energy efficient.
Today, Madeleine dedicates her time and expertise to making SDSU a more sustainable campus. From ensuring that campus meters provide accurate data to helping campus partners understand their utility usage, Madeleine has a major impact on campus efficiency.
Making sure that meters are reporting accurate data is a vital part of what she does.
Madeleine says, "People say to make data-driven decisions, but you can't make decisions based on what you think or what you read. You have to make them based on the data that you have."
Her favorite parts of the job are working with a team to find solutions to challenges in campus energy data. Madeleine calls herself an “implementer”, someone who doesn’t just come up with ideas, but actually makes them happen.
She also emphasizes that much of the work happens “in the guts of the buildings”, where the things most people don’t notice, actually make a big difference. She wants to educate more people about the work she and her department do and why our efforts are so important to the SDSU community.
Looking forward, Madeleine hopes that sustainability becomes something everyone can take ownership of. She believes that sustainability can be integrated into everyone’s daily life and across every department, not just within the sustainability department.
Madeleine also practices what she promotes. She does not currently own a car, and relies solely on public transportation, encouraging the SDSU community to take advantage of the trolley station right here on campus. She turns words into actions with her idea of Transit Tuesdays, a weekly opportunity for everyone on campus to choose public transportation at least once a week.
Sustainability will always be an important part of Madeleine’s work, and her commitment to creating a greener community should not go unnoticed.
