Buildings & Grounds represents the physical spaces of the University.
Join an online Earth Week discussion about decarbonization and what it might mean for the University of Washington and local communities. The State of Washington and the UW’s Sustainability Action Plan call for the UW to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and work toward carbon neutrality. What will this mean for all of us, and what are the technical, social and financial challenges we face in making this happen?
Register for the Zoom link.
You can now virtually explore sustainability features across the University of Washington.
UW Sustainability has published updated versions of our UW Campus Sustainability Map and Sustainability Walking Tour. These new maps provide a better user experience and interactive options to discover ways we’re furthering sustainability across campus.
The University of Washington adopted its Sustainability Action Plan, including 10 measurable targets, on July 1, 2020. The Plan will guide our sustainability efforts through 2025, with updated actions determined annual to help us work toward those targets.
Feedback from the University of Washington community on the UW’s draft Sustainability Strategy and proposed actions has been published.
The draft Sustainability Strategy was released on Earth Day, April 22. All members of the UW community were invited to take a survey to provide input on the draft - including the guiding principles and targets - and proposed actions.. Those survey results and comments have been compiled and are available as a PDF document.
The University of Washington is working to develop a comprehensive Sustainability Plan. Led by Executive Sponsor and UW Facilities Vice President Lou Cariello, the Sustainability Plan is on track for delivery on Earth Day, April 22, 2020. The team will be using several tools to identify gaps and the actions that will comprise the Plan, including UW's 2018 STARS submission (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System) and the Climate Action Inventory.
UW Sustainability has launched a new information portal, showcasing data, resources and other information around sustainability topics at the University of Washington.
This site builds off the previous sustainability dashboard, which had graphs showing UW's performance and targets in a variety of sustainability areas. The new portal highlights the data in interactive visualizations by using Tableau Software, as well as adding more information on each subject.
The University of Washington's new West Campus Utility Plant (WCUP) has received an Envision Gold award from the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI). The Envision system rates sustainable infrastructure projects across the full range of environmental, social, and economic impacts.
The University of Washington’s College of the Built Environment, College of Engineering, College of the Environment and UW Tacoma Urban Studies have signed the Educators Commitment on Resilient Design. The White House invited schools of engineering, architecture, urban planning, construction, and other design disciplines to sign on to the effort, pledging to train and inspire students who will build resilience to natural hazards and the impacts of climate change.
The commitment text is below:
The University of Washington is installing solar panels on three residence halls in partnership with Seattle City Light's Green Up program to support research on clean energy and smart grid technology.
"This project will put our students in the middle of a quiet revolution, the digitization of energy," said UW Clean Energy Institute Director Daniel Schwartz. "Setting up a major new testbed facility takes vision and partners, so we truly appreciate the way local industry, the state, and federal funders came together to support the UW team."
