Target X: Greenhouse gas emissions

2025 update

With our current five-year Sustainability Action Plan concluding in 2024-2025, we are set to begin the next phase of our sustainability efforts. The University will develop a new plan that will guide us towards our 2050 sustainability objectives. This plan will address the needs of our tri-campus community and involve a range of partners in its creation.

Stay informed about progress, learn about the planning process, and discover ways to get involved on the Sustainability Action Plan update page.

Updating the plan

UW Power Plant

45% REDUCTION OF GHG EMISSIONS BY 2030

If you're interested in our greenhouse gas emissions over time, jump to the data.

See all target actions more energy info

Status updates

2020-2025 wrap-up report

Progress:

Published a comprehensive 2022 GHG Inventory, which for the first time included purchased goods and services - the largest portion of UW’s footprint.
Expanded Scope 3 (indirect emissions) reporting, including business travel, commuting, purchased goods and services, capital goods, and waste.
Adopted a new Green Building Standard in 2024 to ensure all new construction and major renovations is aligned with UW’s climate goals.
Expanded governance and data capacity, enabling clearer measurement of Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions.
Advanced complementary efforts: fleet electrification, expanded subsidized transit programs, active commuting infrastructure, and early work to embed sustainable purchasing practices.
UW Bothell and UW Tacoma both initiated building-level efficiency and renewable energy projects to align with system-wide goals.

By-the-Numbers:

UW’s total emissions in 2022 were 527,510 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO₂e) compared to 474,513 MtCO₂e in 2005—an 11% increase rather than the targeted 45% reduction.
Emissions sources in 2022 were:
- 64% from purchased goods and services (Scope 3)
- 18.5% from fossil fuel combustion (Scope 1)
- 6.3% from air travel (Scope 3)
- 5.7% from commuting (Scope 3)
The Seattle campus Power Plant remains the single largest direct source of emissions, accounting for 93% of UW’s Scope 1 emissions.
The Power Plant Reliability Project has already reduced its annual emissions by ~10,000 MtCO₂e.

Status: In progress. While UW has made significant strides in reducing energy consumption and emissions across the tri-campus, total greenhouse gas emissions have increased since 2005. Accelerating emissions reductions is dependent on UW’s ability to invest in decarbonizing the Seattle Power Plant, expanding sustainable procurement strategies, and advancing systemic changes in commuting and professional travel.

Fiscal year 2024 progress

FY2024 progress

Target actions for FY24

Plan to repower the Seattle campus
Electrify UW Transportation Services
Identify opportunities and implement recommendations from GHG inventory

Plan to repower the Seattle campus
The University of Washington has made a commitment to fully decarbonize the energy system of its Seattle campus. Over the past year, the University has continued to share its decarbonization strategy with the UW community, state legislators, and local partners. As part of this effort, state legislators, including Executive Constantine, Sen. Joe Nguyễn, Reps. Joe Fitzgibbon and Lisa Callan, and staff from the House Capital Budget Committee and House Democratic Caucus, took a behind-the-scenes tour of the UW Power Plant. Additionally, in early 2024, team members of King County's Executive Climate Office toured the Power Plant and discussed the opportunity to capture waste heat from King County sewer lines that run along the edges of campus. This innovative approach is a crucial component of UW's decarbonization efforts, as it can reduce emissions, save on energy costs, and contribute to climate change mitigation and improved public health.

In August 2023, the University hired Affiliated Engineers, Inc. (AEI) to lead the development of an Energy Renewal Program (ERP), which is centered around the University's Energy Transformation Strategy. This ERP will outline a phased approach to decarbonize and transition the Seattle campus utility and energy infrastructure away from fossil fuels. The plan will include an analysis of constituent projects and provide guidance on how they will be funded. AEI, along with its team of sub-consultants, is scheduled to deliver a final implementation plan in Fall 2024.

Electrify UW Transportation Services
The University of Washington has made significant strides in expanding and modernizing its electric vehicle fleet. UW Fleet Services on the Seattle Campus has successfully increased its electric vehicle count by 26 over the past year. This addition brings the total number of electric vehicles to 98, representing 13% of the entire fleet composition.

The current fleet composition allows for flexibility while progressively moving towards more sustainable options:

Unleaded: 269 vehicles (36%)
E85: 197 vehicles (27%)
Electric: 98 vehicles (13%)
Hybrid: 96 vehicles (13%)
R99: 42 vehicles (6%)
PHEV (Plug-in Electric Hybrid): 41 vehicles (6%)

To support the growing number of electric vehicles, Fleet Services has initiated two major charging infrastructure projects:

N26 and Fleet Yard Project: A project to install 39 additional level 2 charging stations in the N26 area and Fleet yard has been put out to bid. Construction is expected to be completed by the end of 2024.
E2 Parking Lot Project: Following the completion of the N26 project, Fleet Services plans to begin work on adding 74 additional level 2 chargers to the E2 parking lot.

By investing in electric vehicles and the necessary charging infrastructure, UW is making significant progress towards reducing its energy consumption and electrifying its transportation system on campus.

Identify opportunities and implement recommendations from GHG Inventory
In February 2024, the University of Washington released its new Greenhouse Gas Inventory, which provides a comprehensive picture of the University’s emissions. This marks UW’s first comprehensive inventory of its direct emissions since 2005 and the first time ever the University has quantified the emissions connected to its purchased goods and services.

The report highlights that purchased goods and services make up the largest source of emissions, accounting for approximately 64% of the University’s emissions in 2022. The second largest source is emissions generated on campus from fossil fuel combustion, which accounts for approximately 18.5% of emissions. Other significant categories of emissions include air travel, which accounts for 6.3% of 2022 emissions, and commuting to and from campus by students, faculty, and staff, which accounts for 5.7% of emissions.

The University of Washington is working to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions through various initiatives, including the Energy Transformation program. Over the last year, the UW has utilized the results of the GHG Inventory Report to inform additional projects such as the development of a new Green Building Standard, efficiency optimization to boilers at the UW Power Plant, and efforts to reduce air travel emissions.

The UW Sustainability team also shared insights from the GHG Inventory Report with the University community during a webinar event.

Fiscal year 2023 progress

FY23 progress

Target actions for 2023

Plan to repower the Seattle campus
Electrify UW Transportation Services
Implement Seattle campus solar plan
Develop a UW Carbon Roadmap

In 2023, the UW started work with Cascadia Consulting Group to conduct a greenhouse gas emissions inventory and analysis report, with an expected delivery and publication in Fall 2023. This will mark the first time UW has conducted a consumption-based inventory as part of its Scope 3 emissions (i.e. indirect emissions), along with a comprehensive look at Scope 1 and 2 (i.e. direct emissions from electricity and fossil fuel combustion). The report will provide a holistic and granular analysis of GHG reduction progress over a 2005 baseline, as well as GHG composition at the three campuses, self-sustaining units, sectors and subsectors. A key element of the final report will be a ‘contribution analysis’ of key changes in operations-based emissions, and a wedge analysis of pathways to meet near and long-term organizational GHG reduction targets. This level of analysis is necessary to better identify opportunities and inform decision-making for UW emission reduction efforts, as well as providing solid data to help set priorities and targets for the future version of our Sustainability Action Plan.

Plan to repower the Seattle campus

The UW’s Energy Transformation Strategy lays out a blueprint for the UW to transition away from fossil fuels, largely by converting the campus heating system from steam to hot water. This will also allow the Power Plant to electrify, switching from natural gas boilers to district-scale heat pumps which can take advantage of various waste heat sources. Over the past year, the UW has concentrated on Phase one of the strategy, which calls for energy conservation measures to reduce our electrical load in existing buildings.

In the past fiscal year, the UW spent about $3 million on energy and water conservation efforts, which marks a 400% increase from the previous year. This money went to replacing aging equipment, updating lighting and installing new monitoring systems which will allow the UW to take informed steps to reduce the university’s carbon footprint.

In addition, over the past year work started to raise awareness of the project across the UW community, especially with stakeholders and decision makers. UW Sustainability and UW Facilities facilitated tours of the Power Plant to show first-hand the operations and needs of the current plant. Tour attendees included UW leadership, faculty, staff and students, along with local and state government representatives.

UW Sustainability has also worked with UW Facilities and UW Marketing and Communications to publish stories in various UW sites on the Energy Transformation Strategy, including an article on the UW Today site in conjunction with Earth Day.

Electrify UW Transportation Services

In the past year, UW Transportation Services has taken delivery of 21 Ford E-Transit vans and 12 Chevrolet Bolts to increase the number of fully-electric vehicles in the UW fleet to 76, or about 10% of the total fleet. There are also 42 plug-in hybrid vehicles in the UW fleet, and more electric vehicles have been ordered. In 2023, more than 12% of the total miles traveled by UW fleet vehicles were electric-powered, up from 1.5% in 2018. The UW is also committed to continuing to add electric vehicles to the fleet.

There are three projects currently underway which will add EV charging capacity to existing UW parking lots. The largest of these is looking at the E-2 parking lot, which will provide 74 new Level 2 chargers and six new Level 3 fast chargers, along with other security upgrades. The total cost of the project is expected to be about $1.48 million. Transportation Services is also moving forward with a Solar Canopy Project for E-18, which will provide a 100 kW solar canopy to power future EV charging stations. This project also falls under the “Implement Seattle campus solar plan” action for this target.

Develop a UW Carbon Roadmap

The UW is developing a Carbon Reduction Roadmap to determine how the institution will meet our carbon reduction goals. Washington State has set mandatory requirements for state agencies to reduce GHG emissions by 45% by 2030, 75% by 2040 and 95% by 2050 (based on a 2005 baseline). The Carbon Roadmap is intended to serve as a planning tool to facilitate reaching these goals by the deadlines or sooner.

Over the last year, UW has been developing a draft Carbon Reduction Roadmap to identify what actions are needed to reach net zero carbon by 2050. The Carbon Reduction Roadmap is, in a sense, a comprehensive to-do list with actions across different categories of emissions, including the energy transformation of our central steam plant, building metering and energy efficiency, to electrifying our fleet and landscaping equipment, and reducing our plastic waste by increasing to-go container reuse programs. In 2023, a working group met with key stakeholders across the UW system including the Bothell and Tacoma campuses to gather information on existing emission reduction actions. The Carbon Roadmap will identify unit actions to reach a 2050 net zero goal.

Fiscal year 2022 progress

FY22 progress

Target actions for 2022

Electrify UW Transportation Services
Plan to repower the Seattle campus
Implement campus solar plan

Electrify UW Transportation Services

The UW has set a goal of converting its fleet to all-electric (EVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) (with the exception of selected emergency vehicles) by 2030. Transportation Services has also worked to identify opportunities to utilize solar generation for much of the charging infrastructure, and has worked with the UW Solar group to determine the capacity for parking to house solar canopies which would largely power new EV charging infrastructure.

Over the past year UW Transportation has continued to transition from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles when replacing vehicles, and has continued to pursue opportunities for installing solar arrays on parking areas.

Plan to repower the Seattle campus

In November 2021, UW hired David Woodson as the new Executive Director of Campus Energy and Utilities for UW Facilities. In this role he will be overseeing the effort to decarbonize the university’s energy infrastructure. Woodson had the helm for a similar effort at the University of British Columbia before being hired at UW.

The UW has already started looking at the feasibility and cost of a variety of options to transition the university away from fossil fuels and move away from steam as the primary building heating method, including a number of studies over the past several years, and continued to evaluate options over the past year. The information from past studies and current efforts will be used to help inform the planning process.

In the past year, a faculty task force was established to help provide more perspectives on the decarbonization effort. In addition, Spring 2022 saw the beginning of a communications campaign to let the UW community know about the effort and why it is required. In conjunction with Earth Day in April 2022, an article about Woodson and the effort was published on the UW Facilities blog and publicized along with an event with Woodson and UW Sustainability discussing the effort.

Implement campus solar plan

UW Solar and UW Resource Conservation have developed a Solar Energy Plan for all three UW campuses, assessing all buildings on campus for feasibility of supporting solar energy. This Solar Energy Plan provides a framework for possible future solar installations at the UW.
Solar projects are likely a good fit for financing through the future Green Revolving Fund. As the Fund is implemented, the Solar Energy Plan allows the UW to identify projects which are the best fit for impact and feasibility.

Previous status reports