Seattle Public Schools: Sustainability, Resource and Energy Conservation, and Carbon Reduction

Updated May, 2022

Ecotope leads a team to develop a plan to eliminate fossil fuels from all Seattle Public School operations by 2040, as mandated by the school board. This project is being deployed in four overlapping stages:

1) Facilitation of an advisory Task Force made up of community members empaneled by the board;

2) Technical analyses of the district’s facilities, fleet, and operations;

3) Development of a formal Climate Action Plan based on technical research and Task Force recommendations to achieve the district’s 2040 goals, and

4) Formalizing actionable steps and standards for implementing that plan.

In facilitating their deliberations, Ecotope’s analyses will guide the Task Force’s understanding of this district’s GHG flows and support their recommendations to develop a fossil fuel elimination plan. Building on their suggestions, Ecotope will establish GHG boundaries and identify a starting line to prioritize and manage the energy, fuel, and materials consumption from school operations. This plan will also include critical metrics to track and monitor achievement and highlight the priorities and actions required to achieve the district’s zero-carbon goals. Ecotope will then develop practical tasks and criteria to guide the school’s implementation of this plan, including new construction decarbonization design criteria, priorities for retrofit electrification, and fleet and transportation electrification strategies.