February 9, 2006
UW joins Seattle City Light to Green Up
The UW has become the largest purchaser of green power in Seattle.
By joining Seattle City Light’s Green Up program, the University has committed to buying energy that is 100 percent renewable.
The partnership was announced at an event Wednesday, Feb. 8, at the UW Botanic Gardens’ Merrill Hall.
By paying a Green Up premium, customers help City Light invest in renewable energy development such as clean hydropower, solar power and wind energy.
“This is not a decision we had to think about long and hard,” President Mark A. Emmert said. “There were modest short-term costs, but there were also major long-term benefits.”
As part of the Green Up partnership, City Light will coordinate with the UW to construct renewable energy projects on campus, to be installed and run by students, faculty and staff. City Light will assist the University with a greenhouse gas emissions analysis and carbon footprint inventory. The utility and the University also will work collaboratively on creating student internships in green power and research opportunities on green power issues.
“The University of Washington is our number one asset as a city,” said Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels. “The UW is an important part in our local commitment to meeting the letter and the spirit of the Kyoto protocols.”
At the same event, Seattle City Light Superintendent Jorge Carrasco presented the UW with a check for $649,687, which will help pay for 30 energy conservation improvements completed in 2005. These projects saved enough electricity to power 320 homes in Seattle for a year and allowed the UW to save $200,940 in avoided utility costs.
Carrasco noted that the 15-year alliance between City Light and the UW has resulted in 350 conservation projects in 293 buildings, resulting in energy savings valued at $19 million.
Merrill Hall, the site of the announcement, is one of Seattle’s greenest buildings. It recently received the silver Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. Smart lighting choices and a solar panel provided by Seattle City Light are among the reasons the U.S. Green Building Council gave the rating.
The rating is the third highest given by the council, the nation’s leader in certification of sustainable buildings. Other steps to conserve electricity in the building include offices with sensors that turn off lights when no one is present and that dim the lights according to how much sunlight is coming through the windows. Dedicated a year ago, Merrill Hall is the first UW Seattle campus building to achieve a LEED, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, rating.
Partnering with Seattle City Light through its Energy Smart Services Rebate and Green Power programs, the UW saved energy and in effect turned the electric meter backwards, reducing its operating expenses and saving the citizens of Washington money, according to Norm Menter, project manager from UW Capital Projects, and Sue Nicol, who represented UW faculty, staff and students during design and construction. Other features earning LEED points included natural ventilation that relies on strategically placed windows and fans, waterless urinals and low-flush toilets that reduce water use 35 percent and recycled and renewable materials such as bamboo flooring and strawboard cabinets.
One catalyst for replacing the fire-damaged Merrill Hall with a sustainable building came from students in urban horticulture, architecture and other disciplines who sought grassroot support, endorsement from undergraduate and professional student groups and urged university administrators to give Merrill a chance to go green, according to Tom Hinckley, professor of forest resources and — at that time — director of the Center for Urban Horticulture. For example, Noelle Studer, then a graduate student in urban forestry and public affairs, wrote a white paper on campus sustainability and sought the support of the board of regents, Hinckley said.
At the same time the College of Forest Resources, of which the UW Botanic Gardens is a part, began embracing sustainability as a guiding principle for its programs.
Donations, not tax money, made the sustainable features possible. Key among them were from the Bullitt Foundation, Peach Foundation the Seattle Garden Club and Patsy Collins. Faculty, staff and students were among the other donors contributing to the effort.
Achieving the silver LEED certificate involved the commitment of people such as Craig Curtis and Norm Strong, with the architectural firm of Miller/Hull Partnership of Seattle, and Bill Satterthwaite , with CDK Construction Services of Duval. Elizabeth Powers and Jane Simmons, from O’Brian and Co. of Bainbridge Island, compiled the LEED documentation required by the U.S. Green Building Council.
