The City of Seattle and Seattle Parks and Recreation (SPR) were jointly recognized as a Zero+ Champion of Sustainability for our work to decarbonize Seattle’s community centers. The award from McKinstry and Lumen Field was presented at the opening game of the NFL season at Lumen Field. Seattle was honored along with three other public agencies: the City of Redmond, Covington Water District, and the City of Renton.
Seattle Parks and Recreation has been strategically reducing the carbon footprint of our facilities for years, from small projects like replacing gas water heaters with electrical units in public restrooms to more complex projects like electrifying community centers that rely on larger integrated mechanical systems not originally designed for electrification.
In addition to SPR’s community center decarbonization efforts, the award recognized the enactment of the City of Seattle’s Building Emissions Performance Standard which – paired with millions in annual Building Decarbonization Grants – requires large buildings to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. So far, twenty City-owned facilities have reached zero-carbon operations.
The Zero+ Champions of Sustainability award program honors organizations for advancing sustainability, reducing carbon emissions, and strengthening community resiliency. By highlighting local achievements, McKinstry and Lumen Field hope to inspire other organizations to strengthen their own initiatives while showcasing how teamwork can drive lasting results.
Our work continues in Seattle Park District Cycle 2, which includes planning for decarbonization of an additional ten or more major SPR facilities by 2028. This work entails sealing the building “envelope,” adding more energy efficient appliances, replacing natural gas heat with electric heat pumps, and other improvements. To date, the following community centers have been decarbonized: South Park Community Center, Magnuson Community Center (partial), Hiawatha Community Center, and Alki Community Center.
While there is much work to do to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, SPR is actively moving forward to do our part to support Seattle’s climate mitigation efforts.