Seattle Colleges serves over 46,000 students annually and employs more than 2,500 people in the Seattle metro area. We operate over 2.1 million square feet of building space, which use approximately 300,000 therms of natural gas, 31 million kWh of electricity, 11,000 Mlbs. of steam and 32,000 CCF of water, resulting in over 2,900 MTCO2e of greenhouse gases each year. We are one of the largest and most prominent organizations in the city of Seattle. As such, we have the responsibility to not only offer innovative education and training in emerging sustainability and green jobs, but also to model financial and environmental prudency in how we operate as an institution of higher education.
Our commitment to sustainability aligns with the mission of the Seattle Colleges, which is to “provide excellent, accessible educational opportunities to prepare our students for a challenging future.” One of the significant challenges of that future will be creating and maintaining a more sustainable world for all people. To so do, it’s imperative that our current and future students understand the complex interactions of environmental, social, and economic conditions that will affect their future careers and livelihoods.
I invite you to explore our campuses to find out more about how we are incorporating sustainability into our curriculum and operations. We at Seattle Colleges are committed to working toward a more sustainable group of campuses, city, and region.
Sincerely,
Shouan Pan, Ph.D.
Chancellor