Western Washington University has released an updated Sustainability Action Plan (SAP), outlining strategies for 2025 to 2030 aimed at cutting emissions, strengthening accountability and increasing climate leadership.
Framed as a five-year timeline, the updated SAP confines the ambitions of Western’s 2017 plan into targeted strategies with clearer standards. Western’s Sustainability Council says the goal is to move from aspiration to action.
“Our original Sustainability Action Plan … was almost 200 pages and it was very aspirational, it had a lot of great ideas but almost everybody who looked at it … it’s like well how do we do this,” said Grace Wang, sustainability engagement institute director at Western.
The biggest goals of the updated plan include improving tracking and reporting of Scope 3 emissions (emissions that are a consequence of a company's activities but occur from sources not controlled by them), expanding campus engagement, strengthening procurement tracking systems (tools to monitor purchasing progress), working towards a Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS) gold rating, and positioning Western as a bold leader in climate action and sustainability.
Western currently tracks emissions through SIMAP software and compiles data from around 60 campus partners each year. SIMAP stands for Statewide Integrated Management, Accounting, and Procurement system, used to track how state agencies in Washington spend money and purchase goods and services. Kate Beck, sustainability engagement institute programs director, acknowledged gaps.
“There’s a lot of greenhouse gas emissions that Western can’t even track right now,” Beck said. “There’s also a lot of improvements we can be doing to make sure we’re getting a more comprehensive picture.”
To address that, part of the updated plan includes Procurement, the process of obtaining goods and services an organization needs to operate, and adopting new contract-management software that embeds sustainability tracking into vendor agreements.
The system will monitor environmental and social criteria such as emissions reporting, responsible sourcing, and compliance with campus climate goals. Dining provider Chartwells is also providing expanded emissions data. Joyce Lopes, co-chair of the Sustainability Council, said these updates will make Scope 3 reporting more robust and actionable.
“The most exciting implementation is upgrades to building mechanical systems … to support a lower carbon district system to heat campus,” said Daron Skinner, Associated Students vice president for sustainability.
The most high-profile infrastructure update is the planned conversion of Western’s steam-based district heating system into a more efficient, low-carbon network of hot water and heat pump-based systems to cut energy waste and greenhouse gas emissions. Lopes said converting the steam plant is about a $160 million enterprise with another $150 million needed to connect campus buildings. The university has secured $41 million in state funding to begin the process.
“It’s not enough for the whole thing but it’ll certainly get the first component of that work done,” Lopes said.
Across the Cascades, Central Washington University achieved a gold STARS rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASCU) in 2025, a goal Western hopes to achieve by 2030.
“I think the reason why we got that award in the most humble sense is because we prioritize the implementation — how do we get there? It’s not ‘what do we need to do’, it’s ‘how do we get there,’” said Jeff Bousson, sustainability director at Central Washington University.
He presented in at least 20 classrooms before finalizing the plan. Now, he says, Central engages between 1,000 and 2,000 students each quarter through events, classroom outreach and student green fund projects.
“I consulted with over 500 students during the development of the plan,” Bousson said. “Rather than just be in my office and just come up with all the different strategies … I wanted to inform, consult, collaborate with as many campus community members as possible.”
“It’s one thing to develop a plan – that’s another thing to actually implement it,” Bousson said.
Administrators say the 2025–2030 SAP provides clarity and direction. Wang described the university as “kind of in the middle of the pack” with some institutions ahead and others behind, but emphasized that sustainability work is evolving.
“It’s a slow process,” she said. “But I think we’re getting there.”
For some students like Skinner, the updated SAP is promising but incomplete.
“It is a step in the right direction,” Skinner said. “It’s a good plan. It just needs that implementation aspect.”
Karsin Hutchins is a 3rd year studying PR at Western. She is currently reporting for the campus news beat on The Front. Outside of school, she can be found working with kids at the CDC on campus, hiking outside or at the beach. You can reach her at karsinhutchins.thefront@gmail.com.
