McKinstry and Lumen Field Honor Zero+ Champions of Sustainability

Highline Public Schools, Seattle Public Schools, Central Washington University and Eastern Washington University recognized for advancing sustainability, reducing carbon emissions and strengthening community resilience.

SEATTLE — [November 10, 2026] — From geothermal systems and rooftop solar to mass timber construction and campuswide decarbonization plans, four Washington education organizations are taking different approaches to reducing the carbon impact of the places where students learn.

McKinstry and Lumen Field honored Highline Public Schools, Seattle Public Schools, Central Washington University and Eastern Washington University as 2026 Zero+ Champions of Sustainability at a November 8 ceremony at Lumen Field during the Seattle versus Arizona football game. The recognition marked the third and final round of the 2026 Zero+ Champions program.

The Zero+ Champions of Sustainability Awards emerged from an ongoing collaboration between Lumen Field and McKinstry. The program honors organizations for advancing sustainability, reducing carbon emissions and strengthening community resilience. By highlighting local achievements, McKinstry and Lumen Field aim to showcase how organizations can turn sustainability goals into tangible investments in buildings, infrastructure and communities.

“From kindergarten classrooms to university research labs, the schools and universities we’re honoring today are teaching the next generation what a sustainable future looks like while building it on their own campuses,” said Matt Allen, executive vice president and chief client officer at McKinstry. “Closing out our first year of Zero+ Champions with these four education leaders is a fitting reminder that the path to a low-carbon future runs right through our schools.”

Here’s how each winner is advancing sustainability and decarbonization:

Highline Public Schools

Highline Public Schools is building sustainability into its next generation of schools. Serving roughly 17,500 students across South King County communities like Burien, Des Moines, Normandy Park, SeaTac and White Center, the district is using the 2022 voter-approved capital bond to replace aging facilities with high-performance schools designed for long-term energy and environmental performance. The new Evergreen High School includes a three-story mass timber section designed to create biophilic learning spaces, while the new Pacific Middle School is planned with 146 geothermal wells to heat and cool the building when it opens in 2027. At Highline High School, students led the development of a rooftop solar array that gives them a direct view into how the school generates clean energy. For nearly two decades, Highline has invested in retrofitting existing buildings with high-efficiency systems and equipping facility staff with the tools, training and data needed to optimize building performance.

Seattle Public Schools

Washington’s largest school district is laser-focused on conserving energy and reducing its carbon footprint by incorporating high-performance design and using clean on-site energy to heat and power the buildings used by roughly 49,000 students. New schools opening in the past decade have focused on achieving net-zero energy usage by combining geothermal heating and cooling systems, rooftop solar, and daylighting with stringent building envelope criteria. In addition, the district has focused on using mass timber structural systems including at the recently completed Alki Elementary School and Asa Mercer International Middle School. Those projects are supported by voter-approved capital levies aligned with Seattle’s climate, sustainability and clean-energy policies.  

Central Washington University

Central Washington University is building a long-term path toward campus decarbonization, with a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 45% by 2030 and reaching carbon neutrality no later than 2050. In Ellensburg, the university is developing a new GeoEco Plant that will use the constant temperature of the Ellensburg Aquifer through an open-loop, ground-source geothermal system to heat and cool campus buildings. The project is expected to avoid roughly 22,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions over 50 years when combined with the retirement of two aging buildings. The project builds on a 2022 campuswide geothermal study and is part of a 15-year decarbonization roadmap covering the university’s 60-building, 3.5-million-square-foot Ellensburg campus. 

Eastern Washington University

Eastern Washington University’s sustainability achievements show what a campus can accomplish when it commits to conserving energy, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving its ecological footprint. Through initiatives such as the Campus Decarbonization Plan, the SRC Energy Improvements and the Prairie Restoration Project, EWU has turned the campus into a living laboratory that puts the university’s polytechnic principles into practice. Students learn by working on these projects and they graduate ready to apply sustainable practices in the workforce. Each project adds to a campus where sustainability and student learning advance together, and EWU’s students, faculty and staff share in the results.

“Our partnership with McKinstry shows what’s possible when we work together toward a common goal,” said Christy Briggs, sustainability manager at Lumen Field. “Celebrating these champions at Lumen Field is a reminder that sustainability is a team effort that reaches far beyond the stadium and into our communities.”

The November 8 recognition concludes the 2026 Zero+ Champions of Sustainability program, which honored 11 organizations across three ceremonies at Lumen Field. McKinstry and Lumen Field look forward to continuing to celebrate the region’s sustainability leaders in the years ahead.

About McKinstry

McKinstry is a national leader in designing, constructing, operating and maintaining high-performing buildings. From new construction and ongoing operations to adaptive reuse and energy retrofits, the company provides a single point of accountability across the entire building lifecycle. McKinstry focuses on people and outcomes to ensure the built environment serves owners, operators and occupants alike. McKinstry is your trusted partner for the life of your building. Learn more at www.mckinstry.com.