Annual Sustainability Update Highlights Big Accomplishments

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Earlier this month, BVSD’s sustainability team provided the annual update to the Board on the district’s work toward goals detailed in the Sustainability Action Plan and the Green New Deal resolution. BVSD made some big sustainability gains this year across all action areas: 

• In the district’s work to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, we’ve surpassed our goal for transportation emissions and are within striking distance of the district-wide GHG emissions goal; 
• BVSD continues to make progress toward becoming zero net energy districtwide; 
• This year saw a notable expansion of student voice and involvement in our sustainability efforts; and
• BVSD created new climate literacy learning opportunities for students at all levels.

The report marked progress through year four of a five-year effort towards the district’s latest set of sustainability goals. BVSD has had a formal sustainability program with established goals since 2009, Sustainability and Energy Officer Dr. Ghita Carroll explained to the Board. 

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions shrink 
This year, the district made strides in the area of greenhouse gas reduction, both overall and related to transportation. 

We nearly met our short term goal to reduce overall greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for the district by 14% compared to FY 2019. To hit this mark, BVSD needs to reduce emissions from building operations by over 5000 metric tons of CO2, or the equivalent of taking 1193 gas passenger cars off the road for a year, Sustainability and Energy Analyst Miles Hoffman explained. 

The district continues to make progress toward goals related to energy use as well. Energy use intensity (EUI), a key indicator measuring a building's efficiency derived from energy consumed in a year divided by square footage, has dropped steadily since 2009 and is trending toward the overall goal of being climate neutral by 2050. To reach this goal, BVSD will need to continue to strive to maximize efficiency in our buildings, invest in electrification, and offset remaining carbon with onsite renewables or other credible offsets, Hoffman explained.

Read about BVSD’s latest addition to our portfolio of high performing buildings—New Vista High School

In terms of Transportation, BVSD reduced emissions by 30% from our 2019 baseline, surpassing our goal of a 25% reduction. Thanks to efforts such as putting alternative fuel buses—electric and propane—on the road and supporting biking, walking, carpooling, and RTD, we’ve reduced annual emissions by 1,035 metric tons of CO2. That’s like taking 241 cars off the road! 

Students step up with big accomplishments 
Remarkable this year was the greater visibility of student voice and action in our sustainability work with the new Green Youth Council (GYC). 

“We have a very dedicated group of students,” PK-12 Science Coordinator Erin Greenwood told the Board. “They are quite excited to be involved in all different ways for our sustainability work.”

This group of middle and high school students have had a busy inaugural year designing optional elementary lesson plans, advocating for additional climate science courses as the District works to revise science standards, and speaking at several community events, including the first-ever Colorado Youth Climate Summit. 

The GYC students were particularly instrumental in helping BVSD launch the Seal of Climate Literacy, a new diploma endorsement created by the State of Colorado, Greenwood explained. 

In that effort, the students developed three new climate literacy courses, built the Seal of Climate Literacy rubric, developed the application process and presented it to district partners. Just last month, council members met with partners to review applications. 

Read more: The Green Youth Council adds student voices to BVSD’s sustainability work

New climate literacy learning opportunities at all levels
This year saw notable expansion in climate literacy learning opportunities for students at all levels. The Green Youth Council developed eight optional lesson plans at the elementary level as well as a new middle school climate literacy course and two high school courses which will be available next school year. 

“A great example of how integration of sustainability topics is happening is through our work with Heatherwood Elementary,” Greenwood told the Board. “They have become an environmental STEAM school and are looking forward to launching their programming this spring. Students will learn about both Science and Social Studies through the exploration of current environmental problems, and they’ll design action-based solutions.”

Aligning with BVSD’s GRAD+ framework, the District launched a new career pathway in Environmental Sustainability at Boulder TEC. The program is housed at BVSD’s Sombrero Marsh Environmental Center, a natural area south of BVSD’s Education Center. Students can earn college credit and gain knowledge and skills in topics such as natural resource management, environmental education, geographic information systems, hydrology, wildlife and fisheries management and water conservation. The program is just one of the ways BVSD is meeting our goal to expand pathways to jobs combatting the climate crisis in a variety of career fields. 

The full presentation to the Board is available to watch on BVSD’s YouTube channel here. You can learn more about BVSD’s sustainability work at our greenBVSD website.