Building Washington’s Carbon Neutral Future | The Foundation for WWU & Alumni

Check out this video to watch the Building Washington’s Carbon Neutral Future.

Brought to you by the Institute for Energy Studies at Western and the WWU Alumni Association

Carbon emissions are the leading source of greenhouse gases and a major contributor to climate change. Our special guest and award-winning green building architect Jason F. McLennan will highlight the steps Western Washington University is taking to reduce its carbon footprint. McLennan will discuss how the university is leading the region in new thinking about the built environment and how to prepare graduates with the skills to lead us to a carbon neutral future.

Jason F. McLennan

Panelist

Jason F. McLennan is considered one of the world’s most influential individuals in the field of architecture and the green building movement today. Jason is a highly sought out architect, designer, consultant and thought leader around the planet. Jason is the founder of the International Living Futures Institute and the Living Building Challenge, is President and CEO of McLennan Design, and serving as a special sustainable design consultant to Western on the design of the region’s first net-zero energy, carbon neutral public facility. As a highly sought after thought leader, public speaker, and design expert, Jason was appointed to lead the sustainable design approach for Climate Pledge Arena which is the first carbon neutral sports arena in the world and will be home to Seattle’s new NHL Team – The Kraken.

Grace Wang

Panelist

Grace Wang, Director of Western’s Sustainability Engagement Institute is Professor and Chair of the Urban Environmental Planning and Policy Department. Grace has helped lead Western’s conversations about sustainability – on campus, in the classroom, and in the community. She played a key role in the establishment of the Sustainability Studies minor at Western and leads a regional curriculum effort: Curriculum for the Bio-Region. As director of the Institute, Grace as responsibility for guiding Western toward the achievement of its Sustainability Action Plan which includes a goal of becoming the region’s first carbon neutral campus.

Joel Swisher

Panelist

Joel Swisher, Director of Western’s Institute for Energy Studies, is an internationally recognized energy expert, and served as the managing director for the Rocky Mountain Institute, before coming to Western. His areas of expertise include electric utility resource planning; integration of variable renewable sources and plug-in vehicles with the power grid; new business models for energy efficiency and greenhouse gas management in organizations.

Questions and Accommodations

Contact the WWU Alumni Association for this event. Feel free to call at (360) 650-3353 or email at alumni@wwu.edu if you have any questions or comments.

There will be auto-captions available for this event. To request closed captions, please mark the request on the registration form. Advance notice of three days to one week is appreciated.