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Bellevue School District details sustainability gains: net‑zero school, local food and an EPA electric‑bus grant
Summary
District leaders describe work under policy 68 11 to cut greenhouse gases and waste: Puesta del Sol operates as a net‑zero elementary, Bellevue High and Interlake saw large drops in energy use intensity, nutrition services is piloting local procurement and reduced single‑use serviceware, and the district secured an EPA grant to buy an electric bus.
Janine Thorne, chief of communications for the Bellevue School District, hosted a podcast episode in which three department leaders outlined the district’s sustainability work and how it fits under policy 68 11, adopted in April 2023.
The episode featured Don Dixon, director of transportation; Jack McCloud, executive director of facilities operations; and Wendy Wier, nutrition services director. They described coordinated steps in facilities, food service and transportation intended to reduce the district’s environmental footprint while keeping costs and operational constraints in view.
“Puesta del Sol is a net‑zero school,” said McCloud, describing the elementary as producing as much energy as it uses through photovoltaic arrays and on‑site battery storage. McCloud said the district has been installing ground‑source heat pumps, improving building envelopes, upgrading HVAC controls and installing heat‑recovery units since 2022 to lower operational carbon.
McCloud cited measured improvements in energy use intensity (EUI) after recent retrofits: Bellevue High’s EUI fell from 57.9 in 2022 to 45.3 this year; Interlake’s fell from 59.2 to 43.8 after lighting and HVAC tuning. He contrasted those figures with a national high‑school average EUI near 104.4.
Wier said nutrition services has moved away from Styrofoam trays and introduced durable trays and real silverware in elementary and middle schools, and compostable utensils in high schools after piloting products with students. She noted the district secured grants from the City of Bellevue that helped pay for durable trays and dishwashers and said durable trays cost roughly $15 apiece but tend to last for years, creating savings in reduced waste removal and dumpster usage.
“We actually settled on a birch wood compostable utensil and it was something that we got positive feedback from the students,” Wier said, describing multi‑year pilots and a growing slate of plant‑based menu options and local procurement of fruits, vegetables and some proteins from Washington farmers.
On transportation, Dixon said the district applied for and was approved for an EPA grant to purchase an electric bus and is now awaiting final authorization to order the vehicle. He noted range and battery life remain challenges for certain out‑of‑district trips and said district buses currently include clean‑burning diesel and about 10–15 propane vehicles.
“The life on the battery right now is 11 years,” Dixon said, noting the district’s state‑mandated bus rotation is 13 years and that ongoing battery improvements will inform future procurement choices.
McCloud also described how design partnerships with engineers and architects produced Puesta del Sol’s net‑zero result: engineers proposed low EUI targets and the district pushed for net‑zero in the design phase. For other large buildings, the district conducted energy audits, completed LED retrofits and updated HVAC controls to boost efficiency.
He said utility bills paid from the district general fund are subject to annual Puget Sound Energy rate increases (cited in the episode as about 7% annually), and reducing energy use helps offset those rising costs.
Looking ahead, McCloud said the district is completing two remaining bond‑funded rebuilds, relocating Big Picture School to an existing Eastgate building to reuse foundations (a move he said saved an estimated 56% in embodied carbon versus full new construction), and selecting architects for a proposed international school with embodied‑carbon and net‑zero goals. Wier described using a Tillicum Middle School kitchen as a scratch‑cooking hub and the Interlake horticulture program’s hydroponic production as an example of farm‑to‑school potential.
The district encouraged families to review menus and nutrition information on the district website and said it would continue monitoring electric‑vehicle technology, route efficiency and other steps to lower emissions while maintaining service.
The podcast episode did not include a formal vote or policy change during the recording; items discussed were progress reports, grant developments and planned capital projects.
