ACUPCC Reporting System

GHG Report for Agnes Scott College

Submitted on October 6, 2009; last updated on October 6, 2009

Summary Statistics

Making fair comparisons between higher education institutions is always challenging due to the rich diversity of higher education. The unverified nature of the information in this database and unavailability of unbiased normalization metrics means such comparisons are even more difficult. Users should therefore approach direct institution to institution comparisons with caution and recognize that all comparisons between institutions are inherently biased.
Total Per Full-Time Enrollment Per 1000 Square Feet % Offset
Gross emissions (Scopes 1 + 2) 10,297 metric tons of CO2e 13.0 metric tons of CO2e 12.1 metric tons of CO2e 1%
Gross emissions (Scopes 1 + 2 + 3) 11,922 metric tons of CO2e 15.1 metric tons of CO2e 14.0 metric tons of CO2e 0%
Net emissions 11,864 metric tons of CO2e 15.0 metric tons of CO2e 14.0 metric tons of CO2e N/A

Emissions Inventory Methodology and Boundaries

Start date of the 12-month period covered in this report July 1, 2008
Consolidation methodology used to determine organizational boundaries Operational control approach
If any institution-owned, leased, or operated buildings or other holdings that should fall within the organizational boundaries are omitted, briefly explain why.

Agnes Scott owns off-campus residential buildings that are leased to individuals other than students. These are considered to be outside of the organizational boundaries because the utilities are metered by building and paid for by the tenant.
Emissions calculation tool used Clean Air-Cool Planet
Please describe why this tool was selected.

It is the recommended method by ACUPCC.
Please describe the source(s) of the emissions coefficients used.

No information provided
Which version of IPCC's list of global warming potentials did you use? No information provided
Who primarily conducted this emissions inventory? Facilities Employee
Please describe the process of conducting the inventory.

Complete data were acquired from fiscal year 2009 for the following categories: operating budget, research budget, energy budget, full time students, part-time students, summer school students, faculty, staff, and total building space. Agnes Scott does not differentiate between research space and total building space, so research space data are not available.

The Office of Facilities provided spreadsheets with total electricity usage for 2009. Agnes Scott’s electricity region is SERC South, which also includes parts of Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi. Selecting this region allowed the calculator to use historical emissions factors for electricity produced in the region for the calculations.

Agnes Scott does not purchase any steamed or chilled water. Campus boiler emissions were included in the stationary sources section as natural gas.

Although the campus does not have a cogeneration plant, Agnes Scott uses natural gas for a variety of heating purposes, and these data were entered as on-campus stationary sources. Spreadsheets from facilities were again obtained with usage totals from 2009. No other stationary sources – such as propane, coal, or incinerated waste – are used on campus.

Transportation emissions were divided into two categories: commuting and air travel. Although no commuting data could be tracked for previous years, a survey created in conjunction with Agnes Scott’s Information Technology Services office was sent out to all staff and faculty, as well as commuting students, in August 2009. The survey requested information on whether or not an individual drove alone, carpooled, took the bus, took the commuter train, or some other form of alternative transportation, and how far they traveled per trip. Agnes Scott did not include student transportation to and from campus each year, as this was determined to be the individual student’s “footprint” rather than that of the college.

Air travel data for staff were researched with assistance of administrative staff in the offices expected to have the greatest amount of off-campus travel: development, and the President. Other offices did not have accessible documentation of air travel, and any travel that may occur within these offices is considered to be minimal. Therefore the above listed three offices are assumed to give a close approximation of staff air travel, although it is not exhaustive. No centralized method of recording air travel for faculty currently exists on campus, which made this data impossible to obtain, but efforts will be made to change logging techniques for travel to make future inventories more complete. Student flight data took into account travel by students studying abroad, as well as Global Connections program and other programs directly affiliated with Agnes Scott.

Solid waste from Agnes Scott is sent to a landfill where methane recovery and flaring is currently underway. Data for solid waste tonnage is obtained from the monthly invoicing.

The refrigerants HFC-134a, HFC-404a, and HFC-22 are used in varying amounts at Agnes Scott. Total pounds for 2009 were obtained from purchase orders in facilities.
Please describe any emissions sources that were classified as de minimis and explain how a determination of the significance of these emissions was made.

No information provided
Please describe any data limitations related to this submission and any major assumptions made in response to these limitations.

No information provided

Emissions Data

Emissions from the following sources (in metric tons of CO2e)

Scope 1 Emissions
Stationary Combustion 1,416.0 metric tons of CO2e
Mobile Combustion 0.0 metric tons of CO2e
Process Emissions 0.0 metric tons of CO2e
Fugitive Emissions 0.0 metric tons of CO2e
Total Scope 1 emissions 1,416.0 metric tons of CO2e
Scope 2 Emissions
Purchased Electricity 8,881.0 metric tons of CO2e
Purchased Heating 0.0 metric tons of CO2e
Purchased Cooling 0.0 metric tons of CO2e
Purchased Steam 0.0 metric tons of CO2e
Total Scope 2 emissions 8,881.0 metric tons of CO2e
Scope 3 Emissions
Commuting 705.0 metric tons of CO2e
Air Travel 678.0 metric tons of CO2e
Solid Waste 27.0 metric tons of CO2e
Refrigerants 215.0 metric tons of CO2e
Total Scope 3 emissions 1,625.0 metric tons of CO2e
Biogenic Emissions
Biogenic Emissions from Stationary Combustion No information provided
Biogenic Emissions from Mobile Combustion No information provided

Mitigation Data

Carbon Offsets
Carbon offsets purchased No information provided
Offset verification program(s) No information provided
Description of offsets purchased (including vendor, project source, etc.)

No information provided
Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs)
Total RECs purchased 75840 kWh
Percent of total electricity consumption mitigated through the purchase of RECs 0.6 %
Emissions reductions due to the purchase of RECs 58.0 metric tons of CO2e
REC verification program(s) No information provided
Description of RECs purchased (including vendor, project source, etc.)

REC purchased for Alumnae House renovation and LEED Silver certification process. kWh equivalent to 2 years of estimated electricity use in the Alumnae House.
Sequestration and Carbon Storage
Sequestration due to land owned by the institution No information provided
Description of how sequestration was calculated

No information provided

Carbon storage due to composting No information provided

Normalization and Contextual Data

Building Space
Gross square feet of building space 850,000.0 sq ft
Net assignable square feet of laboratory space No information provided
Net assignable square feet of health care space No information provided
Net assignable square feet of residential space No information provided
Population
Total Student Enrollment (FTE) 791.0
Residential Students 720
Full-time Commuter Students 71
Part-time Commuter Students 41
Non-Credit Students No information provided
Full-time Faculty 118
Part-time Faculty No information provided
Full-time Staff 282
Part-time Staff No information provided
Other Contextual Data
Endowment Size No information provided
Heating Degree Days No information provided
Cooling Degree Days No information provided
Please describe any circumstances specific to your institution that provide context for understanding your greenhouse gas emissions this year.

No information provided

Supporting Documentation

Completed inventory narrative No information provided
Completed inventory calculator Download

Auditing and Verification

These emissions data have been audited, verified, or peer-reviewed.
Please briefly describe this verification, if any.

Draft GHG inventory presented to Sustainability Steering Committee for review and approval.