GHG Report for West Chester University of Pennsylvania
Submitted on January 11, 2012; last updated on February 24, 2012
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) | 33,209 metric tons of CO2e | 2.3 metric tons of CO2e | 11.0 metric tons of CO2e | 14% |
| Gross emissions (Scopes 1 + 2 + 3) | 46,163 metric tons of CO2e | 3.2 metric tons of CO2e | 15.3 metric tons of CO2e | 10% |
| Net emissions | 41,572 metric tons of CO2e | 2.9 metric tons of CO2e | 13.8 metric tons of CO2e | N/A |
Emissions Inventory Methodology and Boundaries
| Start date of the 12-month period covered in this report | July 1, 2009 |
| Consolidation methodology used to determine organizational boundaries | Operational control approach |
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If any institution-owned, leased, or operated buildings or other holdings that should fall within the organizational boundaries are omitted, briefly explain why.
We include all campus buildings, including leased dormitories. Our intention is to make all facilities used by students part of our inventory. |
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| Emissions calculation tool used | Clean Air-Cool Planet |
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Please describe why this tool was selected.
Sustainability Coordinator had experience with a different version of this tool (for municipal reporting), and it was freely available. |
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Please describe the source(s) of the emissions coefficients used.
CA-CP Campus Carbon Calculator's default emissions coefficients. |
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| Which version of IPCC's list of global warming potentials did you use? | Third Assessment Report |
| Who primarily conducted this emissions inventory? | Sustainability office staff |
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Please describe the process of conducting the inventory.
The inventory process was initiated and supervised by the University Sustainability Coordinator. Data were collected with the assistance of an intern hired by the University's Sustainability Advisory Council. Relevant University staff provided data, mostly in summary form, to the coordinator and intern, who entered it into the CA-CP calculator. Data for Scopes 1 & 2 were obtained from the University's Energy Projects Manager and the Motor Pool supervisor. Additional data for Scope 3 came from the Energy Manager (RECs); the Grounds Manager (solid waste); a faculty & staff commuting survey conducted by the coordinator and Human Resources; a student commuting survey conducted by Student Affairs; and Public Safety (parking passes sold). Institutional data were provide by the Office of Institutional Research (operating budget; numbers of students, faculty, and staff); Facilties Division (building square footage); and the Energy Manager (energy budget). In each case, we tried to obtain as long a historical record as possible to determine trends; Data for Scopes 1 & 2 and the institutional normalizing data span the 2002-2010 fiscal years. |
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Please describe any emissions sources that were classified as de minimis and explain how a determination of the significance of these emissions was made.
Process emissions and fugitive emissions primarily originate from GHG sources (such as cement manufacturing, farm animals, and methane leakage) that are known to be absent or minor at WCU. |
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Please describe any data limitations related to this submission and any major assumptions made in response to these limitations.
Personnel in our business office were not available for a labor-intensive analysis of air travel using travel expenses. Instead, we made a rough estimate of 2,000,000 air miles that we will emend when the expense data are analyzed. This assumption is equivalent to 53% of faculty and staff using University funds to each travel 2345 air miles travel a year. [The average round-trip domestic journey in 2010 was 2345 miles (www.airlines.org)] We feel this estimate is reasonable because we are within driving distance of many conference venues in east coast cities and our university system headquarters is within driving distance. Under this assumption, air travel contributes less than 3.5% of GHG emissions and could even be considered a de minimis source. |
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Emissions Data
Emissions from the following sources (in metric tons of CO2e)
| Scope 1 Emissions | |
|---|---|
| Stationary Combustion | 12,563.0 metric tons of CO2e |
| Mobile Combustion | 394.0 metric tons of CO2e |
| Process Emissions | 0.0 metric tons of CO2e |
| Fugitive Emissions | 0.0 metric tons of CO2e |
| Total Scope 1 emissions | 12,957.0 metric tons of CO2e |
| Scope 2 Emissions | |
| Purchased Electricity | 20,252.0 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 | 20,252.0 metric tons of CO2e |
| Scope 3 Emissions | |
| Commuting | 11,785.0 metric tons of CO2e |
| Air Travel | 889.0 metric tons of CO2e |
| Solid Waste | 280.0 metric tons of CO2e |
| Total Scope 3 emissions | 12,954.0 metric tons of CO2e |
| Biogenic Emissions | |
| Biogenic Emissions from Stationary Combustion | 0.0 metric tons of CO2e |
| Biogenic Emissions from Mobile Combustion | 14.0 metric tons of CO2e |
Mitigation Data
| Carbon Offsets | |
|---|---|
| Carbon offsets purchased | No information provided |
| Offset verification program(s) | No information provided |
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Description of offsets purchased (including vendor, project source, etc.)
No information provided |
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| Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) | |
| Total RECs purchased | 8836000 kWh |
| Percent of total electricity consumption mitigated through the purchase of RECs | 23.7 % |
| Emissions reductions due to the purchase of RECs | 4,591.0 metric tons of CO2e |
| REC verification program(s) | Other |
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Description of RECs purchased (including vendor, project source, etc.)
RECS allocated to WCU via the State System of Higher Education, to which they were allocated from the State of Pennsylvania. |
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| Sequestration and Carbon Storage | |
| Sequestration due to land owned by the institution | No information provided |
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Description of how sequestration was calculated
No information provided |
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| Carbon storage due to composting | No information provided |
Normalization and Contextual Data
| Building Space | |
|---|---|
| Gross square feet of building space | 3,010,033.0 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) | 14211.0 |
| Residential Students | No information provided |
| Full-time Commuter Students | No information provided |
| Part-time Commuter Students | No information provided |
| Non-Credit Students | No information provided |
| Full-time Faculty | 869 |
| Part-time Faculty | No information provided |
| Full-time Staff | 752 |
| 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 |
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Please describe any circumstances specific to your institution that provide context for understanding your greenhouse gas emissions this year.
From FY 2007 to FY 2010 combined Scope 1 & Scope 2 (+ T&D) emissions decreased by 9200 MT (21%) despite a 10% increase in students and a 16% increase in building square feet. The reductions resulted from beginning a transition from a coal-burning steam plant to geothermal HVAC, and from an energy efficiency upgrade. |
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Supporting Documentation
| Completed inventory narrative | No information provided |
| Completed inventory calculator | No information provided |