GHG Report for University of Maine at Farmington
Submitted on November 14, 2008; last updated on November 26, 2008
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) | 6,821 metric tons of CO2e | 3.5 metric tons of CO2e | 8.8 metric tons of CO2e | 0% |
| Gross emissions (Scopes 1 + 2 + 3) | 11,588 metric tons of CO2e | 5.9 metric tons of CO2e | 15.0 metric tons of CO2e | 0% |
| Net emissions | 11,588 metric tons of CO2e | 5.9 metric tons of CO2e | 15.0 metric tons of CO2e | N/A |
Emissions Inventory Methodology and Boundaries
| Start date of the 12-month period covered in this report | January 1, 2007 |
| Consolidation methodology used to determine organizational boundaries | No information provided |
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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.
There are no omissions. |
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| Emissions calculation tool used | Clean Air-Cool Planet |
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Please describe why this tool was selected.
Ease of use. Commonly-used application. We used v5.0. |
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Please describe the source(s) of the emissions coefficients used.
Clean Air-Cool Planet v5.0 Software Defaults |
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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? | faculty member |
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Please describe the process of conducting the inventory.
Data for electricity, heating oil, refrigerants, fleet fuel use, solid waste was from Facilities Management Department Director, Bob Lawrence. Transportation calculations done as follows, in collaboration with Institutional Research Director, Doug Rawlings. For faculty and staff, we carried out a survey of commuting habits and then extrapolated over all faculty and staff, using average gas mileage of cars driven in the U.S. For students, we calculated commuting distances for a random sample from an internal data base of student addresses. To calculate gas consumption, we then made assumptions about number of trips to campus per week and used the average gas mileage of cars driven in the U.S. Initial data gathering by students Rachel Thompson and Sylvie Boisvert. Final data gathering, calculations, and reporting by Drew Barton, Professor of Biology. This was a project of the UMF Sustainable Campus Coalition, a group promoting environmental sustainability on campus and in the surrounding community. |
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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.
No information provided |
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Please describe any data limitations related to this submission and any major assumptions made in response to these limitations.
Our estimates do not include travel to meetings by faculty and staff, information that is not recorded in any systematic way. However, any travel with college vehicles (sports, faculty conferences, staff meetings, etc.) is included in the fleet transportation values. For purposes of comparison with other colleges, two points are worth noting. First, UMF's air travel is probably lower than for similar sized private liberal arts colleges and similar to other public liberal arts colleges. Second, the underestimation by not including business related air travel might be somewhat offset by the fact students at this college incur relatively low emissions in travel to and from home on holidays and at the start and end of the academic year because most live within the state. These travel emissions, which could be considerable for some colleges, are not required for inclusion for any institution. This underestimation is probably large for more national and private colleges and low for colleges that draw from a more restricted geography. |
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Emissions Data
Emissions from the following sources (in metric tons of CO2e)
| Scope 1 Emissions | |
|---|---|
| Stationary Combustion | 4,243.0 metric tons of CO2e |
| Mobile Combustion | 167.0 metric tons of CO2e |
| Process Emissions | 0.0 metric tons of CO2e |
| Fugitive Emissions | 6.0 metric tons of CO2e |
| Total Scope 1 emissions | 4,416.0 metric tons of CO2e |
| Scope 2 Emissions | |
| Purchased Electricity | 2,405.0 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 | 2,405.0 metric tons of CO2e |
| Scope 3 Emissions | |
| Commuting | 4,584.0 metric tons of CO2e |
| Air Travel | 0.0 metric tons of CO2e |
| Solid Waste | 183.0 metric tons of CO2e |
| Total Scope 3 emissions | 4,767.0 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 |
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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 | None kWh |
| Percent of total electricity consumption mitigated through the purchase of RECs | None % |
| Emissions reductions due to the purchase of RECs | No information provided |
| REC verification program(s) | No information provided |
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Description of RECs purchased (including vendor, project source, etc.)
No information provided |
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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 | 772,635.0 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) | 1967.0 |
| 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 | 149 |
| Part-time Faculty | No information provided |
| Full-time Staff | 317 |
| Part-time Staff | No information provided |
| Other Contextual Data | |
| Endowment Size | 11250000 |
| Heating Degree Days | 8866 |
| Cooling Degree Days | 158 |
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Please describe any circumstances specific to your institution that provide context for understanding your greenhouse gas emissions this year.
No information provided |
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Supporting Documentation
| Completed inventory narrative | No information provided |
| Completed inventory calculator | No information provided |