| Overall Rating | Silver - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 58.99 |
| Liaison | Deborah Steinberg |
| Submission Date | Feb. 27, 2015 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
Carnegie Mellon University
OP-1: Greenhouse Gas Emissions
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
7.38 / 10.00 |
Martin
Altschul Director of Strategic Facilities Initiatives of FMCS Facilities Management Services |
"---"
indicates that no data was submitted for this field
None
Does the institution's GHG emissions inventory include all Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions?:
Yes
None
Does the institution's GHG emissions inventory include all Scope 3 GHG emissions from any of the following categories?:
| Yes or No | |
| Business travel | Yes |
| Commuting | No |
| Purchased goods and services | No |
| Capital goods | No |
| Fuel- and energy-related activities not included in Scope 1 or Scope 2 | Yes |
| Waste generated in operations | Yes |
None
Does the institution's GHG emissions inventory include Scope 3 emissions from other categories?:
Yes
None
A brief description of the methodology and/or tool used to complete the GHG emissions inventory:
We have consistently used the Clean Air Cool Planet spreadsheet with data going back to 2001.
None
Has the GHG emissions inventory been validated internally by personnel who are independent of the GHG accounting and reporting process and/or verified by an independent, external third party?:
No
None
A brief description of the internal and/or external verification process:
Internal data is gathered primarily from Facilities Management Services records which are verified against university financial records. Partila commuter and travel records are gathered from Parking and Transportation Dept and extrapolated based on known ratios from the university's contract travel agent.
None
Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions::
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Scope 1 GHG emissions from stationary combustion | 29,667.50 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent | 35,852.50 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Scope 1 GHG emissions from other sources | 1,229.80 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent | 713 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Scope 2 GHG emissions from purchased electricity | 66,463.20 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent | 61,808.80 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Scope 2 GHG emissions from other sources | 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent | 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
None
Figures needed to determine total carbon offsets::
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Institution-catalyzed carbon offsets generated | 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent | 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Carbon sequestration due to land that the institution manages specifically for sequestration | 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent | 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Carbon storage from on-site composting | 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent | 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Third-party verified carbon offsets purchased | 66,460 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent | 3,715.70 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
None
A brief description of the institution-catalyzed carbon offsets program:
Carnegie Mellon University does not have local offsets program to offset its greenhouse gas emissions.
None
A brief description of the carbon sequestration program and reporting protocol used:
No Carbon sequestration program
None
A brief description of the composting and carbon storage program:
Composting is done off-campus by a 3rd party and does not qualify.
None
A brief description of the purchased carbon offsets, including third party verifier(s) and contract timeframes:
Green-E RECs are purchased annually in the amount of estimated electical use for that year.
None
Figures needed to determine “Weighted Campus Users”::
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Number of residential students | 3,935 | 3,744 |
| Number of residential employees | 0 | 0 |
| Number of in-patient hospital beds | 0 | 0 |
| Full-time equivalent enrollment | 11,263.60 | 8,803.40 |
| Full-time equivalent of employees | 4,816 | 3,978.30 |
| Full-time equivalent of distance education students | 132.60 | 106.50 |
None
Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
| Start Date | End Date | |
| Performance Year | July 1, 2012 | June 30, 2013 |
| Baseline Year | July 1, 2004 | June 30, 2005 |
None
A brief description of when and why the GHG emissions baseline was adopted:
Baseline of FY 2005 was adopted after a CACP analysis was done for that year.
None
Gross floor area of building space, performance year:
4,864,661
Square feet
None
Floor area of energy intensive building space, performance year:
| Floor Area | |
| Laboratory space | 664,931 Square feet |
| Healthcare space | 1,551 Square feet |
| Other energy intensive space | 87,706 Square feet |
None
Scope 3 GHG emissions, performance year::
| Emissions | |
| Business travel | 55,117 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Commuting | 680 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Purchased goods and services | 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Capital goods | 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Fuel- and energy-related activities not included in Scope 1 or Scope 2 | 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Waste generated in operations | 317.30 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Other categories (please specify below) | 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
None
A brief description of the sources included in Scope 3 GHG emissions from "other categories":
Note that data for commuting only shows emissions for Bus and Rail commuting. No data is available for automobile commuting.
None
A copy of the most recent GHG emissions inventory:
---
None
The website URL where the GHG emissions inventory is posted:
None
A brief description of the institution’s GHG emissions reduction initiatives, including efforts made during the previous three years:
Starting in 2011, CMU has purchased RECs to offset 100% of our electricity purchases. The most significant Scope 1 reduction occurred in 2009 when the Bellefield Boiler Plant, partially owned by CMU, convwerted from coal and natural gas operation to 100% natural gas firing.
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Carnegie Mellon University's GHG emissions inventory was first initiated by an undergraduate research study in spring of 2007 in cooperation with few graduate students and faculty members using the Clean Air-Cool Planet calculator. The student project was expanded, corrected, and refined by the Green Practices intern Andrew Ko, university engineer, Martin Altschul and the university environmental coordinator, Barbara Kviz. The University's GHG emission inventory was calculated from 1995-present, to also reflect the pre and post 2006 regional EPA emissions factor reclassification. EPA eGrid pre-2006 subregion was corrected from prior submissions. Per EPA documentation Duquesne Light and Pittsburgh were considered to be in ECAR Ohio Valley.
It should be noted that the emission numbers reflect the University's growth and rebuilding efforts since year 2005.
The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.