Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 47.42
Liaison John Stolz
Submission Date March 1, 2023

STARS v2.2

Duquesne University
OP-2: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.58 / 8.00 Brianna Marks
Graduate Assistant
Center for Environmental Research and Education
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions

Gross GHG emissions

Gross Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions:
Performance year Baseline year
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions from stationary combustion 29,589.75 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 30,548.98 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions from other sources 80.46 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 87.26 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from imported electricity 1,082.56 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 11,841.54 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from imported thermal energy 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Total 30,752.77 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 42,477.78 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Carbon sinks

Figures needed to determine net carbon sinks:
Performance year Baseline year
Third-party verified carbon offsets purchased 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Institution-catalyzed carbon offsets generated 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
Carbon storage from non-additional sequestration 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent ---
Carbon sold or transferred 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Net carbon sinks 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

If total performance year carbon sinks are greater than zero, provide:

A brief description of the carbon sinks, including vendor, project source, verification program and contract timeframes (as applicable):
Duquesne University partners with a Agrecycle, Pennsylvania’s largest composting company. As a result, food waste from the dining halls is collected and composted via this third party. For FY22, 343.25 tons of Duquesne's food waste was composted. However, information regarding MT of eCO2 is not available.

Adjusted net GHG emissions

Adjusted net Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions:
Performance year Baseline year
Adjusted net GHG emissions 30,752.77 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 42,477.78 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Performance and baseline periods

Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
Performance year Baseline year
Start date July 1, 2021 July 1, 2013
End date June 30, 2022 June 30, 2014

A brief description of when and why the GHG emissions baseline was adopted:
Duquesne Univesity chose fiscal year 2014 as our baseline year as that was the most accurate recording of University greenhouse gas emissions.

Part 1. Reduction in GHG emissions per person

Weighted campus users

Figures needed to determine “Weighted Campus Users”:
Performance year Baseline year
Number of students resident on-site 3,381 3,822
Number of employees resident on-site 12 17
Number of other individuals resident on-site 2 0
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment 7,677 9,502
Full-time equivalent of employees 1,709.80 2,238
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education 659 310
Weighted Campus Users 7,396.10 9,532.25

Metrics used in scoring for Part 1

Adjusted net Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions per weighted campus user:
Performance year Baseline year
Adjusted net Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions per weighted campus user 4.16 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 4.46 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Percentage reduction in adjusted net Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions per weighted campus user from baseline:
6.69

Part 2. GHG emissions per unit of floor area

Performance year floor area

Gross floor area of building space, performance year:
3,433,875 Gross square feet

Floor area of energy intensive building space, performance year:
Floor area
Laboratory space 66,995 Square feet
Healthcare space 4,253 Square feet
Other energy intensive space 65,521 Square feet

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:
3,641,892 Gross square feet

Metric used in scoring for Part 2

Adjusted net Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions per unit of EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:
0.01 MtCO2e per square foot

A brief description of the institution’s GHG emissions reduction initiatives:
Duquesne University has been purchasing RECs for many years, and in 2020, the school renewed its Power Purchase Agreement with Direct Energy Business, LLC. The new contract, which supports 66,362 MWh of any national Green-e Energy certified REC, extends over 4 years resulting in a yearly offset of approximately 16,590.5 MWh. As a result, the amount of RECs purchased reduces Scope 2 emissions significantly, sometimes even to zero.

Website URL where information about the institution's GHG emissions is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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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.