Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 65.21
Liaison Ann Drevno
Submission Date Feb. 26, 2020

STARS v2.2

Saint Mary's College of California
OP-2: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 4.74 / 8.00
"---" 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 4,104.95 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 4,003.18 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions from other sources 416 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 292.31 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from imported electricity 93 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 3,143.53 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 4,613.95 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 7,439.02 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):
In 2018, Saint Mary's purchased 11,329 MWh of unbundled Green-e certified Renewable Energy Credits from Constellation Energy. However, the way we calculate our MTCO2e for purchased energy is by including this sink into the data point. This is why our Scope 2 is so low in "gross carbon emissions" and why we did not include a carbon sink.

Adjusted net GHG emissions

Adjusted net Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions:
Performance year Baseline year
Adjusted net GHG emissions 4,613.95 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 7,439.02 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, 2017 July 1, 2009
End date June 30, 2018 June 30, 2010

A brief description of when and why the GHG emissions baseline was adopted:
The baseline was adopted based on data availability.

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 1,429 1,634
Number of employees resident on-site 33 33
Number of other individuals resident on-site 8 0
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment 3,424 3,407
Full-time equivalent of employees 732 654
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education 0 0
Weighted Campus Users 3,490.50 3,462.50

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 1.32 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 2.15 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Percentage reduction in adjusted net Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions per weighted campus user from baseline:
38.47

Part 2. GHG emissions per unit of floor area

Performance year floor area

Gross floor area of building space, performance year:
90,067.41 Gross square meters

Floor area of energy intensive building space, performance year:
Floor area
Laboratory space 5,144.41 Square meters
Healthcare space 258.27 Square meters
Other energy intensive space 6,840.45 Square meters

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:
107,713.18 Gross square meters

Metric used in scoring for Part 2

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

A brief description of the institution’s GHG emissions reduction initiatives:
The institution has a comprehensive and ambitious plan to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions.
Beginning Fall 2020, we pulled together an inventory of all major equipment, and their repair or maintenance needs. We have begun to strategically replace or repair aging infrastructure with annual maintenance or major renovation (e.g., upgrading HVAC systems, lighting, and other high input energy equipment). We are also working on behavioral changes that could have large energy-savings, such as covering our heated pool, installing solar thermal for the heated pool, implementing a no space heater policy, improving our energy controls system, etc.

Additional initiatives surrounding composting, alternative transportation, solar energy, and our campus fleet are being implemented and/or further explored.

Website URL where information about the institution's GHG emissions is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
In 2015, Saint Mary's started purchasing bundled wind energy credits explaining the large discrepancies between the Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from imported electricity in the baseline vs performance years.

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.