Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 78.11
Liaison Kristin Larson
Submission Date Oct. 23, 2023

STARS v2.2

San Diego State University
OP-1: Emissions Inventory and Disclosure

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.17 / 3.00 Risto Beatty
Decarbonization Program Manager
Ackerstein Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1. Greenhouse gas emissions inventory

Has the institution conducted a GHG emissions inventory within the previous three years that includes all Scope 1 and 2 emissions? :
Yes

A copy of the most recent GHG emissions inventory:
A brief description of the methodology and/or tool used to complete the GHG emissions inventory:
SDSU utilized our new Energy Information System (EIS), SkySpark, that has centralized all campus meters into one interface allowing us to streamline regulatory reporting. We have imported the emissions factors from SIMAP for all scopes.
Scope 3 commuting data was generated and received via the University's annual transportation survey. Other Scope 3 business travel mileage was received from Accounts Payable. Other categories include water and wastewater, in which we analyzed the actual carbon content of San Diego water to come up with this value.

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

A brief description of the GHG inventory verification process:
---

Documentation to support the GHG inventory verification process:
---

Scope 1 GHG emissions
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions, performance year:
Weight in MTCO2e
Stationary combustion 50,250.75 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Other sources (mobile combustion, process emissions, fugitive emissions) 453.85 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Total gross Scope 1 GHG emissions, performance year:
50,704.60 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Scope 2 GHG emissions
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions, performance year (market-based):
Weight in MTCO2e
Imported electricity 2,922.47 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Imported thermal energy 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Total gross Scope 2 GHG emissions, performance year:
2,922.47 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

GHG emissions from biomass combustion
Gross GHG emissions from biogenic sources, performance year:
0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Scope 3 GHG emissions
Does the GHG emissions inventory include Scope 3 emissions from the following sources?:
Yes or No Weight in MTCO2e
Business travel Yes 4,862.84 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Commuting Yes 28,045.19 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Purchased goods and services --- ---
Capital goods --- ---
Fuel- and energy-related activities not included in Scope 1 or Scope 2 Yes 6,552.77 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Waste generated in operations Yes 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Other sources --- ---

Total Scope 3 GHG emissions, performance year:
39,460.80 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

A brief description of how the institution accounted for its Scope 3 emissions:
Commuting emissions were based on university transportation surveys con ducted by Dr. Appleyard. Financed travel data was provided by accounts payable using a cost based method. Solid waste and waste water is tracked within SkySpark and converted to GHG emissions with SIMAP default factors. Fuel FERA and T&D emissions were calculated using SIMAP factors specific to the California region.

Part 2. Air pollutant emissions inventory

Has the institution completed an inventory within the previous three years to quantify its air pollutant emissions?:
Yes

Annual weight of emissions for::
Weight of Emissions
Nitrogen oxides (NOx) 16.58 Tons
Sulfur oxides (SOx) 0.22 Tons
Carbon monoxide (CO) 1.73 Tons
Particulate matter (PM) 2.52 Tons
Ozone (O3) ---
Lead (Pb) 0.03 Tons
Hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) ---
Ozone-depleting compounds (ODCs) ---
Other standard categories of air emissions identified in permits and/or regulations ---

Do the air pollutant emissions figures provided include the following sources?:
Yes or No
Major stationary sources Yes
Area sources ---
Mobile sources Yes
Commuting Yes
Off-site electricity production Yes

None
A brief description of the methodology(ies) the institution used to complete its air emissions inventory:
Fuel use is from gas turbines, duct burners, and boilers at the cogeneration plant. The emissions factors are from the 2022 Fiscal Year (attached below).
SDSU's cogeneration plant consists of 2 Taurus 60 natural gas turbines rated at 27,000 lbs/hr of steam each and a steam turbine for the combined cycle. Total rated steam output with duct burners is 88,000 lbs/hr.

For all categories outside of major stationary sources, air emissions inventory was calculated using SIMAP.

Optional Fields

Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from purchased electricity (location-based):
---

Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from imported thermal energy (location-based) :
---

Website URL where information about the institution’s emissions inventories is available:
---

Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
https://sustainable.sdsu.edu/resources/policies-plans

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.