Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 68.35
Liaison Andrew Porter
Submission Date March 3, 2023

STARS v2.2

University of Cincinnati
OP-2: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.37 / 8.00 Andrew Porter
Director
Planning + Design + Constuction
"---" 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 168,900.80 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 114,001.85 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions from other sources 913.60 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 1,276.73 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from imported electricity 15,104.57 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 193,713.77 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 184,918.97 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 308,992.35 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 261.60 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):
N/A

Adjusted net GHG emissions

Adjusted net Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions:
Performance year Baseline year
Adjusted net GHG emissions 184,918.97 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 308,992.35 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, 2020 July 1, 2008
End date June 30, 2021 June 30, 2009

A brief description of when and why the GHG emissions baseline was adopted:
This year represented the year UC started tracking it energy usage and making changes on its campus based on sustainability.

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 5,154 5,200
Number of employees resident on-site 0 0
Number of other individuals resident on-site 0 0
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment 25,321 26,055
Full-time equivalent of employees 5,675 7,403
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education 3,019 0
Weighted Campus Users 22,271.25 26,393.50

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 8.30 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 11.71 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Percentage reduction in adjusted net Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions per weighted campus user from baseline:
29.08

Part 2. GHG emissions per unit of floor area

Performance year floor area

Gross floor area of building space, performance year:
17,738,912 Gross square feet

Floor area of energy intensive building space, performance year:
Floor area
Laboratory space 614,928 Square feet
Healthcare space 99,176 Square feet
Other energy intensive space 1,465,000 Square feet

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:
20,632,120 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:
The emissions from Scope 1 and 2 combined are the ones most directly under the university’s control. There is an interplay between Scope 1 and 2 at UC because the University generates and buys energy dynamically—so in many ways it makes sense to group them. Together they account for 76% of UC’s footprint. UC has adopted a 45% reduction goal for its Scope 1 and 2 combined, which it is on track to meet and even exceed. This is not only a positive reduction against the FY 2009/ 2011 baseline, but when the projected business-as-usual scenario is considered – if UC administration has done nothing in the last 10 years to reduce its emissions – the results are astonishing. UC will continue to strive to minimize Scope 3 emission through the cultural changes suggested in Chapter 2 and transportation, purchasing, waste and dining strategies suggested in Chapter 3. The University has established a Scope 3 reduction target of 45% from the baseline, by 2030.

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:
Note that the figures reported for GSF do not match with PRE4, nor do the FTE numbers.
For GSF: That's because the energy figures reported above include energy supplied to local area hospitals that are powered by the trigen plant operated by UC. Consequently the GSF of those hospitals (2,876,712 GSF) is also included in the numbers above. Since the hospitals are not included in any other credits in the STARS assessment (other than OP2 and OP5), their GSF is not included in PRE4.

For FTEs: The data reported is for FY21, which was disrupted due to the global Covid-19 pandemic. To account the 4 weeks out of the 42 weeks when students and faculty would normally be on campus but instead were learning/working remotely, and a good portion of the staff was also working, we've discounted our FTE figures for students, residential students and employees by 20% for the year.

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.