Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 68.45
Liaison Justin Mog
Submission Date March 4, 2022

STARS v2.2

University of Louisville
OP-2: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.23 / 8.00 Justin Mog
Assistant to the Provost for Sustainability Initiatives
Office of the Provost
"---" 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 26,055.60 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 42,267 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions from other sources 2,022.40 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 2,495 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from imported electricity 85,012.20 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 114,784 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 113,090.20 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 159,546 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 668.50 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 668.50 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):
Estimate of carbon sequestration from UofL's 200-acre Horner Conservation Property (also referred to as the Moore Observatory) and our Belknap campus trees.

On site composting base-line year is unavailable.

Adjusted net GHG emissions

Adjusted net Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions:
Performance year Baseline year
Adjusted net GHG emissions 112,421.70 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 159,546 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 Sept. 1, 2019 July 1, 2007
End date Aug. 31, 2020 June 30, 2008

A brief description of when and why the GHG emissions baseline was adopted:
The baseline was created during our first GHG emissions inventory conducted in 2009-2010. It involved three years of prior data and was as far back as we had reliable data.

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 3,184 3,161
Number of employees resident on-site 0 0
Number of other individuals resident on-site 0 0
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment 18,397 16,483
Full-time equivalent of employees 6,566 5,949
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education 1,315 0
Weighted Campus Users 18,532 17,614.25

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 6.07 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 9.06 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Percentage reduction in adjusted net Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions per weighted campus user from baseline:
33.03

Part 2. GHG emissions per unit of floor area

Performance year floor area

Gross floor area of building space, performance year:
8,816,396.56 Gross square feet

Floor area of energy intensive building space, performance year:
Floor area
Laboratory space 500,889.83 Square feet
Healthcare space 344,261.98 Square feet
Other energy intensive space 269,944.23 Square feet

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:
10,776,644.41 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:
Our plan for making progress toward climate neutrality is dynamic and multifaceted. We recognize that sustainability demands progress on multiple fronts and that lasting change cannot be achieved without coordinated efforts campus-wide. As such, we propose taking a variety of steps to lead the University of Louisville down a path toward climate neutrality with a focus on the following initiatives: green purchasing; energy conservation and efficiency; renewable energy; carbon sequestration; master planning; green building design; composting and horticultural practices; behavior change; recycling; transportation; food; and carbon offsets. Our full Climate Action Plan details over 175 individual steps we plan to take across all of these areas over the next four decades. We have prioritized these actions into short-term (by 2020), mid-term (by 2030) and long-term (by 2050) steps on the way to climate neutrality. The university intends to continually monitor progress and revisit and reevaluate these plans as the years pass in a spirit of adaptive management. Our Climate Action Plan is available at https://louisville.edu/sustainability/sustainability-council/climate-action-plan

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:
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