| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 70.78 |
| Liaison | Julia Carlow |
| Submission Date | July 25, 2024 |
American University of Sharjah
OP-2: Greenhouse Gas Emissions
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.34 / 8.00 |
Sahar
Ibrahim Project Coordinator Sustainability |
Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions
Gross GHG emissions
| Performance year | Baseline year | |
| Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions from stationary combustion | 417.33 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent | 42.50 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions from other sources | 1,940.16 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent | 590.10 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from imported electricity | 34,081.68 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent | 30,371.80 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 | 36,439.17 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent | 31,004.40 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
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:
Adjusted net GHG emissions
| Performance year | Baseline year | |
| Adjusted net GHG emissions | 36,439.17 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent | 31,004.40 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
Performance and baseline periods
| Performance year | Baseline year | |
| Start date | June 1, 2022 | June 1, 2018 |
| End date | May 31, 2023 | May 31, 2019 |
A brief description of when and why the GHG emissions baseline was adopted:
The year of June 1, 2018 – May 31, 2019 was selected as the GHG emissions baseline as this was the last academic/fiscal year that campus activities were not impacted by COVID-19. The GHG emissions baseline was adopted to serve as the foundation for measurement of reductions in AUS’ GHG emissions.
Additionally there is a significant difference between performance and baseline years of Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions values due to the improvement in the quality of data that is now being collected. Previously, there was a significant gap and information such as refrigerant data as well as lpg and diesel values was not as readily available.
Part 1. Reduction in GHG emissions per person
Weighted campus users
| Performance year | Baseline year | |
| Number of students resident on-site | 1,411 | 1,511 |
| Number of employees resident on-site | 367 | 411 |
| Number of other individuals resident on-site | 1,200 | 849 |
| Total full-time equivalent student enrollment | 5,431 | 5,230 |
| Full-time equivalent of employees | 825.67 | 893 |
| Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education | 0 | 0 |
| Weighted Campus Users | 6,337.00 | 5,921.75 |
Metrics used in scoring for Part 1
| Performance year | Baseline year | |
| Adjusted net Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions per weighted campus user | 5.75 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent | 5.24 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
Percentage reduction in adjusted net Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions per weighted campus user from baseline:
Part 2. GHG emissions per unit of floor area
Performance year floor area
Floor area of energy intensive building space, performance year:
| Floor area | |
| Laboratory space | 20,380 Square meters |
| Healthcare space | 710 Square meters |
| Other energy intensive space | 2,393.45 Square meters |
EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:
Metric used in scoring for Part 2
A brief description of the institution’s GHG emissions reduction initiatives:
Three main areas of action were identified to reduce emissions. They were energy generation and usage, sustainable transportation, and sustainable supply chain and construction. Some of the main recommendations/ actions for specific emission categories are listed below. 1. Stationary combustion: -Behavior change campaigns with vendors on ways to conserve gas usage. 2. Mobile Combustion:-Requirement of electric vehicles in university in tenders, contracts, and leases. -Develop a plan and implement sufficient solar charging stations to maintain AUS’s leased and owned fleet of EVs, electric club cars, and electric scooters with green energy. -Conversion of 20% of AUS’s fleet to electric vehicles by 2025 3. Refrigerants:-Behavior change campaigns with vendors. -Usage and recovery tracking and reporting for all refrigerants included in all tenders, contracts, and leases. -Incentivizing year over year reduction in fugitive refrigerant emissions. 4.Electricity:-Create a resource dashboard for departments and housing to allow users to track energy usage -Provide annual training to cleaning services providers on how to conserve energy and water in academic areas, residential halls, and faculty housing. -Further energy efficiency upgrades, including thermal insulation, pump upgrades and improved sensing and monitoring. -Installing a 7 MW on-site solar photovoltaic (PV) system. -Research viability of geothermal heating and implement a pilot project. -Partial campus conversion to solar energy in housing, renovated buildings, and new construction. -Create standards/guidelines for construction tenders to ensure improvement of all building envelopes and system performance during renovation work and new construction. -Conduct research and feasibility studies into other alternative energy/fuel generation on campus, such as wind and biomass. -Install individual smart electricity and water meters in faculty housing units to provide accurate data on household electricity and water consumption. -Integrate meters with mobile application interface allowing users to track usage and compare to other similar housing units. *
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:
Baseline numbers were optained from: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.aus.edu/sites/default/files/final_american_university_of_sharjah_-_ghg_report_fy_19w.o_confidential.pdf
Baseline statistics were based on fall 2018 facts: https://www.aus.edu/about/aus-at-a-glance/facts-and-figures/fast-facts-fall-2018 and Julien Carter December 2021.
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.