Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 72.89
Liaison Tom Twist
Submission Date Nov. 8, 2023

STARS v2.2

Bates College
OP-2: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 7.82 / 8.00 Tom Twist
Sustainability Manager
Facilities
"---" 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 5,743 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 8,217.80 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions from other sources 169 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 128 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from imported electricity 4,518 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 5,150 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 10,430 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 13,495.80 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Carbon sinks

Figures needed to determine net carbon sinks:
Performance year Baseline year
Third-party verified carbon offsets purchased 9,932 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 9,932 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):
For FY 2022, we purchased 9932 MT of carbon offsets - landfill gas recapture, third party verified by Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) voluntary market.

Adjusted net GHG emissions

Adjusted net Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions:
Performance year Baseline year
Adjusted net GHG emissions 498 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 13,495.80 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, 2021 July 1, 2000
End date July 1, 2022 July 1, 2001

A brief description of when and why the GHG emissions baseline was adopted:
Our Energy Task Force, as well as our Committee for Environmental Responsibility, made up of Facilities and Faculty members, sought to begin the process of documenting our carbon emissions in 2000. The initial motivation for this came from the newly-hired part-time Environmental Coordinator, and from the Environmental Studies department. By 2001, they had put the structures in place to start collecting very basic energy data for the first GHG inventory. Our Environmental Coordinator also believed that it would be a good project to involve students in real-world data analysis, and so part of the initial motivation was student-driven.

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 1,805 1,630
Number of employees resident on-site 130 120
Number of other individuals resident on-site 100 95
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment 1,821 1,645
Full-time equivalent of employees 696 876
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education 0 0
Weighted Campus Users 2,471.50 2,423.25

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 0.20 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 5.57 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Percentage reduction in adjusted net Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions per weighted campus user from baseline:
96.38

Part 2. GHG emissions per unit of floor area

Performance year floor area

Gross floor area of building space, performance year:
1,840,000 Gross square feet

Floor area of energy intensive building space, performance year:
Floor area
Laboratory space 183,609 Square feet
Healthcare space 11,000 Square feet
Other energy intensive space 445,770 Square feet

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:
2,674,988 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:
0.00 MtCO2e per square foot

A brief description of the institution’s GHG emissions reduction initiatives:
We have converted our central heating plant to burn two new biomass-based fuels - the first is a liquid fuel, known as Renewable Fuel Oil, that has dramatically reduced our carbon emissions. It comes from a rapid pyrolysis process of waste sawdust - that is, the wood fibers are volatilized in the absence of oxygen, then condensed to form a liquid fuel. We were able to use our original central steam plant boilers to burn this fuel, which helped enormously with the cost of adoption of this new fuel. See Innovation Credit for more info.

The second fuel is LR100, which is waste vegetable oil. In FY22, we burned more of this than the RFO, because of supply-chain issues.

About a third of our reductions come from energy efficiency measures. Installing VFD's and heat recovery systems, as well as upgrading sections of our steam line, and insulating our largest buildings have helped us see a large EUI reduction. We have recently installed a more robust building controls and monitoring system, which has allowed us to establish night time and holiday setbacks.

We also purchase 100% green power for all our electricity. We have begun burning a B20 biodiesel blend in our smaller houses. We have hit our carbon neutrality goal a year yearly (2019), and are currently working towards attaining our 2030 goals.

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:
---

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.