Overall Rating	Silver - expired
Overall Score	47.67
Liaison	Holly Andersen
Submission Date	Jan. 26, 2021

STARS v2.2

Bennington College
OP-2: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Status	Score	Responsible Party
	2.71 / 8.00

"---" 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	2,115.16 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	1,859.40 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions from other sources	81.93 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	93.10 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from imported electricity	1,160.63 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	700 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from imported thermal energy	1,415 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	2,025 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Total	4,772.72 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	4,677.50 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	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:

A brief description of the carbon sinks, including vendor, project source, verification program and contract timeframes (as applicable):

We have working on reporting this since 2013. The work is completed by students on campus and has gotten better and more inclusive in each cycle, that is why we have the same base year, it is comparing apples to oranges if we use previous years data. Before last year, the last inventory we performed was in 2015. You can see the information Here: https://reporting.secondnature.org/ghg/ghg-public!3435

Adjusted net GHG emissions

Adjusted net Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions:

	Performance year	Baseline year
Adjusted net GHG emissions	4,772.72 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	4,677.50 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	Oct. 1, 2018	Oct. 1, 2013
End date	Oct. 31, 2019	Oct. 1, 2014

A brief description of when and why the GHG emissions baseline was adopted:

The College signed the American College and University President's climate commitment in 2015, though we started to try and capture our carbon footprint starting in 2011. This work has been on-going and sporadic based on student interest. This AASHE reporting, our first, is intended to re-ignite these efforts and continue them on an annual basis.

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	735	600
Number of employees resident on-site	300	250
Number of other individuals resident on-site	15	10
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment	735	646
Full-time equivalent of employees	135	115
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education	0	0
Weighted Campus Users	1,050	860

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	4.55 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	5.44 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

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

16.43

Part 2. GHG emissions per unit of floor area

Performance year floor area

Gross floor area of building space, performance year:

46,946.77 Gross square meters

Floor area of energy intensive building space, performance year:

	Floor area
Laboratory space	357.09 Square meters
Healthcare space	128.86 Square meters
Other energy intensive space	1,393.55 Square meters

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:

49,312.21 Gross square meters

Metric used in scoring for Part 2

Adjusted net Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions per unit of EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:

0.10 MtCO2e per square meter

A brief description of the institution’s GHG emissions reduction initiatives:

We have so many. Beyond plastics, through CAPA, is the URL listed below. We are also working with Efficiency Vermont on their Continuous Energy Improvement pilot program, changing people's behaviors around energy. We continuously work in energy saving work whenever we perform a capital project. Over my almost 12 years here, we have saved 2,490,066 kWh annually and $429,232 in annual resource savings.

Website URL where information about the institution's GHG emissions is available:

https://www.bennington.edu/news-and-features/beyond-plastics-project-launched

Additional documentation to support the submission:

---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

I have a report from Efficiency Vermont to prove our annual electrical savings, though it has confidential information on it. I can certainly show it to you.

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.