Overall Rating	Silver - expired
Overall Score	53.97
Liaison	Stephen Ellis
Submission Date	Aug. 2, 2019
Executive Letter	Download

STARS v2.1

Boston University
OP-1: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Status	Score	Responsible Party
	4.76 / 10.00	Stephen Ellis Director, Data Analytics BU Sustainability

"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1

Has the institution conducted a GHG emissions inventory that includes all Scope 1 and 2 emissions? :

Yes

Does the institution’s GHG emissions inventory include all, some or none of its Scope 3 GHG emissions from the following categories?:

	All, Some, or None
Business travel	None
Commuting	None
Purchased goods and services	None
Capital goods	None
Waste generated in operations	None
Fuel- and energy-related activities not included in Scope 1 or Scope 2	None
Other categories	None

A copy of the most recent GHG emissions inventory:

FY18_GHG Report_Final_eFmevig.pdf

A brief description of the methodology and/or tool used to complete the GHG emissions inventory, including how the institution accounted for each category of Scope 3 emissions reported above:

Boston University (BU) used the University of New Hampshire's Sustainability Indicator Management and Analysis Platform (SIMAP) to calculate greenhouse gas emissions. Prior to BU's FY2018 STARS submission, we used an institutional boundary that included just the Charles River and Medical Campuses. Starting in our FY2018 STARS submission, we have expanded our institutional boundary and associated metrics to off-campus facilities within New England. In addition, on June 1, 2018, Wheelock College merged with BU, becoming the Fenway Campus; this campus will also be included in our institutional boundary for the last month of the 2018 fiscal year (FY). We intend to include Global Programs when that data becomes available in the coming years. We have uploaded FY 2006 through 2018 data into SIMAP. BU uses an FY2006 baseline year for all sustainability-metric data. We account for Scope 1 emissions of (1) stationary combustion of fossil fuels on campus, (2) transportation-related fossil fuel consumption, (3) emissions from refrigerants & chemicals, and (4) fertilizers, Scope 2 emissions of purchases of (5) electricity and (6) steam. We included emissions from the Boston University Shuttle (BUS) for the first time in our 2018 STARS submission. In that submission, we included the same amount of emissions in our baseline year (FY06) as our performance year (FY16). In our FY2018 STARS submission, we include more precise estimates of the emissions from the BUS. Specifically, we used nearly complete BUS fuel consumption data from FY13-18 to estimate FY06-12 using a linear regression model. The FY13-18 data had 5 months of missing data; we estimated the fuel consumption of these missing months as the average of the other four years of data for the specific month missing. Overall for our baseline, we estimate a 4% decrease in our Scope 1 Stationary Emissions, a 50% decrease in our Scope 1 Other Emissions, and a 1% increase in our Scope 2 Electricity Emissions due to the reanalysis of FY06 utility data and the more precise estimation of FY06 BUS-related fuel consumption. Regarding water consumption: We used BU's Facilities Management and Planning Department records of water consumption on campus. Regarding transmission and distribution losses: We use the values reported by SIMAP that are generated by entering in electricity consumption data.

Has the GHG emissions inventory been validated internally by personnel who are independent of the GHG accounting and reporting process and/or verified by an independent, external third party?:

A brief description of the internal and/or external verification process:

---

Documentation to support the internal and/or external verification process:

---

Does the institution wish to pursue Part 2 and Part 3 of this credit? (reductions in Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions):

Yes

Part 2

Gross Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions from stationary combustion	48,019 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	58,825 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions from other sources	1,614 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	1,802 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from purchased electricity	66,250 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	91,795 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from other sources	10,387 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	13,013 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Total	126,270 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	165,435 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):

	Start Date	End Date
Performance Year	July 1, 2017	June 30, 2018
Baseline Year	July 1, 2005	June 30, 2006

A brief description of when and why the GHG emissions baseline was adopted (e.g. in sustainability plans and policies or in the context of other reporting obligations):

In an effort to capture a more complete picture of our emissions, we have included fleet, fugitive, and shuttle emissions for the first time under Scope 1 - other sources. These figures had not been included in the past because of missing or incorrect data dating back to FY 2006. Historically, the boundary for the University's STARS reports has been limited to the Charles River and Medical Campuses. This year, for the first time we have been able to capture emissions data from facilities off campus within New England. We intend to include Global Programs when that data becomes available in the coming years. In addition, on June 1, 2018, Wheelock College merged with BU, becoming the Fenway Campus; this campus will also be included in our institutional boundary for the last month of the 2018 fiscal year (FY). We intend to include Global Programs when that data becomes available in the coming years.

Figures needed to determine total carbon offsets:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Third-party verified carbon offsets purchased (exclude purchased RECs/GOs)	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 sequestration due to land that the institution manages specifically for sequestration	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 offsets included above for which the emissions reductions have been sold or transferred by the institution	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Net carbon offsets	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

If total performance year carbon offsets are greater than zero, provide:

A brief description of the offsets in each category reported above, including vendor, project source, verification program and contract timeframes (as applicable):

---

The reporting fields in the table below are reserved for institutions that have NOT already accounted for renewable energy purchases (including RECs and GOs) in their Scope 2 GHG emissions calculations. Other institutions - including all SIMAP users - should report zero ('0') to avoid double-counting.

Emissions reductions attributable to Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) or Guarantee of Origin (GO) purchases:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Emissions reductions attributable to REC/GO purchases	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

A brief description of the purchased RECs/GOs including vendor, project source and verification program:

---

Adjusted net Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Adjusted net Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions	126,270 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	165,435 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Figures needed to determine “Weighted Campus Users”:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Number of students resident on-site	11,504	11,185
Number of employees resident on-site	175	181
Number of other individuals resident on-site and/or staffed hospital beds	0	0
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment	27,168	24,623
Full-time equivalent of employees (staff + faculty)	9,253	8,439
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education	993	1,605
Weighted campus users	29,490.75	26,434.25

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	4.28 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	6.26 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

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

31.58

Part 3

Gross floor area of building space, performance year:

15,029,385 Gross square feet

Floor area of energy intensive building space, performance year:

	Floor Area
Laboratory space	678,619.76 Square feet
Healthcare space	63,946.99 Square feet
Other energy intensive space	229,416.27 Square feet

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:

16,743,934.77 Gross square feet

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

0.01 MtCO2e per square foot

Optional Fields

Scope 3 GHG emissions, performance year:

	Emissions
Business travel	---
Commuting	---
Purchased goods and services	---
Capital goods	---
Fuel- and energy-related activities not included in Scope 1 or Scope 2	---
Waste generated in operations	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Other categories	---

A brief description of the institution’s GHG emissions reduction initiatives, including efforts made during the previous three years:

BU's initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions can be found at the following two websites: 1. BU's Climate Action Plan: http://www.bu.edu/climateactionplan/ 2. BU's sustainability@BU Climate Action website: http://www.bu.edu/sustainability/what-were-doing/climate-action

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:

http://www.bu.edu/sustainability/what-were-doing/climate-action

Additional documentation to support the submission:

---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

---