Overall Rating	Gold
Overall Score	75.14
Liaison	Kylee Singh
Submission Date	July 10, 2023

STARS v2.2

California Polytechnic State University
OP-2: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Status	Score	Responsible Party
	5.72 / 8.00	Edgar Palacios Energy and Sustainability Analyst Facilities Management and Development

"---" 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	11,732 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	11,685.10 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions from other sources	2,750 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	3,283 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from imported electricity	1,668 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	7,072.88 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	16,150 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	22,040.98 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	1,900 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Carbon storage from non-additional sequestration	579 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	1,900 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):

Carbon Storage from non-additional sequestration: Cal Poly has two carbon farming plans the university is working to implement.

Swanton Pacific Carbon Farm Plan- The Center for Sustainability, together with the Carbon Cycle Institute, the Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz County, and Swanton Pacific Ranch (SPR), has developed a Carbon Farm Plan for the organically managed acreage at SPR. The data and carbon sequestration calculations can be found in the finished SPR Carbon Farm Plan here: http://cfs.calpoly.edu/carbon_farm_plan Existing projects are estimated at 579 tons/ year of question.

Cal Poly Ranches Carbon Farming Plan- Prepared by the Coastal San Luis Resource Conservation District, this plan specifies strategies to reduce carbon on roughly 4,000 acres of Cal Poly owned and managed rangelands. As of 2023, roughly 579 tons of carbon have been sequestered due to numerous projects which have been implemented. This plan can be found here: https://storage.googleapis.com/coastalrcd-org/uploads/2021/08/138c1ddf-cp-ranches-carbon-farm-plan.pdf

Carbon Storage from on-site composting- In order to calculate carbon storage from the Cal Poly's on-site composting facility we consulted with Jeff Creque, Director of Rangeland and Agroecosystem Management, Carbon Cycle Institute (www.carboncycle.org/about-cci/team/) he shared his method for calculation but ultimately said it is best to assume a 1 to 1 ratio, for every ton of compost produced you can assume a ton of CO2 stored.

Annually, Cal Poly produces 3500 yards of finished composted that is either sold, or most liekyl used on campus. 3500 yards* (1200lbs/yd) *(1ton/2204 lbs) * (1ton compost/ 1 ton of CO2) = 1,900 tons of finished composting resulting in 1,900 tons of CO2 sequestered from on-campus composting.

Adjusted net GHG emissions

Adjusted net Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions:

	Performance year	Baseline year
Adjusted net GHG emissions	14,250 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	22,040.98 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, 1990
End date	June 30, 2022	June 30, 1991

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

California implemented the legally binding Global Warming Solutions Act (AB32) in 2006, which commits the state to reducing its emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, and by an additional 80 percent by 2050. Given that the performance year typically submitted is adjusted to the academic fiscal year then it is appropriate to adjust the baseline to FY 1990-1991.

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	8,500	2,775
Number of employees resident on-site	18	9
Number of other individuals resident on-site	14	1
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment	20,892	15,899
Full-time equivalent of employees	2,325	1,884
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education	0	0
Weighted Campus Users	19,556.25	14,034.25

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	0.73 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	1.57 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

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

53.60

Part 2. GHG emissions per unit of floor area

Performance year floor area

Gross floor area of building space, performance year:

6,526,706 Gross square feet

Floor area of energy intensive building space, performance year:

	Floor area
Laboratory space	85,034 Square feet
Healthcare space	9,110 Square feet
Other energy intensive space	67,195 Square feet

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:

6,782,189 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:

Cal Poly continues to make progress on its goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, reducing total greenhouse gas emissions by 35 percent over compared to 1990 baseline emissions, despite roughly doubling the square-footage of campus.

The goal to reduce emissions to pre-1990 levels by 2020 was met five years ahead of the state mandate, despite ~100 percent growth in building square footage and on-campus housing since that time. Much of this progress has to do with greater renewable energy generation across the state from solar and wind, leading to PG&E’s electricity mix being 91% GHG-free. In addition, with completion of Cal Poly’s 4.5 MW Gold Tree Solar Farm in May of 2018, and the YTT 431 kW solar array in 2021, nearly 30% of Cal Poly’s total electricity needs are now being met by on-site solar generation, with more solar projects in development.

Natural gas (methane) consumption and commuter transportation together make up roughly 80% of Cal Poly’s remaining emissions, with agricultural operations, electricity, waste, fleet fuels and water use making up the remainder. Thus, the greatest challenge Cal Poly faces on its path to carbon neutrality is transforming the way commuters get to campus, and how campus generates heat for spacing and water heating.

For transportation, Parking Services (TAPS) has implemented numerous initiatives to reduce emissions from commuting, including free bus passes, development of an on-campus circulator shuttle, prohibition of cars for freshmen living on campus, continual addition of bike racks (and lockers), and expansion of ZipCar for on-campus students and vanpool programs for employees. TAPS has also installed 36 level II electric vehicle car charging stations at 3 different parking garages/ lots, with more planned. The 2022 campus Transportation Survey found that while the number of electric vehicle miles traveled (VMTs) is increasing, it also found the length of travel for staff/ faculty increasing. This reflects the high cost of housing in San Luis Obispo, and the fact that many faculty/ staff live increasingly far away from campus and are commuting in father distances. On-campus housing for both faculty/ staff and students is in development and remains one of the biggest strategies to reduce commuter emissions.

For natural gas consumption, Cal Poly is working to build all-electric new buildings and also looking for retrofit opportunities where converting gas equipment to electric heat pump technology is cost-effective and feasible. Cal Poly’s 2019 Utility Master Plan identified that the main campus central plant is a good candidate for heat recovery chiller technology whereby the waste heat from the chiller, which is normally rejected to the atmosphere via cooling towers, can be transferred to the campus boiler plant/ heating loop. This could lead to a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from natural gas on campus and is one of the primary projects as part of a ~$200 million DEEP energy project that is currently being developed.

As of June 2023, Cal Poly was in the process of finalizing its 2nd Climate Action Plan.

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

https://afd.calpoly.edu/sustainability/docs/sustainability_reports/2018_sustainabilityreport.pdf

Additional documentation to support the submission:

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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

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