Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 48.20
Liaison Lauren Poole
Submission Date Dec. 10, 2021

STARS v2.2

Colorado School of Mines
OP-2: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.96 / 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 10,909 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 9,828.40 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions from other sources 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from imported electricity 21,846 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 22,417.84 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from imported thermal energy 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 17,751.80 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Total 32,755 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 49,998.04 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):
Mines does not take advantage of any carbon sinks.

Adjusted net GHG emissions

Adjusted net Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions:
Performance year Baseline year
Adjusted net GHG emissions 32,755 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 49,998.04 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, 2018 June 1, 2017
End date June 30, 2019 June 30, 2018

A brief description of when and why the GHG emissions baseline was adopted:
FY 17/18 was adopted as the GHG baseline year because it is the most recent year with publically available utilities histories before Mines hired a sustainability coordinator and began taking dramatic steps to change its sustainability performance. Thus, the data from FY 17/18 is the most up to date whilst still being the least impacted by the efforts of Mines's new Sustainability Coordinator and collaboration with McKinstry.

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 1,871 1,790
Number of employees resident on-site 5 5
Number of other individuals resident on-site 0 0
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment 6,168 5,412
Full-time equivalent of employees 1,036 1,016
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education 7 0
Weighted Campus Users 5,866.75 5,269.75

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 5.58 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 9.49 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Percentage reduction in adjusted net Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions per weighted campus user from baseline:
41.15

Part 2. GHG emissions per unit of floor area

Performance year floor area

Gross floor area of building space, performance year:
2,606,262 Gross square feet

Floor area of energy intensive building space, performance year:
Floor area
Laboratory space 314,493 Square feet
Healthcare space 3,854 Square feet
Other energy intensive space 637,309 Square feet

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:
3,880,265 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:
0.01 MtCO2e per square foot

A brief description of the institution’s GHG emissions reduction initiatives:
GROSS FLOOR AREA: The square footage for the GHG emissions inventory differs from the PRE-4 number because the company that did the GHG emissions inventory included buildings outside the main campus in their analysis, including a research lab in downtown Denver. It was easier to use the square footage for buildings used for their analysis rather than try to re-calculate the inventory spreadsheet based on the main campus buildings only.
IMPORTED THERMAL ENERGY: There is a data outlier for gross scope 2 emissions due to the renovation of an old heating plant in 2017. From Jan-Apr 2017, the campus was importing some steam from Coors in Golden. However, once the heating plant renovation was complete, we started producing our own steam using 100% natural gas. After Apr 2017, the campus no longer imported thermal energy.

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:
Supplementary data was also taken from floor plan metrics provided by Facilities Management and enrollment/residency statistics taken from the Mines Institutional Research Group. The floor plan metrics can be provided if requested and the Institutional Research can be found at this web address: https://ir.mines.edu/
Number of students in residence numbers from Campus Life Office.

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.