Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 65.89
Liaison Allie Schwartz
Submission Date Aug. 29, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Columbia University
OP-2: Outdoor Air Quality

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.50 / 1.00 Allie Schwartz
Assistant Director, Planning and Outreach
Environmental Stewardship, Columbia University Facilities and Operations
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution have policies and/or guidelines in place to improve outdoor air quality and minimize air pollutant emissions from mobile sources on campus?:
Yes

A brief description of the policies and/or guidelines to improve outdoor air quality and minimize air pollutant emissions from mobile sources:

Columbia developed an Idle-Free Campaign to help raise awareness of idling and to educate the community, ultimately helping to meet the NYC and University goals around clean air, greenhouse gas reductions, noise reduction and efficient resource use.
http://www.ehs.columbia.edu/IdleFreeCampaign.pdf

In July of 2014, Columbia University adopted the following policy to assure compliance with applicable law and to promote the health and safety of its community.

Smoking is prohibited in any indoor area, in all University vehicles, and outdoor seating or viewing areas of sports arenas and recreational areas, such as those at Baker Field. Smoking is also prohibited outdoors within 20 feet of all University buildings (including undergraduate housing).
Without in any way limiting the general rule, smoking is specifically prohibited in the following areas at the University: auditoriums, classrooms, conference rooms, meeting rooms, laboratories and storage areas, employee or student lounges, theaters, clubhouses, elevators, hallways, stairwells, restrooms, undergraduate apartment buildings or residence halls, gymnasiums, swimming pools, employee or student medical facilities, rooms or areas containing photocopying or other equipment used by employees or students in common, food markets or other retail stores, restaurants, cafeterias and dining facilities (including the Faculty House), and bars or other places in which alcoholic or other beverages are served.
Notwithstanding the above descriptions of locations where smoking is prohibited or permitted, smoking is prohibited in any area with signage indicating that smoking is prohibited. Smoking is entirely restricted except for 15 designated outdoor locations.
Employees at the Medical Center Campus are required to obey campus-specific smoking policies along with New York Presbyterian Hospital applicable to hospital premises. Violations of the hospital's policies by University employees will be considered violations of this policy.

This policy will also be applied to the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and Nevis Laboratories unless local laws in those two locations were to require more restrictive practices.

Additionally, Columbia contracts with Academy Bus for the shuttle system, which has a no-idling policy for their vehicles.

Lastly, Columbia utilizes hybrid or electric vehicles whenever possible to reduce emissions from vehicle exhaust. For more on hybrid/electric vehicle usage, see the transportation section.


Has the institution completed an inventory of significant air emissions from stationary campus sources or else verified that no such emissions are produced?:
No

Weight of the following categories of air emissions from stationary sources::
Weight of Emissions
Nitrogen oxides (NOx) ---
Sulfur oxides (SOx) ---
Carbon monoxide (CO) ---
Particulate matter (PM) ---
Ozone (O3) ---
Lead (Pb) ---
Hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) ---
Ozone-depleting compounds (ODCs) ---
Other standard categories of air emissions identified in permits and/or regulations ---

A brief description of the methodology(ies) the institution used to complete its air emissions inventory:

Columbia University submits an annual emissions inventory to the NYSDEC using fuel consumption data provided by the Central Plant.


The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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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.