Overall Rating	Platinum
Overall Score	86.33
Liaison	Lisa Kilgore
Submission Date	March 1, 2024

STARS v2.2

Cornell University
OP-1: Emissions Inventory and Disclosure

Status	Score	Responsible Party
	2.83 / 3.00	Sarah Carson Director, Campus Sustainability Office FS - Energy & Sustainability

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

Part 1. Greenhouse gas emissions inventory

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

Yes

A copy of the most recent GHG emissions inventory:

STARS_GHG_Inventory_from_SIMAP_preliminary_FY23.pdf

A brief description of the methodology and/or tool used to complete the GHG emissions inventory:

Cornell reports via the UNH SIMAP reporting system and Second Nature Carbon Commitment. Cornell publishes a baseline and additional inventory publicly each year to distinguish between baseline GHG emission categories included in the carbon neutrality goal:
Baseline Inventory: Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 Air Travel & Commuting
Additional Inventory: New and emerging areas of Scope 3 emissions

Baseline GHG data are gathered, verified, and published annually. Additional inventories are completed by campus community members and updated at their discretion.

Process for completing SIMAP annual inventory:
1) Obtain fuel records
2) Obtain purchased electric records
3) Calculate consumption
4) Determine commuting emissions using 3rd party commuting tool & SIMAP
5) Determine air travel mileage (input to SIMAP)
6) Input consumption and mileage data into SIMAP to determine emissions
7) Determine emissions associated with exported electric following WRI Protocol for Combined Heat & Power
8) Submit other data as required based on annual reporting

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?:

Yes

A brief description of the GHG inventory verification process:

Emissions estimates are part of USEPA Clean Air Act Reporting requirements and are certified by Cornell's authorized regulatory official. Another managerial level staff member has also reviewed and approved. The Title V reporting components are different than STARS and Climate Commitment reporting; however, the Title V data does assist in validating the reasonableness of the majority of STARS / SIMAP data

Documentation to support the GHG inventory verification process:

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Scope 1 GHG emissions

Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions, performance year:

	Weight in MTCO2e
Stationary combustion	133,193 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Other sources (mobile combustion, process emissions, fugitive emissions)	4,618 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Total gross Scope 1 GHG emissions, performance year:

137,811 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Scope 2 GHG emissions

Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions, performance year (market-based):

	Weight in MTCO2e
Imported electricity	3,872 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Imported thermal energy	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Total gross Scope 2 GHG emissions, performance year:

3,872 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

GHG emissions from biomass combustion

Gross GHG emissions from biogenic sources, performance year:

0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Scope 3 GHG emissions

Does the GHG emissions inventory include Scope 3 emissions from the following sources?:

	Yes or No	Weight in MTCO2e
Business travel	Yes	29,310 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Commuting	Yes	21,211 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Purchased goods and services	Yes	270,261 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Capital goods	No	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Fuel- and energy-related activities not included in Scope 1 or Scope 2	Yes	64,736 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Waste generated in operations	Yes	1,184 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Other sources	Yes	-1 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Total Scope 3 GHG emissions, performance year:

386,701 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

A brief description of how the institution accounted for its Scope 3 emissions:

Business air travel, commuting, and waste generated in options were calculated using the UNH SiMAP tool. Purchased goods were calculated by analyzing procurement spend data versus cradle to gate and use phase emissions factors created by ASU for mtcde per $ spent using standardized product categories.

Fuel and energy related activities not included in Scope 1 or Scope 2 are upstream methane emissions for Cornell's natural gas calculated using a leakage rate from the EDF consensus study and GWP 100 consistent with guidance from IPCC and Second Nature.

Additional Scope 3 areas of waste generation in operations (landfill with gas capture and electric generation) and wastewater (aerobic treatment plant with anaerobic digestion) were measured this year using the UNH SiMAP tool.

Other sources includes upstream transportation and distribution of purchased goods, however that number is included of the purchased goods and services number as those stages were part of the emission factor applied.

Part 2. Air pollutant emissions inventory

Has the institution completed an inventory within the previous three years to quantify its air pollutant emissions?:

Yes

Annual weight of emissions for::

	Weight of Emissions
Nitrogen oxides (NOx)	30.04 Tons
Sulfur oxides (SOx)	7.02 Tons
Carbon monoxide (CO)	13.48 Tons
Particulate matter (PM)	6.55 Tons
Ozone (O3)	0 Tons
Lead (Pb)	0 Tons
Hazardous air pollutants (HAPs)	2.30 Tons
Ozone-depleting compounds (ODCs)	0 Tons
Other standard categories of air emissions identified in permits and/or regulations	2.68 Tons

Do the air pollutant emissions figures provided include the following sources?:

	Yes or No
Major stationary sources	Yes
Area sources	No
Mobile sources	Yes
Commuting	No
Off-site electricity production	No

None

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

Cornell performed a comprehensive air emission source inventory to prepare the initial Title V air emission permit. Campus partners are queried annually to update that inventory which serves as a baseline for multiple reports. Data is based on CY 2022 Title V submittal. CY 2023 data Not Available till April 2024.

Optional Fields

Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from purchased electricity (location-based):

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Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from imported thermal energy (location-based) :

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Website URL where information about the institution’s emissions inventories is available:

https://sustainablecampus.cornell.edu/our-leadership/cap/ghg-inventory

Additional documentation to support the submission:

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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Scope 1 stationary combustion emissions includes a deduction associated with exported energy. Cornell's Combined Heat & Power facility will sometimes generate electricity that exceeds campus demand. This excess electric is exported to the grid. The deduction represents the emissions associated with this energy not used on campus. This value is approximately 26,366 metric tons. We would prefer reporting this value via Scope 3; however, the AASHE STARS input sheet cannot handle the input of negative values. Our SIMAP GHG reporting includes this adjustment in the "offset" field.

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.