Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 80.07
Liaison Lindsey Lyons
Submission Date March 5, 2021

STARS v2.2

Dickinson College
OP-2: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 8.00 / 8.00 Neil Leary
Director
Center for Sustainability Education
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Gross Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions:
Performance year Baseline year
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions from stationary combustion 3,770.50 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 4,601.10 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions from other sources 304.50 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 379.10 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from imported electricity 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 4,538.40 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 4,075 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 9,518.60 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Figures needed to determine net carbon sinks:
Performance year Baseline year
Third-party verified carbon offsets purchased 7,450 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 30 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 89.70 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Carbon storage from non-additional sequestration 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 7,480 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 89.70 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

A brief description of the carbon sinks, including vendor, project source, verification program and contract timeframes (as applicable):

Dickinson utilizes three offset sources: offsets purchased by the college that prevent emissions from nitrogen fertilizer production, offsets purchased on behalf of the college to support a local forestry project, and food waste composted by the college.

Our largest source of offsets comes from the Terra Verdigris fertilizer plant in Oklahoma, which is altering its production process to destroy up to 99 percent of the N2O that was previously released. The offsets are verified by NSF International using the Climate Action Reserve Nitric Acid Production Project Protocol. 7069 MTCO2e of offsets were purchased by Dickinson from this source in FY 2020.

Dickinson alumni, employees and students were invited to purchase carbon offsets on behalf of the college to support a project of the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary and The Nature Conservancy that sequesters 47,000 MTCO2e annually, as verified by SCS Global Services using the American Carbon Registry Standard. The project has special meaning for Dickinson because the Sanctuary, located just 80 miles from campus, provides vital habitat for raptors along a globally important flyway and is a site for birding, hiking and research. 381 MTCO2e of local offsets were purchased from this project for Dickinson in FY 2020.

All food waste from our dining hall is collected, composted at our organic farm, and used by our student farmers to grow food for the campus and Carlisle community. The estimated offsets are relatively small, 30 MTCO2e in FY 2020, and are not third party verified. But the educational value is great, demonstrating to our community the feasibility of a circular food system that returns waste to the land to grow more food.


Adjusted net Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions:
Performance year Baseline year
Adjusted net GHG emissions 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 9,428.90 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
Performance year Baseline year
Start date July 1, 2019 July 1, 2007
End date June 30, 2020 June 30, 2008

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

FY 2008 was adopted as our GHG emissions baseline when Dickinson adopted its Climate Action Plan in 2009. Targets for emission reductions in the Climate Action Plan use 2008 as our base year .


Figures needed to determine “Weighted Campus Users”:
Performance year Baseline year
Number of students resident on-site 1,873 1,912.50
Number of employees resident on-site 19 26
Number of other individuals resident on-site 0 0
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment 2,071 2,345
Full-time equivalent of employees 899 780
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education 0 0
Weighted Campus Users 2,700.50 2,828.38

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 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 3.33 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Percentage reduction in adjusted net Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions per weighted campus user from baseline:
100

Gross floor area of building space, performance year:
1,931,506 Gross square feet

Floor area of energy intensive building space, performance year:
Floor area
Laboratory space 218,339 Square feet
Healthcare space 1,663 Square feet
Other energy intensive space 21,738 Square feet

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:
2,393,248 Gross square feet

Adjusted net Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions per unit of EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:
0 MtCO2e per square foot

A brief description of the institution’s GHG emissions reduction initiatives:

Dickinson has reduced its carbon footprint through four main strategies: 1. increasing energy efficiency of our campus infrastructure and equipment, 2. switching from high-carbon energy sources to low- and zero-carbon energy sources, 3. promoting behavior changes and 4. purchasing renewable energy certificates and carbon offsets.

A recent energy efficiency project that had a large impact is the LED Lighting Blitz. Dickinson replaced nearly all of the light fixtures on campus with LED bulbs, thereby reducing associated energy consumption for lighting by approximately 40%. Other energy efficiency projects include improved computer controls to optimize performance of the central energy plant and the Rector Science Complex, building retrofits to improve energy performance, upgrades to more efficient windows in many of our buildings, purchases of high efficiency equipment when replacing old equipment. All new buildings constructed since 2007 have all incorporated energy efficient design and have been certified LEED Gold or LEED Platinum.

Our largest renewable energy project is a 3-megawatt solar field that supplies over one-quarter of Dickinson’s electricity using zero-carbon energy. Solar panels and biogas production at the Dickinson farm also provide the college with renewable energy while giving our students opportunities for hands-on research.

Conservation behaviors are promoted through an annual Energy Challenge and other campaigns.
Dickinson began purchasing Renewable Energy Credits in 2007 equal to 50% of our annual electricity use and increased REC purchases to 100% in 2010. In 2020 we purchased 7450 metric tons of carbon offsets.


Website URL where information about the institution's GHG emissions is available:
http://www.dickinson.edu/homepage/599/climate_action

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.