George Washington University
OP-1: Emissions Inventory and Disclosure
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.21 / 3.00 |
Mansi
Talwar Executive Director of Engineering, Utilities and Energy Department of Safety and Facilities |
"---"
indicates that no data was submitted for this field
Part 1. Greenhouse gas emissions inventory
Yes
A copy of the most recent GHG emissions inventory:
A brief description of the methodology and/or tool used to complete the GHG emissions inventory:
Prior to FY17, GW's GHG emissions were calculated using the University of New Hampshire’s Campus Carbon Calculator (CCC) (v.6.9 and v.8). For FY17 going forward, GW transitioned to the UNH SIMAP application.
GW used an operational control approach to determine the scope of its footprint. The guiding principle of GW's inventory is to include facilities that are owned or leased by the University that house activities and/or personnel that directly contribute to (e.g., classrooms, offices, research laboratories) and/or support (e.g., administrative offices, student medical clinic, and warehouse space) its academic mission. All facilities used for University purposes that are either owned and operated or rented from a third party are included. Buildings GW owns but rents to others were excluded as they do not house GW personnel or activities, and as such, GW does not control consumption patterns in these locations.
Certain assumptions were used in assembling this inventory, including the following:
Metrics for emissions from leased building spaces included certain assumptions, as the University is limited in its ability to track emissions from spaces it does not own/manage. For this metric, emissions were calculated using the following energy estimates in kBTU/GSF: 45 for warehouses, 83 for classrooms, 93 for offices, and 105 for medical spaces. Energy consumption is allocated as 50% from electricity and 50% from natural gas. These figures were based on existing data from similar buildings and Department of Energy (DOE) Energy Information Administration's (EIA's) 2003 Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) data.
The commuting emissions data do not include student travel to/from campus at the beginning/end of each semester. In 2022, GW performed a comprehensive transportation survey of each population (students, staff, and faculty). A survey completed in 2005 was used for GW’s initial baseline GHG inventory for FY2008, and subsequent surveys were issued in 2010 and 2016 and 2019.
GW used an operational control approach to determine the scope of its footprint. The guiding principle of GW's inventory is to include facilities that are owned or leased by the University that house activities and/or personnel that directly contribute to (e.g., classrooms, offices, research laboratories) and/or support (e.g., administrative offices, student medical clinic, and warehouse space) its academic mission. All facilities used for University purposes that are either owned and operated or rented from a third party are included. Buildings GW owns but rents to others were excluded as they do not house GW personnel or activities, and as such, GW does not control consumption patterns in these locations.
Certain assumptions were used in assembling this inventory, including the following:
Metrics for emissions from leased building spaces included certain assumptions, as the University is limited in its ability to track emissions from spaces it does not own/manage. For this metric, emissions were calculated using the following energy estimates in kBTU/GSF: 45 for warehouses, 83 for classrooms, 93 for offices, and 105 for medical spaces. Energy consumption is allocated as 50% from electricity and 50% from natural gas. These figures were based on existing data from similar buildings and Department of Energy (DOE) Energy Information Administration's (EIA's) 2003 Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) data.
The commuting emissions data do not include student travel to/from campus at the beginning/end of each semester. In 2022, GW performed a comprehensive transportation survey of each population (students, staff, and faculty). A survey completed in 2005 was used for GW’s initial baseline GHG inventory for FY2008, and subsequent surveys were issued in 2010 and 2016 and 2019.
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?:
No
A brief description of the GHG inventory verification process:
---
Documentation to support the GHG inventory verification process:
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Scope 1 GHG emissions
| Weight in MTCO2e | |
| Stationary combustion | 32,904.60 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Other sources (mobile combustion, process emissions, fugitive emissions) | 1,866.57 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
Total gross Scope 1 GHG emissions, performance year:
34,771.17
Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Scope 2 GHG emissions
| Weight in MTCO2e | |
| Imported electricity | 10,389.88 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Imported thermal energy | 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
Total gross Scope 2 GHG emissions, performance year:
10,389.88
Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
GHG emissions from biomass combustion
0
Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Scope 3 GHG emissions
| Yes or No | Weight in MTCO2e | |
| Business travel | Yes | 9,839.52 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Commuting | Yes | 10,089.65 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Purchased goods and services | Yes | 122.23 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Capital goods | No | --- |
| Fuel- and energy-related activities not included in Scope 1 or Scope 2 | Yes | 1,938.91 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Waste generated in operations | Yes | 301.56 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Other sources | Yes | 425.85 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
Total Scope 3 GHG emissions, performance year:
22,717.72
Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
A brief description of how the institution accounted for its Scope 3 emissions:
Certain assumptions were used in assembling this inventory, including the following:
Business travel mileage is not tracked at present, although information on dollars spent is available. Therefore, to develop an air mileage figure, dollars spent were converted into miles flown (using SIMAP). Mileage for other modes of transportation used dollars-per-air-mile-traveled factors for 2015 as tabulated by the Airlines for America (formerly Air Transport Association of America).
Study Abroad travel was tabulated by converting flight schedules into distance traveled primarily using http://www.webflyer.com/travel/mileage_calculator/.
The commuting emissions data do not include student travel to/from campus at the beginning/end of each semester. In fall 2022, GW performed a comprehensive commuting survey of each population (students, staff, and faculty), to improve upon the 2010, 2016, 2019 data used previously. The data for the FY2022 inventory are based on this newer survey and improves data accuracy.
The majority of Paper Purchases for GW are provided by Staples and Dupli. A portion of paper is supplied by Amazon. For GHG reporting, purchases from Staples and Dupli were analyzed and categorized by environmental attribute. Purchases from Amazon were excluded from reporting since the bulk of purchases are made via Staples and Dupli and environmental attributes and weight for Amazon purchases were not available.
Waste data was reported using annual waste hauling reports and wastewater was reported using water usage bills.
Business travel mileage is not tracked at present, although information on dollars spent is available. Therefore, to develop an air mileage figure, dollars spent were converted into miles flown (using SIMAP). Mileage for other modes of transportation used dollars-per-air-mile-traveled factors for 2015 as tabulated by the Airlines for America (formerly Air Transport Association of America).
Study Abroad travel was tabulated by converting flight schedules into distance traveled primarily using http://www.webflyer.com/travel/mileage_calculator/.
The commuting emissions data do not include student travel to/from campus at the beginning/end of each semester. In fall 2022, GW performed a comprehensive commuting survey of each population (students, staff, and faculty), to improve upon the 2010, 2016, 2019 data used previously. The data for the FY2022 inventory are based on this newer survey and improves data accuracy.
The majority of Paper Purchases for GW are provided by Staples and Dupli. A portion of paper is supplied by Amazon. For GHG reporting, purchases from Staples and Dupli were analyzed and categorized by environmental attribute. Purchases from Amazon were excluded from reporting since the bulk of purchases are made via Staples and Dupli and environmental attributes and weight for Amazon purchases were not available.
Waste data was reported using annual waste hauling reports and wastewater was reported using water usage bills.
Part 2. Air pollutant emissions inventory
Yes
Annual weight of emissions for::
| Weight of Emissions | |
| Nitrogen oxides (NOx) | 12.05 Tons |
| Sulfur oxides (SOx) | 0.38 Tons |
| Carbon monoxide (CO) | 9.35 Tons |
| Particulate matter (PM) | 0.89 Tons |
| Ozone (O3) | 0 Tons |
| Lead (Pb) | 0.00 Tons |
| Hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) | 0.40 Tons |
| Ozone-depleting compounds (ODCs) | 0 Tons |
| Other standard categories of air emissions identified in permits and/or regulations | 0.96 Tons |
Do the air pollutant emissions figures provided include the following sources?:
| Yes or No | |
| Major stationary sources | Yes |
| Area sources | Yes |
| Mobile sources | No |
| Commuting | No |
| Off-site electricity production | No |
None
A brief description of the methodology(ies) the institution used to complete its air emissions inventory:
GW compiles a list of all fuel-burning equipment (natural gas-fired or oil-fired) located on each campus within campus boundaries. The equipment inventory includes boilers, emergency generators, fire pumps, water heaters, packaged HVAC units, humidifiers, clothes dryers, and other miscellaneous equipment that burn oil or natural gas. The heat input capacity of all equipment is tracked in British thermal units per hour (BTU/hr) and used to estimate the maximum potential emissions of criteria pollutants in tons per year (TPY) using EPA’s AP-42 emission factors for each pollutant (based on equipment type, fuel source, and capacity). Maximum potential emissions assume equipment is used 24 hrs/day and 7 days/week (or 8760 hours/year). Note that all emergency generators are only permitted to operate a maximum of 500 hours/year; thus, maximum potential emissions for generators are based on the maximum limit of 500 hours/year. Since most equipment are not operated continuously, actual emissions are instead determined based on fuel usage by each equipment, rather than operational hours, and it is typical that actual emissions of each pollutant is no more than 7-8% of the maximum potential emissions. The equipment inventory is maintained frequently to incorporate equipment updates, and annual emissions from the Foggy Bottom and Mount Vernon Campuses?? are required to be submitted to DC's Department of Energy & Environment (DOEE) twice a year.
Optional Fields
32,749.27
Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from imported thermal energy (location-based) :
0
Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Website URL where information about the institution’s emissions inventories is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
---
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
The 7.4 MW combined heat and power (CHP) plant commenced operation in October 2016 (FY17), thus resulting in higher natural gas consumption and associated NOx, SOx, and CO emissions. The system is designed to supply approximately two-thirds of the power for Ross Hall and Science and Engineering Hall, which are the two largest buildings on GW's Foggy Bottom Campus.
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.