Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 74.94
Liaison Yumiko Jakobcic
Submission Date March 5, 2021

STARS v2.2

Grand Valley State University
OP-1: Emissions Inventory and Disclosure

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.88 / 3.00 Yumiko Jakobcic
Campus Sustainability Coordinator
Office of Sustainability Practices
"---" 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:
A brief description of the methodology and/or tool used to complete the GHG emissions inventory:
GVSU previously utilized the Clean Air Cool Planet excel spreadsheet. This year, we partnered with a local consulting firm to create a tool tailored to GVSU. An added benefit of this partnership was that a GVSU student was able to serve as an intern and learn throughout the process.

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:
As part of our internal verification process, the data is provided by various departments and then analyzed by the Office of Sustainability Practices. We also had our Scope 1 and Scope 2 data audited by an external third party as part of our partnership with Chevrolet's Campus Clean Energy Efficiency Campaign.

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 15,650 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Other sources (mobile combustion, process emissions, fugitive emissions) 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Total gross Scope 1 GHG emissions, performance year:
15,650 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Scope 2 GHG emissions
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions, performance year (market-based):
Weight in MTCO2e
Imported electricity 33,880 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Imported thermal energy 908 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Total gross Scope 2 GHG emissions, performance year:
34,788 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 No 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Commuting No 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Purchased goods and services No 0 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 No 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Waste generated in operations No 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Other sources No 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Total Scope 3 GHG emissions, performance year:
0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

A brief description of how the institution accounted for its Scope 3 emissions:
We have opted not to include the Scope 3 emissions this year as we do not feel they would be an accurate representation of our typical emissions (so much of our travel and purchases have been affected by COVID-19).

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) 13 Tons
Sulfur oxides (SOx) 0.10 Tons
Carbon monoxide (CO) 10 Tons
Particulate matter (PM) 0.94 Tons
Ozone (O3) ---
Lead (Pb) 0.00 Tons
Hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) 0.32 Tons
Ozone-depleting compounds (ODCs) ---
Other standard categories of air emissions identified in permits and/or regulations 0.70 Tons

Do the air pollutant emissions figures provided include the following sources?:
Yes or No
Major stationary sources ---
Area sources ---
Mobile sources ---
Commuting ---
Off-site electricity production ---

None
A brief description of the methodology(ies) the institution used to complete its air emissions inventory:
Conducted by FTCH. A conservative estimate of potential VOC emissions for the laboratories assumed the entire portion of chemicals used is emitted as VOC. For the Calder Art Center, VOC emissions were conservatively estimated by assuming a generic VOC content of 7.36 pounds per gallon for all materials, except spray cans. VOC emissions attributable to the use of spray cans of paints, adhesives, and fixatives were estimated by assuming the entire contents of the cans were VOC. To calculate potential emissions from the small gas-fired boilers and hot water heaters, total potential gas usage was combined and emissions estimated using USEPA emission factors for SCC 1-02-006-03. Potential emissions for emergency generators were based upon a maximum of 500 operating hours per year for these emergency units.

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:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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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.