Overall Rating	Gold - expired
Overall Score	81.82
Liaison	Ryan Ihrke
Submission Date	Feb. 23, 2018
Executive Letter	Download

STARS v2.1

Green Mountain College
OP-1: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Status	Score	Responsible Party
	10.00 / 10.00	Ryan Ihrke Director of Sustainability Sustainability

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

Part 1

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

Yes

Does the institution’s GHG emissions inventory include all, some or none of its Scope 3 GHG emissions from the following categories?:

	All, Some, or None
Business travel	All
Commuting	All
Purchased goods and services	Some
Capital goods	None
Waste generated in operations	All
Fuel- and energy-related activities not included in Scope 1 or Scope 2	Some
Other categories	Some

A copy of the most recent GHG emissions inventory:

Carbon.Inventory.Report.FY.2015.pdf

A brief description of the methodology and/or tool used to complete the GHG emissions inventory, including how the institution accounted for each category of Scope 3 emissions reported above:

For stationary and mobile fuel sources owned by the college, data were gathered by tallying gallons of different fossil fuels and short tons of woodchips purchased. Waste data were also tallied in short tons, while paper was estimated in pounds. Waste water data were tallied in gallons. Electricity data were comprised of kWhs purchased by Green Mountain Power. Business travel data were inputted by passenger miles or vehicle miles and collected by reviewing the College’s financial records. Finally, commuting, class data were input by passenger miles or vehicle miles and was collected through a survey of students, staff, and faculty.

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 internal and/or external verification process:

Green Mountain College, Professor of Economics and Environmental Studies, reviewed the GHG gas inventory and report. He was independent of the GHG data collection and reporting. He met with Sustainability Director after his review and provide feedback on improving the overall report.

Documentation to support the internal and/or external verification process:

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Does the institution wish to pursue Part 2 and Part 3 of this credit? (reductions in Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions):

Yes

Part 2

Gross Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions from stationary combustion	1,021.40 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	3,229 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions from other sources	55.80 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	77 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from purchased electricity	646.60 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	869 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from other sources	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Total	1,723.80 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	4,175 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):

	Start Date	End Date
Performance Year	July 1, 2016	June 30, 2017
Baseline Year	July 1, 2006	June 30, 2007

A brief description of when and why the GHG emissions baseline was adopted (e.g. in sustainability plans and policies or in the context of other reporting obligations):

The FY 2007 baseline was adopted because it is the first year that the College did a greenhouse gas inventory, and it is the year that President Brennan signed the ACUPCC.

Figures needed to determine total carbon offsets:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Third-party verified carbon offsets purchased (exclude purchased RECs/GOs)	2,795 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 sequestration due to land that the institution manages specifically for sequestration	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Carbon storage from on-site composting	6.70 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Carbon offsets included above for which the emissions reductions have been sold or transferred by the institution	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Net carbon offsets	2,801.70 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

If total performance year carbon offsets are greater than zero, provide:

A brief description of the offsets in each category reported above, including vendor, project source, verification program and contract timeframes (as applicable):

The College has maintained climate neutrality since 2011. For FY 16 and FY 17(July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2017) emissions GMC purchased community bundle offsets through Urban Offsets on February 6, 2018. The community bundle purchase consists Climate Action Reserve Verified Emission Reductions (VER) project CAR 475, a landfill gas capture and combustion in Gaston County, North Carolina. In addition, the community bundle offset purchase also supports the non-profit New York Restoration Project(NYRP) for the planting and maintenance of trees in accordance with Duke University Carbon Offsets Initiative Urban Forestry protocol V2.0. Any carbon mitigation from the tree planting and maintenance is not factored into the total amount off verifiable offsets identified as offsetting Green Mountain College's emissions. Additional carbon offsets identified are from on-site composting of organics, primarily food waste generated by the dining services and from students living in the residence halls.

The reporting fields in the table below are reserved for institutions that have NOT already accounted for renewable energy purchases (including RECs and GOs) in their Scope 2 GHG emissions calculations. Other institutions - including all SIMAP users - should report zero ('0') to avoid double-counting.

Emissions reductions attributable to Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) or Guarantee of Origin (GO) purchases:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Emissions reductions attributable to REC/GO purchases	4.60 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

A brief description of the purchased RECs/GOs including vendor, project source and verification program:

The purchase RECs are Green Mountain Power's Cow Power Renewable Energy Certificates that are certified by the New England Power Pool (NEPOOL) We also receive RECs via a Power Purchase Agreement with Tunbridge Solar, LLC. Per our contract, the RECs generated given directly to Green Mountain College and are not entering the formal REC market. Since they are not verified via the REC market, they are not included in the performance year calculations for Emissions reductions attributable to REC/Go purchases, but they are listed in our complete green house gas inventory documents linked to in this credit.

Adjusted net Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Adjusted net Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	4,175 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Figures needed to determine “Weighted Campus Users”:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Number of students resident on-site	394	577
Number of employees resident on-site	12	5
Number of other individuals resident on-site and/or staffed hospital beds	7	0
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment	740	749
Full-time equivalent of employees (staff + faculty)	167.20	188.75
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education	266	30
Weighted campus users	589.40	826.31

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	5.05 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

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

100

Part 3

Gross floor area of building space, performance year:

493,298 Gross square feet

Floor area of energy intensive building space, performance year:

	Floor Area
Laboratory space	4,735 Square feet
Healthcare space	0 Square feet
Other energy intensive space	14,568 Square feet

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:

517,336 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

Optional Fields

Scope 3 GHG emissions, performance year:

	Emissions
Business travel	114.26 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Commuting	472.40 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Purchased goods and services	10.61 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Capital goods	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Fuel- and energy-related activities not included in Scope 1 or Scope 2	65.29 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Waste generated in operations	289.17 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Other categories	55.30 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

A brief description of the institution’s GHG emissions reduction initiatives, including efforts made during the previous three years:

Scope 1 Each item in this category has dropped during each inventory to new lows, a trend that began in FY13. Agriculture’s impact went down due to less cows, pigs, chickens, and sheep being raised on the farm. There was an increase in the increase in the number animals of goats and rabbits being raised on the farm, but their overall emissions are lower. Campus fleet fuel use went down a noticeable amount due to a efforts to limit College travel. The majority of the reductions come from operations at the biomass plant. Every year the college increases the efficiency of the biomass plant, so that it carries a greater percentage of the heat and hot water load for central campus. Improvements since 2013 include a switch from #6 oil as a back-up to less carbon-intensive #2 oil, running the plant through the summer for hot water, and upgrades to some steam pipe components. Starting in FY 2016, the biomass is covering between 93-95% of the heat and hot water load for campus during winter. During FY 2017 emissions related to stationary fuel are now 1/3 of FY 2007 totals. Scope 2 The College utilizes a $30,000 green revolving loan fund to support energy efficiency projects. Using the Green Revolving Loan Fund the fall of 2016, LED lights replaced CFL hallway lights in North Hall. GMC’s annual Do it in the Dark competition works to educate students, staff and faculty on electricity savings through changing behavior. The Do it the Dark competition usually yields a 10% reduction on average during the competition period. Some groups, such as the Vermont Summer Academy have achieved an over 50% reduction in the residence halls. Gains in overall efficiency have been made despite an overall growth in the square footage of campus buildings. Scope 3 The sustainability office has worked hard to recycle and compost a greater portion of the college’s waste stream through increasing the efficiency of the crew, installing new home-made waste stations, and carrying out educational efforts. Travel emissions have dropped significantly with strategically reducing travel across different areas including relocating a multi-week adventure course from the southwest United States to the Adirondacks of neighboring New York.

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:

http://www.greenmtn.edu/sustainability/climate-neutrality/emmisions-inventory/

Additional documentation to support the submission:

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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

The performance year is FY 2017 the year of our most recent Greenhouse Gas Inventory. The "laboratory space" square footage reported here includes only traditional science laboratories. Computer labs are counted under "other energy intensive space." Other energy intensive space also includes the biomass plant and dining services.