Overall Rating	Silver - expired
Overall Score	48.76
Liaison	James Speer
Submission Date	Feb. 26, 2019
Executive Letter	Download

STARS v2.1

Indiana State University
OP-1: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Status	Score	Responsible Party
	4.72 / 10.00	Nicholas McCreary Sustainability Coordinator Office of 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	Some
Commuting	Some
Purchased goods and services	None
Capital goods	None
Waste generated in operations	Some
Fuel- and energy-related activities not included in Scope 1 or Scope 2	None
Other categories	None

A copy of the most recent GHG emissions inventory:

GHG 2017.docx

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:

In accordance with the American Colleges and Universities President’s Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) signed by Dr. Lloyd Benjamin III in 2007 and reinforced by Dr. Dan Bradley, ISU is required to complete a comprehensive inventory of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The first inventory was completed by Sebesta Blomberg in 2008. A second greenhouse gas analysis was completed internally by the Office of Sustainability at ISU in 2011 and these numbers were updated on the ACUPCC website in 2013. We have also completed a fifth iteration of the Carbon Footprint Analysis in 2015 which contains the most complete carbon footprint that we have calculated to date. A greenhouse gas (GHG) emission inventory (a.k.a. carbon footprint) is an itemized inventory of GHG emissions. Each of ISU carbon footprints since 2007 was determined using methodology outlined by the ACUPCC and the most current Campus Carbon Calculator (version 8.0) from the Sustainability Institute at University of New Hampshire which was designed and maintained by the not-for-profit organization called Clean Air-Cool Planet. This version of the calculator is more enhanced than the one used to perform Indiana State University’s previous carbon footprints, yet still incorporates GHG Protocol developed by the World Resources Institute. We have had a hard time getting data on commuter driving distances, air travel, fleet fuel use, and refrigerant use so we have consistently used the estimates developed by the consultants from our original Carbon Footprint Analysis. Additionally, during our review process we have audited our ghg numbers by looking at Facilities Management yearly reports back to 1989. Through these reports we are able to get numbers from most scope 1 and scope 2 emissions related to our campus. We entered all of these numbers, from 1989-2018, into Simap, which we purchased to confirm this data.

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?:

A brief description of the internal and/or external verification process:

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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	18,792.84 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	73,151.98 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions from other sources	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from purchased electricity	38,678.34 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	45,866.45 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	57,471.18 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	119,018.43 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, 2017	June 30, 2018
Baseline Year	July 1, 1989	June 30, 1990

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):

Figures needed to determine total carbon offsets:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Third-party verified carbon offsets purchased (exclude purchased RECs/GOs)	0 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	530 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Carbon storage from on-site composting	26.80 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	556.80 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):

We are a Tree Campus USA with 3,500 trees on our campus. We also maintain about 15 tree farms on ISU owned property around the main campus and have about 230 acres in forested and grassland locations that are remote from campus (but included in our defined boundaries). We calculated the amount of carbon fixed in these areas at 530 metric tons of carbon fixed each year. The carbon sequestration from our on-campus trees is 286.3 metric tons of CO2 per year. Our off-campus holdings are 230 acres (or 93 hectares) and, based on Eddy Flux Tower data from Morgan Monroe State Forest, our forested areas sequester approximately 2.62 metric tons of C per hectare per year (Ehman et al. 2002). An estimation of total carbon sequestered by the trees on ISU’s campus and forested properties owned by ISU is approximately 530 metric tons of CO2 per year. This number needs to be improved by more studies on carbon sequestration in eastern deciduous forests, understanding of carbon sequestration in grass lands, and a more quantitative assessment of the land use of ISU’s external landholdings (Table 2 of carbon footprint analysis). Our Grounds Maintenance staff manage our composting of materials from across campus where they are composted at the ISU Community Garden and used by the gardeners as an organic soil amendment. Pre-consumer kitchen scraps are used as well as leaves from across campus. We have also been increasing the number of community garden plots that use this compost and we did expand to our third city block in 2017.

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	0 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:

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Adjusted net Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Adjusted net Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions	56,914.38 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	119,018.43 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Figures needed to determine “Weighted Campus Users”:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Number of students resident on-site	3,896	3,116
Number of employees resident on-site	23	2
Number of other individuals resident on-site and/or staffed hospital beds	0	0
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment	9,793	8,400
Full-time equivalent of employees (staff + faculty)	1,705.32	1,300
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education	3,252	0
Weighted campus users	7,164.49	8,054.50

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	7.94 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	14.78 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

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

46.24

Part 3

Gross floor area of building space, performance year:

414,495.75 Gross square meters

Floor area of energy intensive building space, performance year:

	Floor Area
Laboratory space	10,050.11 Square meters
Healthcare space	3,148.67 Square meters
Other energy intensive space	4,270.29 Square meters

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:

445,163.58 Gross square meters

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

0.13 MtCO2e per square meter

Optional Fields

Scope 3 GHG emissions, performance year:

	Emissions
Business travel	1,458 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Commuting	4,566 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Purchased goods and services	0 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	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Waste generated in operations	101 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Other categories	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

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

We have collected most of our Scope 3 GHG from miles traveled and student home zipcodes. These numbers are not as accurate as we would like, but they are a reasonable estimate. We send very little waste to the landfill now, but our landfill captures methane and Boral Bricks uses that captured methane to fire its bricks. According to the Carbon Calculator we receive 9 metric tons of carbon credit from our landfill process, but this form requires that we report zero or higher.

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

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Additional documentation to support the submission:

Indstate GHG.pdf

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

The baseline numbers for 1989-1990 were calculated as an average of our earliest data from 1999 to 2011 before we started to intentionally increase the number of students on campus and to reduce the number of faculty and staff. Additionally, during our review process (over the last 60 days) we have audited our ghg numbers by looking at Facilities Management yearly reports back to 1989. Through these reports we are able to get numbers from most scope 1 and scope 2 emissions related to our campus. We entered all of these numbers, from 1989-2018, into Simap, which we purchased to confirm this data. The large decrease in our ghg emissions can largely be contributed to the switch from a coal fired on campus boiler facility to a natural gas fired boiler facility. Additionally all of our LEED buildings were added after 1989 as well as the created of our office of sustainability.