| Overall Rating | Silver |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 62.34 |
| Liaison | Christie-Joy Hartman |
| Submission Date | Jan. 27, 2022 |
James Madison University
OP-1: Emissions Inventory and Disclosure
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.00 / 3.00 |
Avery
Smith Sustainability Analyst Facilities Engineering and Construction |
"---"
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:
JMU utilized SIMAP, an online carbon and nitrogen-accounting platform developed by the University of New Hampshire. Facilities Management (FM) personnel conducted the accounting and reporting.
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:
---
Scope 1 GHG emissions
| Weight in MTCO2e | |
| Stationary combustion | 38,525.49 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Other sources (mobile combustion, process emissions, fugitive emissions) | 2,173.97 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
Total gross Scope 1 GHG emissions, performance year:
40,699.46
Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Scope 2 GHG emissions
| Weight in MTCO2e | |
| Imported electricity | 38,073.51 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Imported thermal energy | 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
Total gross Scope 2 GHG emissions, performance year:
38,073.51
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 | 1,221.44 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Commuting | Yes | 10,876.34 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 | Yes | 1,958.05 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Waste generated in operations | Yes | 1,045.34 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Other sources | No | 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
Total Scope 3 GHG emissions, performance year:
15,101.17
Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
A brief description of how the institution accounted for its Scope 3 emissions:
Business Travel: Calculated miles from flight records from the official air travel contractor for JMU in 2005. Data is extrapolated for future years based on employee FTE growth.
Commuting: Sources based on campus population and mode split data from employee and student surveys from 2019.
Waste generated in operations: Data is tracked by the Facilities Recycling Department which manages all waste activities on campus.
Fuel- and energy-related activities not included in Scope 1 or Scope 2: T&D losses calculated by SIMAP.
Commuting: Sources based on campus population and mode split data from employee and student surveys from 2019.
Waste generated in operations: Data is tracked by the Facilities Recycling Department which manages all waste activities on campus.
Fuel- and energy-related activities not included in Scope 1 or Scope 2: T&D losses calculated by SIMAP.
Part 2. Air pollutant emissions inventory
Yes
Annual weight of emissions for::
| Weight of Emissions | |
| Nitrogen oxides (NOx) | 17.46 Tons |
| Sulfur oxides (SOx) | 0.31 Tons |
| Carbon monoxide (CO) | 27.77 Tons |
| Particulate matter (PM) | 2.55 Tons |
| Ozone (O3) | 0 Tons |
| Lead (Pb) | 0.00 Tons |
| Hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) | 0.00 Tons |
| Ozone-depleting compounds (ODCs) | 0 Tons |
| Other standard categories of air emissions identified in permits and/or regulations | 0 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:
To meet reporting standards set forth by the EPA for the Clean Air Act, an air emissions inventory is completed annually by JMU using AP-42 standards and is based on actual fuel throughput. Sources tracked as part of this inventory include boilers, generators, and kilns. See this link for info on AP-42: https://www.epa.gov/air-emissions-factors-and-quantification/ap-42-compilation-air-emission-factors
Optional Fields
38,054.87
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:
Part 1
Per STARS guidance, valid data for this credit must be within the three years prior to the anticipated date of submission. Performance year for GHG emissions data is FY 2018-2019. This year was chosen due to effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in FY 2019-2020 and FY 2020-2021.
Summary of Greenhouse Gas Inventory
There were 93,974 MTCO2e total of greenhouse gas emissions in FY 2018-2019. In the baseline year (FY 2009), there were 84,178 MTCO2e total greenhouse gas emissions. This was a 12% increase in emissions over baseline. However, when emissions were normalized by weighted campus users, a 2% reduction was observed over baseline. JMU increased its total building space by 41% from FY 2009 to FY 2019. However, emissions decreased 20% per 1000 total gross square footage during that period.
Scope 1 and scope 2 emissions accounted for 43% and 41% respectively of the total greenhouse gas emissions in FY 2019. In contrast, in FY 2009, scope 1 emissions accounted for 11% of the total emissions and scope 2 accounted for 72% of the total emissions. In June 2014, a municipal solid waste burning facility that supplied heating and cooling for East Campus ceased operations. As a result, the university had to substantially increase its natural gas consumption in the main campus power plant to meet the energy needs for this portion of campus. This resulted in the shift from scope 2 to scope 1 emissions observed in FY 2019.
Changes in Methodology
• In FY 2019, JMU switched from an Excel-based tool to an online tool, SIMAP, to complete the greenhouse gas inventory.
• Changes to institutional data: The population data for the Excel-based version of the GHG inventory used headcount population data for students and faculty/staff. This was substituted for full time equivalent (FTE) for both students and faculty/staff in SIMAP.
• Changes to Scope 1 methodology: Diesel from emergency generators and biodiesel was added as distillate oil (1-4) to stationary fuels category in SIMAP. Propane was also added to the transport fuels category. Propane is currently not included as one of the fuel choices in this category. It will be added in the future according to Alison Leach from the Sustainability Institute at UNH which oversees SIMAP. A custom emissions factor was therefore added for propane using data from the EPA. The addition of propane did not significantly change the emissions for this category.
• Changes to Scope 2 methodology: According to Allison Leach, SIMAP updated the emissions factors for purchased electricity with new reports from eGrid. The fuel mix for the electric grid has gotten cleaner, and this is the reason for the lower emissions observed for purchased electricity in SIMAP compared to the Excel-based version. Purchased steam used consumed steam minus steam produced chilled water. This was consistent with the Excel-based version. Chilled water, however, included steam produced chilled water plus the electric produced chilled water in SIMAP. The Excel-based version excluded the latter. Another change in SIMAP for scope two emissions was the inclusion of renewable energy. This was moved from the “Green Certificate” offset section in the Excel-based tool. In SIMAP, the offset was instead subtracted from scope 2.
• Changes to Scope 3 methodology: There were changes in the transportation mode splits to reflect additional surveys that were conducted in 2015, 2016, and 2019.
The sources and methods SIMAP uses to calculate JMU greenhouse gas emissions inventory are:
• Emission Factors Version (2020)
• Global Warming Potential Version (AR5 100-year)
• Air Travel Cost Version (BTS)
• Radiative Forcing Factor (2.7)
• eGrid for data prior to 2007 (SRVC: SERC Virginia/Carolina)
• eGrid for data in 2007 and beyond (SRVC: SERC Virginia/Carolina)
Part 2
Data is from the 2019 Emissions Statement Report to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality based on the 2019 calendar year.
Per STARS guidance, valid data for this credit must be within the three years prior to the anticipated date of submission. Performance year for GHG emissions data is FY 2018-2019. This year was chosen due to effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in FY 2019-2020 and FY 2020-2021.
Summary of Greenhouse Gas Inventory
There were 93,974 MTCO2e total of greenhouse gas emissions in FY 2018-2019. In the baseline year (FY 2009), there were 84,178 MTCO2e total greenhouse gas emissions. This was a 12% increase in emissions over baseline. However, when emissions were normalized by weighted campus users, a 2% reduction was observed over baseline. JMU increased its total building space by 41% from FY 2009 to FY 2019. However, emissions decreased 20% per 1000 total gross square footage during that period.
Scope 1 and scope 2 emissions accounted for 43% and 41% respectively of the total greenhouse gas emissions in FY 2019. In contrast, in FY 2009, scope 1 emissions accounted for 11% of the total emissions and scope 2 accounted for 72% of the total emissions. In June 2014, a municipal solid waste burning facility that supplied heating and cooling for East Campus ceased operations. As a result, the university had to substantially increase its natural gas consumption in the main campus power plant to meet the energy needs for this portion of campus. This resulted in the shift from scope 2 to scope 1 emissions observed in FY 2019.
Changes in Methodology
• In FY 2019, JMU switched from an Excel-based tool to an online tool, SIMAP, to complete the greenhouse gas inventory.
• Changes to institutional data: The population data for the Excel-based version of the GHG inventory used headcount population data for students and faculty/staff. This was substituted for full time equivalent (FTE) for both students and faculty/staff in SIMAP.
• Changes to Scope 1 methodology: Diesel from emergency generators and biodiesel was added as distillate oil (1-4) to stationary fuels category in SIMAP. Propane was also added to the transport fuels category. Propane is currently not included as one of the fuel choices in this category. It will be added in the future according to Alison Leach from the Sustainability Institute at UNH which oversees SIMAP. A custom emissions factor was therefore added for propane using data from the EPA. The addition of propane did not significantly change the emissions for this category.
• Changes to Scope 2 methodology: According to Allison Leach, SIMAP updated the emissions factors for purchased electricity with new reports from eGrid. The fuel mix for the electric grid has gotten cleaner, and this is the reason for the lower emissions observed for purchased electricity in SIMAP compared to the Excel-based version. Purchased steam used consumed steam minus steam produced chilled water. This was consistent with the Excel-based version. Chilled water, however, included steam produced chilled water plus the electric produced chilled water in SIMAP. The Excel-based version excluded the latter. Another change in SIMAP for scope two emissions was the inclusion of renewable energy. This was moved from the “Green Certificate” offset section in the Excel-based tool. In SIMAP, the offset was instead subtracted from scope 2.
• Changes to Scope 3 methodology: There were changes in the transportation mode splits to reflect additional surveys that were conducted in 2015, 2016, and 2019.
The sources and methods SIMAP uses to calculate JMU greenhouse gas emissions inventory are:
• Emission Factors Version (2020)
• Global Warming Potential Version (AR5 100-year)
• Air Travel Cost Version (BTS)
• Radiative Forcing Factor (2.7)
• eGrid for data prior to 2007 (SRVC: SERC Virginia/Carolina)
• eGrid for data in 2007 and beyond (SRVC: SERC Virginia/Carolina)
Part 2
Data is from the 2019 Emissions Statement Report to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality based on the 2019 calendar year.
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.