Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 72.17
Liaison Chris Frantsvog
Submission Date March 1, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Luther College
OP-1: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 5.00 / 10.00 Jay Uthoff
Director of Facilities
Facilities Management
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

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 None
Capital goods None
Waste generated in operations All
Fuel- and energy-related activities not included in Scope 1 or Scope 2 All
Other categories None

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, including how the institution accounted for each category of Scope 3 emissions reported above:

The Clean-Air Cool Planet Campus Carbon Calculator was used to calculate emissions. We used the default emissions coefficients provided by this tool in our calculations. There are supporting spreadsheets for each of the categories directly paid by Luther College. These expenses are reconciled to the College's audited financial statements. The units associated with carbon amounts were collected from these detailed expenditures and totaled for each carbon category. The emissions resulting from rented property for the Nurses in Rochester, Mn and in Nottingham, England represent less than .3 of 1% of the total college owned properties, and it would not be practical to obtain these emissions as the utilities figures are not provided or paid by Luther, so these sources were left out.


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:

All of our numbers are drawn from bills and financial statements that are subject to annual audits by the college's auditing firm.


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

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

Gross Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions from stationary combustion 5,504 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 6,842 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions from other sources 423.40 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 694 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from purchased electricity 8,193 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 15,121 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 14,120.40 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 22,657 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 June 1, 2017 May 31, 2018
Baseline Year June 1, 2003 May 31, 2004

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):

Luther is a charter signatory of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment. Thus, Luther is obligated to measure its campus carbon footprint. The college has calculated its footprint based on available and reliable data beginning with the 2002-03 academic year, which is as far back as reliable data could be found. Emissions peaked in the 2003-04 academic year and declined thereafter thanks to major investments in energy efficiency and renewables.


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 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Carbon storage from on-site composting 25 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 25 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

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

Luther College consistently composts about 130,000 pounds of food waste per year. In 2018, a pulper was installed in our cafeteria which should further increase the amount of organic matter we can process on-site as compost. https://www.luther.edu/headlines/?story_id=741309


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:

Luther College purchases renewable energy certificates from 2 community wind turbine projects. One is owned by WindVision near St. Ansgar Iowa, about 60 miles away. The other is a turbine project just west of campus, owned by Luther College Wind Energy Project, LLC. In both cases the REC purchase contract terms mirror Green-E certification requirements


Adjusted net Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Adjusted net Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions 14,095.40 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 22,657 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Figures needed to determine “Weighted Campus Users”:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Number of students resident on-site 1,857 2,064
Number of employees resident on-site 7 0
Number of other individuals resident on-site and/or staffed hospital beds 2 0
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment 2,005 2,531
Full-time equivalent of employees (staff + faculty) 475 559
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education 0 0
Weighted campus users 2,328 2,833.50

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 6.05 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 8.00 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Percentage reduction in adjusted net Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions per weighted campus user from baseline:
24.28

Gross floor area of building space, performance year:
1,495,053.01 Gross square feet

Floor area of energy intensive building space, performance year:
Floor Area
Laboratory space 24,999.99 Square feet
Healthcare space 4,777 Square feet
Other energy intensive space 9,153 Square feet

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:
1,563,759.99 Gross square feet

Adjusted net Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions per unit of EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:
0.01 MtCO2e per square foot

Scope 3 GHG emissions, performance year:
Emissions
Business travel 401 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Commuting 503 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 2 423 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Waste generated in operations 980 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Other categories 19 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

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

Nearly 85 percent of Luther’s carbon footprint is associated with the energy we use on campus. Electricity purchases from our coal-intensive part of the U.S. electrical grid account for 51 percent of our greenhouse gas emissions. The direct combustion of fossil fuels in our heating plant and fleet vehicles represents another 33 percent.

Luther College has invested in several renewable energy systems to heat and power our campus and reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. These investments include geothermal energy systems at Baker Village (1999) and the Center for the Arts (2003), a 1.6 megawatt (MW) wind turbine on the bluff west of campus (2011), and several solar photovoltaic (PV) systems (2011-2015).

Luther currently hosts the largest amount of solar PV generating capacity in Iowa (1.1 MW) and ranks third among private liberal arts colleges in the nation following Oberlin and Bowdoin.

In 2018, Luther College began the process of creating an Energy Master Plan. This plan will be developed and implemented in 2019.


The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Please find our Request for Proposals for our Energy Master Plan attached in the Additional Documentation section above.


Please find our Request for Proposals for our Energy Master Plan attached in the Additional Documentation section above.

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.