Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 65.89
Liaison Julie Newman
Submission Date Oct. 23, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
OP-2: Outdoor Air Quality

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 MIT Office of Sustainability
Director
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1 

Does the institution have policies and/or guidelines in place to improve outdoor air quality and minimize air pollutant emissions from mobile sources on campus?:
Yes

None
A brief description of the policies and/or guidelines to improve outdoor air quality and minimize air pollutant emissions from mobile sources:
Yes, MIT's Vehicle Use Policy complies with the State of Massachusetts regulations requiring no idling for more than 5 minutes. Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MA DEP) publishes regulations concerning air quality protection in 310 CMR (Code of Massachusetts Regulations) 7.00. 310 CMR 7.11 (1) outlines requirements for motor vehicles to prevent air pollution resulting from vehicle idling. Specifically, 310 CMR 7.11(1) (b) states: “No person shall cause, suffer, allow or permit the unnecessary operation of the engine of a motor vehicle while said vehicle is stopped for a foreseeable period of time in excess of five minutes."

Part 2 

Has the institution completed an inventory of significant air emissions from stationary campus sources or else verified that no such emissions are produced?:
Yes

Weight of the following categories of air emissions from stationary sources::
Weight of Emissions
Nitrogen oxides (NOx) 111.92 Tons
Sulfur oxides (SOx) 3.74 Tons
Carbon monoxide (CO) 20.82 Tons
Particulate matter (PM) 14.98 Tons
Ozone (O3) ---
Lead (Pb) ---
Hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) ---
Ozone-depleting compounds (ODCs) ---
Other standard categories of air emissions identified in permits and/or regulations ---

None
A brief description of the methodology(ies) the institution used to complete its air emissions inventory:
MIT uses fuel consumption data as the basis for emissions calculations.

Optional Fields

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:
Publicly reported emissions data can be obtained via MassDEP website. MIT tracks potential to emit calculations (PTE) for hazardous air pollutants, O3, Pb and ODCs to ensure these are below hazardous levels, but does not publicly report PTEs that are below hazardous levels.

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.