Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 68.89
Liaison Natalie Sobrinski
Submission Date Feb. 27, 2024

STARS v2.2

Muhlenberg College
OP-1: Emissions Inventory and Disclosure

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.35 / 3.00 Natalie Sobrinski
Sustainability Specialist
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1. Greenhouse gas emissions inventory

Has the institution conducted a GHG emissions inventory within the previous three years that includes all Scope 1 and 2 emissions? :
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:
The EPA Simplified GHG Emissions Calculator ("the Calculator") is designed a s a simplified calculation tool to help organizations estimate and inventory their annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for US-based operations. All methodologies and devault values provided are based on the most current Center for Corporate Climate Leadership Greenhouse Gas Inventory Guidance Documents and the Emission Factors Hub. The Calculator will quantify the direct and indirect emissions from sources at an organization when activity data are entered in the various sections of the workbook for one annual period (June 1, 2021- June 30, 2022). RECs were purchased for 100% of electricity usage. Scope 3 calculations are included under the optional files.

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:
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Scope 1 GHG emissions
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions, performance year:
Weight in MTCO2e
Stationary combustion 4,331 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Other sources (mobile combustion, process emissions, fugitive emissions) 90 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Total gross Scope 1 GHG emissions, performance year:
4,421 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Scope 2 GHG emissions
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions, performance year (market-based):
Weight in MTCO2e
Imported electricity 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Imported thermal energy 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Total gross Scope 2 GHG emissions, performance year:
0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

GHG emissions from biomass combustion
Gross GHG emissions from biogenic sources, performance year:
0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Scope 3 GHG emissions
Does the GHG emissions inventory include Scope 3 emissions from the following sources?:
Yes or No Weight in MTCO2e
Business travel --- ---
Commuting Yes 388.76 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Purchased goods and services --- ---
Capital goods --- ---
Fuel- and energy-related activities not included in Scope 1 or Scope 2 --- ---
Waste generated in operations --- ---
Other sources --- ---

Total Scope 3 GHG emissions, performance year:
388.76 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

A brief description of how the institution accounted for its Scope 3 emissions:
We followed the Average Data Method as outlined in Chapter 7 of the GHG protocol guidance for calculating Scope 3 emissions: https://lvpc.org/datalv.

Part 2. Air pollutant emissions inventory

Has the institution completed an inventory within the previous three years to quantify its air pollutant emissions?:
Yes

Annual weight of emissions for::
Weight of Emissions
Nitrogen oxides (NOx) 7.01 Tons
Sulfur oxides (SOx) 0.07 Tons
Carbon monoxide (CO) 5.44 Tons
Particulate matter (PM) 0.51 Tons
Ozone (O3) 0 Tons
Lead (Pb) 0 Tons
Hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) 0.09 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 ---
Area sources ---
Mobile sources ---
Commuting ---
Off-site electricity production ---

None
A brief description of the methodology(ies) the institution used to complete its air emissions inventory:
Muhlenberg’s utilized a third-party engineering firm named Liberty Environmental to complete its air emissions inventory. An emissions calculator was used for the calculations.

Optional Fields

Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from purchased electricity (location-based):
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Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from imported thermal energy (location-based) :
---

Website URL where information about the institution’s emissions inventories is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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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.