Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 73.40
Liaison Dayna Cook
Submission Date Nov. 6, 2023

STARS v2.2

Northern Arizona University
OP-1: Emissions Inventory and Disclosure

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.79 / 3.00 Dayna McKay
Data Analyst
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:
NAU employs SIMAP for calculating annual emission reports. Our emissions are reported either annually or bi-annually via Second Nature.

The emissions reporting covers the following scopes:

Scope 1: It includes the analysis of natural gas usage and the assessment of vehicle miles traveled for each campus vehicle type.

Scope 2: This comprises data from purchased electricity.

Scope 3: The reporting incorporates NAU (p-card) purchasing data, student commuting, and operational waste.

Refrigerants are not included. We were unable to complete a refrigerant inventory this year, however, our previous inventory using refrigerant data from 2017-2022 calculated average annual refrigerant emissions as:
- Campus HVAC: 43.80573523 MTCO2E
- Campus Dining: 128.773 MTCO2E
- Window AC Units: 49.383 MTCO2E
- Mobile Vehicle AC: 315.12 MTCO2E

These emissions are not material and have been omitted from the report. However, we will begin to implement further refrigerant auditing in the future.

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 GHG inventory verification process:
Emissions data reviewed by Assistant Manager for Commissioning & Controls, Jordan Sundin. Although our review process was in person, and corrections were made verbally, meeting minutes were attatched as proof of the occurence. The minutes include the names of meeting atendees, as well as the corrections that were adressed.

Documentation to support the GHG inventory verification process:
Scope 1 GHG emissions
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions, performance year:
Weight in MTCO2e
Stationary combustion 20,626.27 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Other sources (mobile combustion, process emissions, fugitive emissions) 1,675.45 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Total gross Scope 1 GHG emissions, performance year:
22,301.72 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Scope 2 GHG emissions
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions, performance year (market-based):
Weight in MTCO2e
Imported electricity 23,751.86 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Imported thermal energy 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Total gross Scope 2 GHG emissions, performance year:
23,751.86 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 No ---
Commuting Yes 2,338.08 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Purchased goods and services Yes 36,530.61 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Capital goods --- ---
Fuel- and energy-related activities not included in Scope 1 or Scope 2 Yes 8,350.91 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Waste generated in operations Yes 3,525.70 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Other sources --- ---

Total Scope 3 GHG emissions, performance year:
50,745.30 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

A brief description of how the institution accounted for its Scope 3 emissions:
We have begun to incorporate our scope 3 purchasing data into our annual emissions reporting. This inclusion has proven to be vital, as it accounts for 37.2% of our total emissions. We have a CSS graduate student working with this data to identify key areas of our purchasing behavior that require action due to their massive scope III emissions, including upstream and downstream emissions.

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) 54.31 Tons
Sulfur oxides (SOx) ---
Carbon monoxide (CO) ---
Particulate matter (PM) ---
Ozone (O3) ---
Lead (Pb) ---
Hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) ---
Ozone-depleting compounds (ODCs) ---
Other standard categories of air emissions identified in permits and/or regulations 487.91 Tons

Do the air pollutant emissions figures provided include the following sources?:
Yes or No
Major stationary sources Yes
Area sources ---
Mobile sources Yes
Commuting Yes
Off-site electricity production ---

None
A brief description of the methodology(ies) the institution used to complete its air emissions inventory:
NAU uses SIMAP for air pollutant quantities as well.

Optional Fields

Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from purchased electricity (location-based):
23,751.86 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:
Emissions numbers are from fiscal year 2023 via SIMAP and the Second Nature progress report.
Information gathered by dayna.cook@nau.edu

Refrigerants are not currently included.

No fertilizer use: ATC is the only remaining fully non-artificial field, along with 1/4 of the Observatory Field Complex.

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.