Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 72.61
Liaison Brandon Trelstad
Submission Date Dec. 20, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Oregon State University
OP-1: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.96 / 10.00 Leticia Cavazos
Sustainability Program Specialist
Sustainability Office
"---" 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 Some
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:

Oregon State University uses the SIMAP Carbon Calculator. In order to account for and differentiate between all emissions of OSU’s operations across the state, OSU's GHG emissions report is comprised of four different inventories: Corvallis Campus, OSU-Cascades, Hatfield Marine Science Center (HMSC), and The Statewide Public Services, or “Statewides.” All these locations are considered vital facets of the university. Due to the different characteristics of each site, it is not possible to create one calculator for all operations. Therefore, 4 different calculators are created, and the summary table of each one of the 4 calculators is presented in the file attached.


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 internal and/or external verification process:
---

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 48,507.55 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 34,117.10 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions from other sources 6,737.83 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 5,287.40 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from purchased electricity 51,924.88 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 85,500.70 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 107,170.26 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 124,905.20 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 July 1, 2017 June 30, 2018
Baseline Year July 1, 2007 June 30, 2008

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):

FY08 data were used for this STARS credit because it is the first fiscal year for which we have complete data at the level of granularity requested in the fields above.


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 53.27 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 5 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 53.27 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 5 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):

On-site composting includes local processing of pre- and post-consumer food waste from campus as well as landscape debris ad some animal bedding. Not all on-site composting is accounted for in our emissions calculations yet. This will change as data tracking and acquisition improve.


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 710.95 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 52,981.40 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

A brief description of the purchased RECs/GOs including vendor, project source and verification program:

Small amounts of RECs have been donated to OSU by the utility to cover the carbon cost of specific events, namely the 2017 Corvallis Sustainability Coalition Town Hall. These are provided by Pacific Power's Blue Sky program and Green-e certified.

903 RECs were purchased from Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF) in order to offset emissions from the Student Experience Center building. One REC represents the environmental benefits of 1-megawatt hour (MWh) of renewable electricity generated and delivered to the power grid, and are certified by Green-e Energy.

The emissions reductions attributable to these purchased RECs were calculated in the SIMAP tool, however they were not included in the Scope 2 Emissions presented above to avoid double counting and to track emissions reductions from RECs separately.


Adjusted net Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Adjusted net Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions 106,406.04 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 71,918.80 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Figures needed to determine “Weighted Campus Users”:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Number of students resident on-site 4,744 3,253
Number of employees resident on-site 15 16
Number of other individuals resident on-site and/or staffed hospital beds 0 0
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment 23,879.10 18,055
Full-time equivalent of employees (staff + faculty) 5,484 4,208.20
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education 4,584 556
Weighted campus users 19,774.07 17,097.65

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 5.38 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 4.21 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Percentage reduction in adjusted net Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions per weighted campus user from baseline:
0

Gross floor area of building space, performance year:
9,943,381 Gross square feet

Floor area of energy intensive building space, performance year:
Floor Area
Laboratory space 2,737,673 Square feet
Healthcare space 0 Square feet
Other energy intensive space 114,200 Square feet

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:
15,532,927 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 15,898.47 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Commuting 8,022 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 2,506.47 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Waste generated in operations 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Other categories 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

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

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:

Difference in emissions between Performance Year and Baseline Year are attributed to many factors including: availability of data, refinement in data tracking and acquisition and rapid increases in campus population and square footage.


Difference in emissions between Performance Year and Baseline Year are attributed to many factors including: availability of data, refinement in data tracking and acquisition and rapid increases in campus population and square footage.

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.