Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 68.95
Liaison Daryl Pierson
Submission Date June 30, 2016
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Portland State University
OP-1: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 5.10 / 10.00 Molly Bressers
Program & Outreach Coordinator
Campus Sustainability Office
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution's GHG emissions inventory include all Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions?:
Yes

Does the institution's GHG emissions inventory include all Scope 3 GHG emissions from any of the following categories?:
Yes or No
Business travel Yes
Commuting Yes
Purchased goods and services Yes
Capital goods Yes
Fuel- and energy-related activities not included in Scope 1 or Scope 2 Yes
Waste generated in operations Yes

Does the institution's GHG emissions inventory include Scope 3 emissions from other categories?:
No

A brief description of the methodology and/or tool used to complete the GHG emissions inventory:

Campus Sustainability Office(CSO) staff contacted various campus departments for reports of the required data. Those data were then entered into the CarbonMap calculator through UNH for emissions totals. For most scope 3 sources, dollars spent were run through the EIOLCA calculator to get a category's emissions total.


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:
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Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Scope 1 GHG emissions from stationary combustion 5,906.27 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 6,900 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Scope 1 GHG emissions from other sources 156.20 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 750.20 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Scope 2 GHG emissions from purchased electricity 19,194.77 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 19,367 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Scope 2 GHG emissions from other sources 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Figures needed to determine total carbon offsets::
Performance Year Baseline Year
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 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Third-party verified carbon offsets purchased 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

A brief description of the institution-catalyzed carbon offsets program:

PSU's internal travel offset program charges a fee of 2% on all travel, and the proceeds are put into our Green Revolving Fund for efficiency projects on campus.

Additionally, in FY15, we sold 865 MTC02e of our emissions reductions to Chevy as offsets..


A brief description of the carbon sequestration program and reporting protocol used:
---

A brief description of the composting and carbon storage program:
---

A brief description of the purchased carbon offsets, including third party verifier(s) and contract timeframes:
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Figures needed to determine “Weighted Campus Users”::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Number of residential students 2,079 1,900
Number of residential employees 53 50
Number of in-patient hospital beds 0 0
Full-time equivalent enrollment 20,214.41 20,458.88
Full-time equivalent of employees 2,462 2,483
Full-time equivalent of distance education students 647 350

Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
Start Date End Date
Performance Year July 1, 2014 June 30, 2015
Baseline Year July 1, 2011 June 30, 2012

A brief description of when and why the GHG emissions baseline was adopted:

We have made strides to make data collection consistent, and fiscal year 2012 is the first year in which we adopted our current methodology. Thus, using 2012 as a baseline allows for comparing apples-to-apples, as opposed to other years in which we are less confident in data used and collected.


Gross floor area of building space, performance year:
5,328,723 Square feet

Floor area of energy intensive building space, performance year:
Floor Area
Laboratory space 197,424 Square feet
Healthcare space 4,780 Square feet
Other energy intensive space 341,568 Square feet

Scope 3 GHG emissions, performance year::
Emissions
Business travel 5,232.08 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Commuting 8,303.39 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Purchased goods and services 13,613.71 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Capital goods 10,214.75 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Fuel- and energy-related activities not included in Scope 1 or Scope 2 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Waste generated in operations 1,925.61 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Other categories (please specify below) 3,016.70 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

A brief description of the sources included in Scope 3 GHG emissions from "other categories":

Study abroad miles


A copy of the most recent GHG emissions inventory:
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The website URL where the GHG emissions inventory is posted:
A brief description of the institution’s GHG emissions reduction initiatives, including efforts made during the previous three years:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Business Travel includes personal vehicle reimbursements as well as other funded air travel, but not study abroad, which is entered separately under "other".

Capital goods total includes 'construction and facility improvements' and furniture/fixtures/equipment' categories from PSU's custom supply chain emissions analysis.

Purchased goods and services total includes all remaining PSU-specific categories from the custom analysis except travel, waste.


Business Travel includes personal vehicle reimbursements as well as other funded air travel, but not study abroad, which is entered separately under "other".

Capital goods total includes 'construction and facility improvements' and furniture/fixtures/equipment' categories from PSU's custom supply chain emissions analysis.

Purchased goods and services total includes all remaining PSU-specific categories from the custom analysis except travel, waste.

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.