| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 69.84 |
| Liaison | Zachary Czuprynski |
| Submission Date | Jan. 21, 2025 |
Prescott College
OP-6: Greenhouse Gas Emissions
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
8.60 / 16.00 |
Zachary
Czuprynski Sustainability Coordinator Green Mountain Center for Sustainablity |
6.1 Greenhouse gas emissions inventory and disclosure
Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions inventory
Copy of the institution’s GHG emissions inventory:
Online location of the institution’s GHG emissions inventory:
Performance year for scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions:
Description of the methodology or calculator used to conduct the scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions inventory:
We obtained financial records on all energy consumption by the college from FY 2019 - FY 2023 from the Business Office. This included imported electricity from our utility provider, Arizona Public Service (APS), and thermal energy from our natural gas provider, Unisource Energy. A fiscal year begins in July of a given year and ends the following June, as specified in the GHG Inventory.
Scope 1 emissions, which include the "combustion of fuels to produce electricity, steam, heat, or power using equipment in a fixed location such as boilers, burners, heaters, furnaces, incinerators," were acquired by multiplying the on-campus energy use by a conversion factor. We used Arizona's average emissions factor from the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) eGRID (EPA, 2024). Van/truck mileages were acquired by Field Ops over one semester; this stat was multiplied by a factor of two to account for an entire fiscal year. Then, we used a fuel emissions factor to convert to CO2e depending on the fuel type of the vehicle and the number of miles driven by the vehicle type. Scope 2 emissions were derived from utility bills, thus employing a market-based approach to imported electricity.
All emissions factors are reported as CO2e emissions in metric tons.
Scope 1 GHG emissions
If claiming points for a scope 1 and scope 2 GHG inventory, the following information is required:
Scope 1 GHG emissions from mobile combustion:
Scope 1 GHG process emissions:
Scope 1 GHG fugitive emissions:
Scope 2 GHG emissions
If claiming points for a scope 1 and scope 2 GHG inventory, the following information is required:
Scope 2 GHG emissions from off-site sources of electricity (market-based):
If using a location-based or dual reporting method, the following field is also required:
Scope 2 GHG emissions from off-site sources of heating and cooling:
The Reporting Tool will automatically calculate the following figure:
Biogenic emissions
If claiming points for a scope 1 and scope 2 GHG inventory, the following information is required:
GHG emissions from biogenic sources:
Scope 3 GHG emissions
Scope 3 GHG emissions from business travel:
Within the previous three years, to what extent has the institution quantified its scope 3 GHG emissions from commuting?:
Scope 3 GHG emissions from commuting:
Within the previous three years, to what extent has the institution quantified its scope 3 GHG emissions from purchased goods and services?:
Scope 3 GHG emissions from purchased goods and services:
Within the previous three years, to what extent has the institution quantified its scope 3 GHG emissions from capital goods?:
Scope 3 GHG emissions from capital goods:
Within the previous three years, to what extent has the institution quantified its scope 3 GHG emissions from fuel- and energy-related activities not included in scope 1 or scope 2?:
Scope 3 GHG emissions from fuel- and energy-related activities not included in scope 1 or scope 2:
Within the previous three years, to what extent has the institution quantified its scope 3 GHG emissions from upstream transportation and distribution?:
Scope 3 GHG emissions from upstream transportation and distribution:
Within the previous three years, to what extent has the institution quantified its scope 3 GHG emissions from waste generated in operations?:
Scope 3 GHG emissions from waste generated in operations:
Within the previous three years, to what extent has the institution quantified its scope 3 GHG emissions in all other applicable categories identified in the GHG Protocol Scope 3 Standard?:
Scope 3 GHG emissions from other applicable categories identified in the GHG Protocol Scope 3 Standard:
If any scope 3 activities have been quantified, the following field is also required:
Scope 3 GHG emissions from Business Travel
Business travel from FY 2023:
- Employee air travel for FY 2023 = 18.7 MTCO2
- Student study abroad travel to Dopoi Center in Kenya: 53.3 MTCO2
- Most business car travel is captured through scope 1 college-owned vehicles, including field trips and travel to Kino Bay Center
- Total = 18.7 + 53.5 = 71.9 MTCO2
Scope 3 GHG emissions from Commuting
Using data from our Student and Employee Sustainability Surveys, we know the estimated number of commuters per day (student and employee) multiplied by the average commute and the number of commuting days per year to acquire total vehicle miles in a year, then multiplied by an emissions factor from SIMAP.
- 247.2 MTCO2
Scope 3 GHG emissions from fuel- and energy-related activities not included in scope 1 or scope 2
Transmission and distribution losses:
- T&D Loss = CO2 from purchased electricity * average loss factor = 206.2 * 0.051 = 10.52 MTCO2
- We used the EPA's 5.1% average loss of electricity in transmission and distribution
The Reporting Tool will automatically calculate the following figure:
6.2 Greenhouse gas emissions per square meter
Gross floor area of building space:
The Reporting Tool will automatically calculate the following two figures:
Points earned for indicator OP 6.2:
6.3 Greenhouse gas emissions per person
Full-time equivalent of employees:
The Reporting Tool will automatically calculate the following three figures:
Annual scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions per person:
Points earned for indicator OP 6.3:
6.4 Adjusted net greenhouse gas emissions
Carbon sinks
Report figures for the performance year. If claiming points for a scope 1 and scope 2 GHG inventory, the following information is required. Non-additional sequestration does not qualify as a carbon sink for scoring purposes, but may be reported in the optional field provided.
Description of the institution’s third party certified carbon offsets:
Carbon storage from on-site composting:
Description of the institution’s carbon storage from on-site composting:
We capture almost all pre-consumer food scraps on campus and process them through our on-campus composting facilities. We use a basic windrow method, turning and sifting compost without machinery. We used the following document as a reference for carbon storage potential based on the tonnage of food scraps captured by our system.
https://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-03/documents/cmpstng_ovrview.pdf
Carbon sold or transferred:
Carbon storage from non-additional sequestration on institution-owned land:
Baseline emissions
Copy of the institution’s baseline GHG emissions inventory:
Online location of the institution’s baseline GHG emissions inventory:
Baseline year for scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions:
Narrative outlining when and why the GHG emissions baseline was adopted:
We adopted the 2019-2020 fiscal year as a baseline since we had not measured GHG emissions in over a decade and underwent significant personnel and building changes. We also submitted our first STARS report using the "new" baseline and want to measure our progress based on this progression.
Baseline scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions:
The Reporting Tool will automatically calculate the following four figures:
Adjusted net scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions:
Percentage reduction in scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions from baseline:
Points earned for indicator OP 6.4:
Optional documentation
We recognize a significant reduction in scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions from our baseline. There are two likely reasons to describe this change. Since the baseline year, the college has reduced its electricity use by 28% and its thermal use by 25%, which significantly helps reduce our GHG emissions between STARS submissions and partially accounts for the significant reduction from the baseline. Another reason is that we did not have accurate mileage data for mobile combustion during our first submission, and our approach to estimating these numbers produced a significant overestimation compared to the real usage of campus vehicles, which we report in this submission.
As with other credits that use per-person calculations, we reported the number of FTE students and employees on campus, which is significantly different from our PRE-3 numbers due to the number of students enrolled in distance education.
Additional documentation for this credit:
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.