| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 83.87 |
| Liaison | Yolanda Cieters |
| Submission Date | March 1, 2024 |
Seattle University
OP-2: Greenhouse Gas Emissions
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
8.00 / 8.00 |
Yolanda
Cieters Associate Director CEJS |
Gross Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions:
| Performance year | Baseline year | |
| Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions from stationary combustion | 3,005.91 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent | 3,446.21 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions from other sources | 75.16 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent | 126.69 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from imported electricity | 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent | 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from imported thermal energy | 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent | 1,024.43 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Total | 3,081.07 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent | 4,597.33 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
Figures needed to determine net carbon sinks:
| Performance year | Baseline year | |
| Third-party verified carbon offsets purchased | 3,100 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent | 122 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Institution-catalyzed carbon offsets generated | 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent | 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Carbon storage from on-site composting | 39.07 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent | 20.16 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Carbon storage from non-additional sequestration | 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent | 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Carbon sold or transferred | 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent | 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Net carbon sinks | 3,139.07 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent | 142.16 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
A brief description of the carbon sinks, including vendor, project source, verification program and contract timeframes (as applicable):
--Carbon storage from on-site composting (performance year): Seattle University collects pre-consumer food and yard waste and converts it into compost on campus. Pre-consumer food waste is sorted and collected from kitchens and cafes on campus, then mixed with woodchips provided by the campus grounds staff. A facilities compost technician and a team of students then mix the materials and place them in a small aerated-static-pile composting facility on campus where they are converted into a safe compost-mulch that is used by the grounds staff on gardens and plant beds across campus.
--Third-party verified carbon offsets purchased (baseline year FY2009): no FY09 offset data could be retrieved.
--Third-party verified carbon offsets purchased (performance year FY2023): Verra verified carbon offsets to compensate for Scope 1 emissions. Scope 1 emission compensation through offset purchasing is a commitment by Seattle university since FY2021.
Adjusted net Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions:
| Performance year | Baseline year | |
| Adjusted net GHG emissions | 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent | 4,455.17 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
| Performance year | Baseline year | |
| Start date | July 1, 2022 | July 1, 2008 |
| End date | June 30, 2023 | June 30, 2009 |
A brief description of when and why the GHG emissions baseline was adopted:
SU started collecting GHG data in 2007. Over the following years, SU developed processes and identified emissions that were missing. Fiscal year 2009 was the year SU had data with confidence. In 2010, SU's Climate Action Plan was approved to implement the requirements of signing the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment. FY09 has been adopted as our baseline for GHG emissions.
Figures needed to determine “Weighted Campus Users”:
| Performance year | Baseline year | |
| Number of students resident on-site | 1,719 | 1,845 |
| Number of employees resident on-site | 35 | 32 |
| Number of other individuals resident on-site | 0 | 0 |
| Total full-time equivalent student enrollment | 6,744 | 6,520 |
| Full-time equivalent of employees | 1,358 | 1,224 |
| Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education | 192.60 | 0 |
| Weighted Campus Users | 6,370.55 | 6,277.25 |
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 | 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent | 0.71 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
Percentage reduction in adjusted net Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions per weighted campus user from baseline:
Gross floor area of building space, performance year:
Floor area of energy intensive building space, performance year:
| Floor area | |
| Laboratory space | 64,226.06 Square feet |
| Healthcare space | 0 Square feet |
| Other energy intensive space | 62,901.63 Square feet |
EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:
Adjusted net Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions per unit of EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:
A brief description of the institution’s GHG emissions reduction initiatives:
Website URL where information about the institution's GHG emissions is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
--Reporting year for this credit: FY23
--Note that the gross floor area of building space (performance year FY23) in OP2 is different from PRE-4 (data is for FY23 too).
The PRE-4 credit GSF is SU's institutional boundary GSF whereas in OP2 we report on SU's operational boundary, that is, excluding leased buildings because we do not receive any utilities-related data for those buildings (that is entirely managed by another company) nor do we control changes or improvements related to the leased buildings' utilities.
SU’s Institutional boundary total is 2,310,148. (= 2,296,459 owned + 13,689 for one leased building (YOBI building)
SU’s Operational boundary total is 2,210,938 (This includes only those buildings where SU has ownership/control of maintenance/building operations).
--Note that for student residents, we adjusted our numbers for the performance year: the number of students resident on-site in FY23 was 2,283.0. But because the GHG data we report in this credit OP2 only pertains to buildings that we own and manage (operational boundary; excluding any leased buildings), we subtracted 564 students from the total number of student residents; that is the combined capacity of the three residence halls that SU leases (Douglas, Vi Hilbert, and Yobi) and for which we do not report any GHG data in this credit OP2.
The baseline year numbers for student residents are not changed because the two residence halls were not in use before FY10.
--NOTE ABOUT SCOPE 2- GHG EMISSIONS FROM ELECTRICITY: We are reporting zero for electricity because our electricity provider, Seattle City Light is a carbon neutral utility. In 2005, SCL became the first electric utility in the country to achieve zero net greenhouse gas emissions. Most of its power supply portfolio includes hydropower (86%), nuclear (5%), wind (5%) and biogas (1%). Any emissions associated with unspecified market purchases are offset through their greenhouse gas neutrality policy. Also, SIMAP did a third-party verification of our GHG emissions inventory (see STARS credit OP 1 “Emissions Inventory and Disclosure”) and confirmed that we can claim “0” emissions for electricity as we have been doing since our FY09 baseline for our GHG inventories as well as for our 2016, 2018, and 2021 STARS reports.
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.