Overall Rating	Gold
Overall Score	67.19
Liaison	Tarah Rowse
Submission Date	May 30, 2021

STARS v2.2

Skidmore College
OP-2: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Status	Score	Responsible Party
	5.60 / 8.00	Levi Rogers Director of Sustainability Programs and Assessment Sustainability Office

"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions

Gross GHG emissions

Gross Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions:

	Performance year	Baseline year
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions from stationary combustion	5,618.51 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	8,877.25 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions from other sources	226.96 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	221.61 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from imported electricity	2,320.82 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	8,138.11 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from imported thermal energy	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Total	8,166.29 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	17,236.97 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Carbon sinks

Figures needed to determine net carbon sinks:

	Performance year	Baseline year
Third-party verified carbon offsets purchased	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 storage from on-site composting	2.28 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Carbon storage from non-additional sequestration	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	2.28 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

If total performance year carbon sinks are greater than zero, provide:

A brief description of the carbon sinks, including vendor, project source, verification program and contract timeframes (as applicable):

Skidmore operates two distinct compost programs, including a student-run compost program that collects and composts food scraps from over 200 campus apartments, as well as a larger-scale compost site that composts coffee grounds from our dining facilities, lands and grounds debris, and horse manure and bedding from our campus stables.

Adjusted net GHG emissions

Adjusted net Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions:

	Performance year	Baseline year
Adjusted net GHG emissions	8,164.01 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	17,236.97 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Performance and baseline periods

Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):

	Performance year	Baseline year
Start date	June 1, 2018	June 1, 1999
End date	May 31, 2019	May 31, 2000

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

Skidmore's 2015-2025 Campus Sustainability Plan uses the year 2000 as its baseline for tracking progress toward our institutional sustainability goals. Many of the College's early sustainability efforts, particularly large-scale energy efficiency and renewable energy projects, began in the early 2000s. Our 2000 baseline year ensures the College captures our earliest efforts to reduce GHG emissions. We recently updated our 2000 baseline by recalculating emissions suing present-day methodology and emissions factors to ensure we are using a more honest and accurate baseline. This process did indeed lower our 2000 baseline emissions, but we believe this was an important step to take as we track our emissions and aim to meet our 2025 GHG reduction goals.

Part 1. Reduction in GHG emissions per person

Weighted campus users

Figures needed to determine “Weighted Campus Users”:

	Performance year	Baseline year
Number of students resident on-site	2,250	1,782
Number of employees resident on-site	5	4
Number of other individuals resident on-site	4	0
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment	2,526	2,221
Full-time equivalent of employees	980	732
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education	0	0
Weighted Campus Users	3,197.25	2,661.25

Metrics used in scoring for Part 1

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	2.55 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	6.48 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

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

60.58

Part 2. GHG emissions per unit of floor area

Performance year floor area

Gross floor area of building space, performance year:

1,897,891 Gross square feet

Floor area of energy intensive building space, performance year:

	Floor area
Laboratory space	41,567 Square feet
Healthcare space	0 Square feet
Other energy intensive space	9,870 Square feet

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:

1,990,895 Gross square feet

Metric used in scoring for Part 2

Adjusted net Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions per unit of EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:

0.00 MtCO2e per square foot

A brief description of the institution’s GHG emissions reduction initiatives:

The College has pursued several major renewable energy projects in the last three years, including the construction of a 2-megawatt solar array, a small-hydro power purchase agreement, two district geothermal projects, and six rooftop solar thermal arrays. Additionally, the College has implemented several energy-efficiency initiatives, including lighting retrofits, energy monitoring programs, and building renovations.

http://www.skidmore.edu/sustainability/initiatives/energy.php

Website URL where information about the institution's GHG emissions is available:

http://www.skidmore.edu/sustainability/renewable-energy/index.php

Additional documentation to support the submission:

---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

We acknowledge the inconsistency in weighted campus users and gross floor area of building space reported between this section and PRE-3. As already noted, every other section in this assessment references institutional characteristics and data from our 2019 fiscal year because it was the most recent and complete dataset available when we started completing the STARS report. Our most recent GHG inventory was published in July 2019 and is based on data from our 2016 fiscal year, hence the inconsistency in data. We expect to publish our next GHG inventory, based on fiscal year 2019, within the next year.

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.