Overall Rating	Gold - expired
Overall Score	81.02
Liaison	Sam Lubow
Submission Date	June 29, 2016
Executive Letter	Download

STARS v2.1

Stanford University
OP-1: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Status	Score	Responsible Party
	6.00 / 10.00	Moira Hafer Sustainability Specialist Office of Sustainability

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

Part 1

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	Some
Commuting	All
Purchased goods and services	None
Capital goods	None
Waste generated in operations	None
Fuel- and energy-related activities not included in Scope 1 or Scope 2	None
Other categories	None

A copy of the most recent GHG emissions inventory:

CY14 TCR Emissions Report FINAL.pdf

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:

In 2001, the State of California created the nonprofit California Climate Action Registry (CCAR) to facilitate the voluntary accounting and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions within the state. CCAR stopped collecting emissions inventories in 2010 and transitioned its membership to the Climate Registry (TCR), a nonprofit emissions registry for North America. The CCAR General Reporting Protocol required filing of Scope I & II emissions with independent third party verification, and encouraged participants to file inventories of Scope III emissions as well. Stanford joined the CCAR in 2006 and used this protocol to prepare and file its GHG emission inventories through 2009. In 2010, Stanford transitioned to TCR protocol for its third-party verified emissions inventory, and it has reported through TCR in each subsequent year to date. Scope III emissions at this time (business air travel and driving commuters) are compiled internally by Stanford's Parking & Transportation Services and are not formally verified.

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?:

Yes

A brief description of the internal and/or external verification process:

Stanford verifies its emissions inventory every year through an independent third party, as required by TCR's protocol. Please see the following website for more details on the required verification protocol: http://www.theclimateregistry.org/resources/verification/general-verification-protocol/

Documentation to support the internal and/or external verification process:

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Does the institution wish to pursue Part 2 and Part 3 of this credit? (reductions in Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions):

Yes

Part 2

Gross Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions from stationary combustion	20,709.38 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	10,713 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions from other sources	9,447.95 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	5,231 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from purchased electricity	81,070.11 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	74,394 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from other sources	18,075.70 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	92,554 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Total	129,303.14 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	182,892 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	Jan. 1, 2015	Dec. 31, 2015
Baseline Year	Jan. 1, 2007	Dec. 31, 2007

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):

Although Stanford University first reported its GHG emissions in 2006, the 2007 results provide a more accurate baseline for the university. Reporting in 2006 included a number of non-typical operations, including major maintenance operations at the Central Energy Facility. Therefore, 2006 results are not considered representative of actual campus emissions.

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	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	0 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	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

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

A brief description of the offsets in each category reported above, including vendor, project source, verification program and contract timeframes (as applicable):

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The reporting fields in the table below are reserved for institutions that have NOT already accounted for renewable energy purchases (including RECs and GOs) in their Scope 2 GHG emissions calculations. Other institutions - including all SIMAP users - should report zero ('0') to avoid double-counting.

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	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

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

---

Adjusted net Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Adjusted net Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions	129,303.14 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	182,892 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Figures needed to determine “Weighted Campus Users”:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Number of students resident on-site	11,402	10,305
Number of employees resident on-site	0	0
Number of other individuals resident on-site and/or staffed hospital beds	0	0
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment	15,887	13,282
Full-time equivalent of employees (staff + faculty)	12,879	11,027
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education	0	0
Weighted campus users	24,425	20,808

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	5.29 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	8.79 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

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

39.77

Part 3

Gross floor area of building space, performance year:

16,877,618 Gross square feet

Floor area of energy intensive building space, performance year:

	Floor Area
Laboratory space	1,800,941 Square feet
Healthcare space	0 Square feet
Other energy intensive space	101,716 Square feet

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:

20,581,216 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

Optional Fields

Scope 3 GHG emissions, performance year:

	Emissions
Business travel	22,333 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Commuting	25,702 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	0 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:

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The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:

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Additional documentation to support the submission:

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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

In 2015, Stanford began including all greenhouse gases in its emissions inventory, rather than just carbon dioxide. While Stanford has achieved significant emissions reductions in 2015 due to its new energy system (detailed below) and other efficiency efforts, the inclusion of these additional greenhouse gases has increased this year's overall emissions by approximately 5.2%. The numbers reported in this credit for Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, which include these additional gases, is not necessarily an apples to apples comparison to the baseline year, which only includes carbon dioxide, but Stanford chose to include this slightly larger number in order to be consistent with the 2015 figure that the university will publicly report through TCR. Please note that the GSF reported for the GHG inventory varies from the campus GSF reported for all other credits. The boundary of the GHG inventory is slightly different from the overall STARS boundary, and the GSF for the GHG inventory boundary is used for this credit. The difference primarily derives from the inclusion of off-campus leased spaces in the GHG inventory boundary. Changes in the way that Scope 3 emissions are calculated for business travel and commuters have decreased the emissions reported in those categories as compared to years past. The commuter emissions should now be more accurate, as the new calculation methodology takes into account the exact distance between the commuter's home and Stanford's campus, rather than using a self-reported distance. On the other hand, changes to the Procurement system in 2015 caused the business travel emissions report to exclude some sources, but this omission has now been remedied for future years. The Stanford Energy System Innovations (SESI) project came online in April 2015 and will reduce campus greenhouse gas emissions by 68% by the end of 2016 through utilization of electric heat recovery technology at Stanford’s new Central Energy Facility combined with an agreement to build 78.5 MW of solar PV, 5.5 MW of which will be installed on campus. The data used in this credit represents nine months of the new energy system being online but does not capture any of the renewables that Stanford is currently introducing into its electricity portfolio through this project, so Stanford's emissions will continue to decrease as a result of this project throughout the coming years.