Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 53.78
Liaison Lisa Mitten
Submission Date March 8, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

State University of New York at New Paltz
OP-1: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 4.32 / 10.00 Lisa Mitten
Campus Sustainability Coordinator
Office of Campus Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

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 None
Commuting None
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:
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:

SUNY New Paltz uses the Clean Air Cool Planet Emissions Calculator v9.0 to complete its greenhouse gas inventory. Please note that v9.0 was not intended to be used for 2017 and we modified the file to work, so not all pages and graphs may work perfectly. Please note that the "ACUPCC Reporting" tab works correctly.

To calculate the emissions of purchased electricity, the New Paltz used custom fuel mix data for Central Hudson. At the time of submission, Central Hudson custom fuel mix data was available through 2015. To calculate the emissions for 2016 and 2017, the College used the 2015 custom fuel mix data.


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:
---

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

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

Gross Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions from stationary combustion 9,211 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 13,239 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions from other sources 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 395 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from purchased electricity 12,679 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 12,813 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from other sources 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Total 21,890 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 26,447 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, 2017 Dec. 31, 2017
Baseline Year Jan. 1, 2003 Dec. 31, 2003

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):

2003 was adopted as the baseline year because it is the earliest year that we have reliable utility data for a calendar year.


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

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

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 21,890 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 26,447 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Figures needed to determine “Weighted Campus Users”:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Number of students resident on-site 3,154 2,798
Number of employees resident on-site 16 16
Number of other individuals resident on-site and/or staffed hospital beds 0 0
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment 7,027 6,562.10
Full-time equivalent of employees (staff + faculty) 1,115 1,041.33
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education 74 0
Weighted campus users 6,843.50 6,406.07

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 3.20 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 4.13 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Percentage reduction in adjusted net Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions per weighted campus user from baseline:
22.52

Gross floor area of building space, performance year:
2,253,337 Gross square feet

Floor area of energy intensive building space, performance year:
Floor Area
Laboratory space 225,239 Square feet
Healthcare space 0 Square feet
Other energy intensive space 70,000 Square feet

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:
2,773,815 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

Scope 3 GHG emissions, performance year:
Emissions
Business travel ---
Commuting ---
Purchased goods and services 20.70 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Capital goods ---
Fuel- and energy-related activities not included in Scope 1 or Scope 2 ---
Waste generated in operations ---
Other categories ---

A brief description of the institution’s GHG emissions reduction initiatives, including efforts made during the previous three years:

SUNY New Paltz's reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 2003 to 2017 is attributable to the following actions:
- Switching from distillate oil to natural gas at the Central Heating Plant. This change occurred in 2006. Prior to 2003, the primary heating fuel was residual oil (#5-6). We would have used these years as a baseline, however we did not have accurate electricity data for those years, so chose 2013 as a baseline.
- Adding 277.75 KW of solar photovoltaics (generating approximately 112,000 kwh of electricity in 2017)
- Upgrading from less efficient lighting (ie. incandescent and metal halide) to more efficient lighting (fluorescents and LEDs) for all exterior lighting and the following buildings: LeFevre Hall, Deyo Hall, Lecture Center, Jacobson Faculty Tower, Coykendall Science Building, and the Humanities Building.
- Ongoing energy management initiatives include energy monitoring through building submetering, winter session setback, and ongoing conservation through efficient building scheduling. We regularly monitor class schedules and adjust building heating and cooling schedules to unoccupied mode when possible.
- Our GHG emissions have reduced due to how the local electricity generators create electricity. From 2003 to 2015 (the last year we have data for), the percentage of electricity produced from the following sources changed:
* Coal reduced from 32% to 3%
* Natural gas increased from 21% to 38%
* Distillate oil decreased from 17% to 1%
* Nuclear increased from 18% to 34%
* Waste-to-energy increased from 0 to 0.75%
* Renewables increased from 0 to 6.75%
All of the above changes reduced the campus' greenhouse gas emissions, based on Clean Air Cool Planet formulas.


The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Please note that the campus was unable to find residential student counts for 2003, so we used the same numbers as for 2013: 2,798 students.


Please note that the campus was unable to find residential student counts for 2003, so we used the same numbers as for 2013: 2,798 students.

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.