Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 65.17
Liaison Lisa Mitten
Submission Date March 2, 2023

STARS v2.2

State University of New York at New Paltz
OP-2: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 5.37 / 8.00 Lisa Mitten
Campus Sustainability Coordinator
Office of Campus Sustainability
"---" 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 6,450.28 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 13,239 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions from other sources 242.45 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 395 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from imported electricity 4,697.44 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 12,813 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 11,390.17 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 26,447 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 0 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 0 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):
Not applicable

Adjusted net GHG emissions

Adjusted net Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions:
Performance year Baseline year
Adjusted net GHG emissions 11,390.17 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 26,447 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 Jan. 1, 2021 Jan. 1, 2003
End date Dec. 31, 2021 Dec. 31, 2003

A brief description of when and why the GHG emissions baseline was adopted:
2003 was adopted as the baseline year because it is the earliest year that we have reliable utility data for a calendar year. Additionally, it was the same baseline year adopted in previous STARS reports.

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 2,473 2,798
Number of employees resident on-site 16 16
Number of other individuals resident on-site 0 0
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment 6,421 6,562.10
Full-time equivalent of employees 1,054 1,041.33
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education 204 0
Weighted Campus Users 6,075.50 6,406.07

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 1.87 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:
54.59

Part 2. GHG emissions per unit of floor area

Performance year floor area

Gross floor area of building space, performance year:
2,272,779 Gross square feet

Floor area of energy intensive building space, performance year:
Floor area
Laboratory space 244,679 Square feet
Healthcare space 0 Square feet
Other energy intensive space 34,578 Square feet

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:
2,796,715 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:
SUNY New Paltz's reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 2003 to 2021 is attributed 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 new rooftop solar photovoltaic arrays (generating approximately 256,000 kwh of electricity in 2010)
- Upgrading from less efficient lighting (ie. incandescent and metal halide) to more efficient lighting (fluorescents and LEDs) for all exterior lighting and one-third of interior spaces
- 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.
All of the above changes reduced the campus' greenhouse gas emissions, based on SIMAP calculations.
- Adding variable drives to the Central Heating Plant
- Modulating Central Heating Plant high temp hot water loop temperatures based on outdoor air temperatures, especially during the shoulder seasons
- Upgrading control valves campus-wide to properly regular and control the amount of high temp hot water entering each building
- Upgrading building control systems and adopting single-screens to view, operate, and control heating systems more efficiently and effectively

Website URL where information about the institution's GHG emissions is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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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.

Also note that we did not use PRE-05 data, which is associated with the 2022-23 academic year. Since this credit uses GHG emissions data for 2021, we used separate data for the fall of 2021.

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.