Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 56.76
Liaison Liz Davey
Submission Date Oct. 13, 2015
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Tulane University
OP-2: Outdoor Air Quality

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.50 / 1.00 Liz Davey
Director
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution have policies and/or guidelines in place to improve outdoor air quality and minimize air pollutant emissions from mobile sources?:
No

A brief description of the policies and/or guidelines to improve outdoor air quality and minimize air pollutant emissions from mobile sources:

Tulane complies with EPA’s New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) IIII and NESHAP ZZZZ for stationary engines. The air permit does not include mobile sources.

Tulane's Shuttles and Transportation program purchases Apollo buses that have low emission diesel engines. They use a DPF (Diesel particulate filter), SCR (selective catlaytic reduction) and DEF (diesel exhaust fluid) to reduce air pollutant emissions. The buses are also California Clean Idle Certified, having an auto idle shutdown which shuts down the engine after 5 minutes of idling.


Has the institution completed an inventory of significant air emissions from stationary sources on campus?:
Yes

A brief description of the methodology(ies) the institution used to complete its air emissions inventory:

The air emissions inventory is addressed in the state air permit. Emissions factors were derived from vendors or EPA’s AP-42.


Weight of the following categories of air emissions from stationary sources::
Weight of Emissions
Nitrogen oxides (NOx) 82.52 Tons
Sulfur oxides (SOx) 15.54 Tons
Carbon monoxide (CO) 63.97 Tons
Particulate matter (PM) 25.57 Tons
Ozone (O3) ---
Lead (Pb) ---
Hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) ---
Ozone-depleting compounds (ODCs) 11.81 Tons
Other standard categories of air emissions identified in permits and/or regulations ---

A brief description of the institution’s initiatives to minimize air pollutant emissions from stationary sources, including efforts made during the previous three years:

The Tulane University uptown campus maintains Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) Synthetic Minor Air Permit No. 2140-00146-03. The uptown campus operates a cogeneration facility which consists of a 5 Megawatt gas turbine with a heat recovery steam-generating unit that produces steam to heat the campus and run the chillers. The cogen unit can be operated using either natural gas or diesel fuel. Diesel usage is limited to 960 hours per year and fuel usage reports are submitted to LDEQ annually. Stack testing of the cogen unit is conducted as specified in the air permit. The co-gen unit and boilers comply with the EPA’s New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) to ensure that emissions are within federal standards. All cooling towers are equipped with high efficiency drift eliminators to minimize PM emissions.

Tulane strives to utilize emergency generators, boilers, and other air emission sources that are energy efficient and produce low level air emissions. In many cases, Tulane has purchased dual fuel use generators that can operate with either natural gas or No. 2 diesel fuel. Use of natural gas is more efficient and has less of an impact on overall outdoor air quality; the use of No. 2 diesel fuel is for emergencies.


The website URL where information about the institution’s outdoor air quality policies, guidelines or inventory is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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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.