| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 79.54 |
| Liaison | Kelli O'Day |
| Submission Date | June 20, 2023 |
University of California, Davis
OP-1: Emissions Inventory and Disclosure
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.04 / 3.00 |
Kelli
O'Day Assessment Program Manager Office of Sustainability |
Has the institution conducted a GHG emissions inventory within the previous three years that includes all Scope 1 and 2 emissions? :
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:
Emissions are reported for the Davis campus for 2021. UC Davis has conducted annual GHG emissions inventories from 2005-2021, and since 2006, has inventoried all six Kyoto Protocol GHG categories. The 2005-2019 inventories are verified and the 2020-2021 inventories will be verified together with the 2022 inventory. Data is requested annually, analyzed, & uploaded into The Climate Registry's CRIS online tool prior to beginning the verification process. UC Davis is currently conducting the GHG inventory for 2022.
The campus reports Scopes 1 and 2 in The Climate Registry (TCR) CRIS inventory tool, under TCR’s General Reporting Protocol, and reports Scopes 1, 2, and select Scope 3 sources in the campus Climate Action Plan and UC Board of Regents annual report. At present, the select Scope 3 sources include commuting and business-related air travel. The 2021 Scope 3 reporting is accessible at: https://sustainabilityreport.ucop.edu/2021/locations/uc-davis/.
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?:
A brief description of the GHG inventory verification process:
UC Davis follows the verification process and protocol of The Climate Registry, wherein an inventory is scrutinized by an independent, external third party. The 2021 inventory will be submitted to The Climate Registry, of which UC Davis is a member, and verified by a 3rd party qualified verifier in 2023, along with UC Davis’s 2020 inventory. UC Davis verifies multiple years of voluntary inventories together for cost efficiency.
Documentation to support the GHG inventory verification process:
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions, performance year:
| Weight in MTCO2e | |
| Stationary combustion | 55,179.88 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Other sources (mobile combustion, process emissions, fugitive emissions) | 13,900.45 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
Total gross Scope 1 GHG emissions, performance year:
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions, performance year (market-based):
| Weight in MTCO2e | |
| Imported electricity | 37,994.53 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Imported thermal energy | 215.40 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
Total gross Scope 2 GHG emissions, performance year:
Gross GHG emissions from biogenic sources, performance year:
Does the GHG emissions inventory include Scope 3 emissions from the following sources?:
| Yes or No | Weight in MTCO2e | |
| Business travel | No | 6,539 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Commuting | No | 33,988 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Purchased goods and services | No | --- |
| Capital goods | No | --- |
| Fuel- and energy-related activities not included in Scope 1 or Scope 2 | No | --- |
| Waste generated in operations | No | --- |
| Other sources | No | --- |
Total Scope 3 GHG emissions, performance year:
A brief description of how the institution accounted for its Scope 3 emissions:
The following Scope 3 GHG emissions are not included in our annual verified inventories, but are included in our annual reporting to The Regents of the University of California: Business travel, performance year: 6539 MTCO2e (university-funded air travel); and commuting, performance year: 33988 MTCO2e. For commuting, values were taken from the 2020-2021 Campus Travel Survey (available at: https://itspubs.ucdavis.edu/publication_detail.php?id=3624). For business air travel, the University of California uses a central travel booking system and the emissions values are calculated by that program for all flights booked.
Link to the 2021 UC Report on Sustainable Practices: https://sustainabilityreport.ucop.edu/2021/locations/uc-davis/
Link to UC Report on Sustainable Practices: https://www.ucop.edu/sustainability/policy-areas/annual-reports.html
Has the institution completed an inventory within the previous three years to quantify its air pollutant emissions?:
Annual weight of emissions for::
| Weight of Emissions | |
| Nitrogen oxides (NOx) | 15.26 Tons |
| Sulfur oxides (SOx) | 0.36 Tons |
| Carbon monoxide (CO) | 7.88 Tons |
| Particulate matter (PM) | 3.81 Tons |
| Ozone (O3) | --- |
| Lead (Pb) | 0 Tons |
| Hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) | 8 Tons |
| Ozone-depleting compounds (ODCs) | --- |
| Other standard categories of air emissions identified in permits and/or regulations | 3.13 Tons |
Do the air pollutant emissions figures provided include the following sources?:
| Yes or No | |
| Major stationary sources | Yes |
| Area sources | No |
| Mobile sources | No |
| Commuting | No |
| Off-site electricity production | No |
A brief description of the methodology(ies) the institution used to complete its air emissions inventory:
Every year UC Davis reports its annual emissions from permitted stationary sources to the Yolo-Solano Air Quality management District as “Throughput Reports”. The annual criteria pollutant inventory is calculated based on these Throughput Reports. The total emissions/fuel usage in the “Throughput Reports” are added together to get the total facility emissions inventory per criteria pollutant. The emission tons provided in the table above are per year for the 2021 calendar year for the following emission types: NOx, SOx, CO, PM(10), VOCs (reported in the box for other standard categories of air emissions identified in permits and/or regulations). The emissions tons provided in the table are per year emission estimates from the AB2588 Air Toxics Reporting 2021 calendar year for lead and hazardous air pollutants. Ozone emissions are not measured, nor required by regulations that UC Davis is subject to. UC Davis has a program in place to collect, recycle, and appropriately dispose of any extra ozone-depleting substances; in addition, the campus tracks refrigerant use, recycling, and disposal for the State of California and the USEPA.
The UC Davis air quality emissions tracking and modelling effort utilizes criteria pollutant source inventory data and planned growth projections to forecast long-term campus emissions for achieving regional air quality conformity with local, state, and federal air quality improvement plans. The recent UC Davis modelling effort took place in 2018 with a forecast horizon through the year 2030 and included both operational emissions and construction emissions that are expected to result from planned development projects and general campus growth. The modelling effort utilizes CalEEMod, a California-specific air quality impact model with model outputs used to determine the need for campus mitigation of expected emission annual quantities and concentrations during highest pollution days.
The CalEEMod modelling effort for UC Davis, with detailed descriptions of the existing baseline conditions, policy standards, modelling methodology, and resulting mitigation assessment process is included in Section 3.3 of the UC Davis 2018 Long Range Development Plan (LRDP) Environmental Impact Report (EIR). The LRDP EIR modelling effort was reviewed for technical accuracy and confirmed as acceptable by the Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District for short and long-term projections. The air quality section is available at: https://ucdavis.app.box.com/s/6qun1wssoxwq25qj56hxi5zxmcsjc5hw
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from purchased electricity (location-based):
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from imported thermal energy (location-based) :
Website URL where information about the institution’s emissions inventories is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
The following Scope 3 GHG emissions are not included in our annual verified inventories, but are included in our annual reporting to The Regents of the University of California: Business travel, performance year: 6539 MTCO2e (university-funded air travel); and commuting, performance year: 33988 MTCO2e.
Link to UC Office of the President Report on Sustainable Practices: https://www.ucop.edu/sustainability/policy-areas/annual-reports.html
Additional information on criteria air pollutants: https://www.arb.ca.gov/app/emsinv/facinfo/facinfo.php
Alex Berk, student employee in UCD Sustainability, assisted in compiling this credit response.
The following Scope 3 GHG emissions are not included in our annual verified inventories, but are included in our annual reporting to The Regents of the University of California: Business travel, performance year: 6539 MTCO2e (university-funded air travel); and commuting, performance year: 33988 MTCO2e.
Link to UC Office of the President Report on Sustainable Practices: https://www.ucop.edu/sustainability/policy-areas/annual-reports.html
Additional information on criteria air pollutants: https://www.arb.ca.gov/app/emsinv/facinfo/facinfo.php
Alex Berk, student employee in UCD Sustainability, assisted in compiling this credit response.
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.