Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 65.82
Liaison Konrad Schlarbaum
Submission Date Feb. 20, 2015
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

University of Colorado Colorado Springs
OP-1: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 4.03 / 10.00
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

None
Does the institution's GHG emissions inventory include all Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions?:
Yes

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Does the institution's GHG emissions inventory include all Scope 3 GHG emissions from any of the following categories?:
Yes or No
Business travel Yes
Commuting Yes
Purchased goods and services No
Capital goods No
Fuel- and energy-related activities not included in Scope 1 or Scope 2 Yes
Waste generated in operations Yes

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Does the institution's GHG emissions inventory include Scope 3 emissions from other categories?:
No

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A brief description of the methodology and/or tool used to complete the GHG emissions inventory:
CACP V6.9

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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

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A brief description of the internal and/or external verification process:
The GHG inventory is prepared by the director and assistant director in the Office of Sustainability and is reviewed by the Climate Advisory Board, composed of students, faculty, staff, and administration.

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Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Scope 1 GHG emissions from stationary combustion 3,971 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 2,828 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Scope 1 GHG emissions from other sources 399 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 136 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Scope 2 GHG emissions from purchased electricity 16,840 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 14,567 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Scope 2 GHG emissions from other sources 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

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Figures needed to determine total carbon offsets::
Performance Year Baseline Year
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
Third-party verified carbon offsets purchased 1,147.70 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

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A brief description of the institution-catalyzed carbon offsets program:
---

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A brief description of the carbon sequestration program and reporting protocol used:
---

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A brief description of the composting and carbon storage program:
---

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A brief description of the purchased carbon offsets, including third party verifier(s) and contract timeframes:
UCCS purchases renewable energy credits (RECs) from Renewable Choice Energy for one- or two-year periods. In this report, RECs were purchased in 2012 and 2013.

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Figures needed to determine “Weighted Campus Users”::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Number of residential students 1,140 755
Number of residential employees 2 0
Number of in-patient hospital beds 0 0
Full-time equivalent enrollment 8,667 6,774
Full-time equivalent of employees 1,421 990
Full-time equivalent of distance education students 988 198

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Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
Start Date End Date
Performance Year July 1, 2012 June 30, 2013
Baseline Year July 1, 2005 June 30, 2006

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A brief description of when and why the GHG emissions baseline was adopted:
2006 was chosen as the baseline for GHG emissions because it is the first year for which we have complete, accurate utility data, including electricity and natural gas that are the primary components of our GHG inventory.

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Gross floor area of building space, performance year:
1,832,183 Square feet

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Floor area of energy intensive building space, performance year:
Floor Area
Laboratory space 156,000 Square feet
Healthcare space 0 Square feet
Other energy intensive space 341,565 Square feet

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Scope 3 GHG emissions, performance year::
Emissions
Business travel 1,002.20 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Commuting 8,602.30 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Purchased goods and services ---
Capital goods ---
Fuel- and energy-related activities not included in Scope 1 or Scope 2 1,200.40 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Waste generated in operations 1,134.60 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Other categories (please specify below) 13.30 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

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A brief description of the sources included in Scope 3 GHG emissions from "other categories":
This includes emissions generated from paper use (0.5 mt eCO2) and wastewater processing by the local utility (13.3 mt eCO2).

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A copy of the most recent GHG emissions inventory:
---

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The website URL where the GHG emissions inventory is posted:
None
A brief description of the institution’s GHG emissions reduction initiatives, including efforts made during the previous three years:
In 2012 the Office of Sustainability initiated a Greening of the Office program to address energy use and other sustainability practices within offices. Some of the progress includes more task lighting, daylighting, turning computers to sleep mode, etc, Other initiatives include lighting retrofits, purchase of higher efficiency HVAC equipment and replacement of very old inefficient units, and continued supervision of Building Automation System setpoints, a goal of 40% energy savings (over ASHRAE 90.1-2007) in new buildings. There are current plans to start retro-commissioning some of the existing buildings.

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.