| Overall Rating | Silver |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 60.64 |
| Liaison | Eva Rocke |
| Submission Date | June 30, 2021 |
University of Montana
OP-1: Emissions Inventory and Disclosure
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.29 / 3.00 |
Eva
Rocke Sustainability Director 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:
For the first time, UM chose to use the online SIMAP tool for its GHG inventory. For the previous 10 years we used the Clean Air Cool Planet Campus Carbon Calculator to track and calculate emissions. However, since UNH encourages universities to use the online tool, this year we registered and uploaded three years' worth of data (FY18-20) into the online reporting tool. Additionally, so that we had more than just our most recent 3 years' data, we added 2015-17 numbers to give a better sense of change over time.
Scope 1 emissions continues to include all emissions from UM Mountain Campus, Missoula College, and the south campus properties, as well as from "satellite" properties like Lubrecht Experimental Forest, Bandy Ranch, and the Flathead Biological Station.
Scope 2 emissions also include Main Campus, Missoula College, and all of the satellite properties listed above.
Scope 3 emissions historically has included two emissions sources: direct commuting by students, faculty; and university-financed air travel and buses for athletics. We continued to include those emissions sources in our 2020 inventory. We had planned to administer a commuter survey this last fall (Fall 2020) but were in the middle of a pandemic, so will conduct one in Fall 2021. Per the guidance from UNH (similar to STARS), we used the commuter data from 2016 and will update the emissions in our next GHG report.
The other major thing to note about our GHG inventory this year is that, in line with guidance from the GHG protocols, we decided to no longer use the eGrid EFs but to plug in emissions factors shared with us by our utility provider, NorthWestern Energy. In all of our earlier GHG inventories, we used the eGrid emissions factor, so in order to make our 2020 numbers comparable across a greater number of historical reports, we updated the emissions factors back through FY16 to be NorthWestern Energy-specific emissions factors. We plan to continue using this method in future reports as well.
Please note that the emissions represented in this 2021 STARS report are those from our 2019 GHG inventory. We completed a GHG inventory through FY20, but since FY19 seems like a more accurate picture of "normal" campus life and coincides with the other data and narratives we've included in this report, we chose FY19.
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:
Paul Edlund, MSU sustainability specialist, reviewed our GHG inventory at the same time he reviewed our STARS report. We shared our excel spreadsheet that contained all FY18-20 data, our institutional boundaries, and an explanation of the emissions factors used in SIMAP (we changed from eGrid but retroactively updated the 2015-2017 emissions factors too so that all EFs are now custom).
Documentation to support the GHG inventory verification process:
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions, performance year:
| Weight in MTCO2e | |
| Stationary combustion | 14,149.65 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Other sources (mobile combustion, process emissions, fugitive emissions) | 1,456.12 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 | 17,168.55 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Imported thermal energy | 0 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 | Yes | 8,817.14 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Commuting | Yes | 1,439.31 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 | Yes | 579.08 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Other sources | Yes | 912.52 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
Total Scope 3 GHG emissions, performance year:
A brief description of how the institution accounted for its Scope 3 emissions:
UM conducts a commuter survey every 3 years. Our last survey was administered in 2016, making us due for a survey in 2019. The end of 2019 and start of 2020 was highly unusual in terms of commuting behavior (remote classes, telework), so we felt it would have been portrayed commuting behavior inaccurately to survey campus affiliates at that time. We decided to use 2016 commuter data for this report. The other piece of Scope 3 data is UM-financed air travel and buses for athletic teams. We used the same methodology as in previous years: dollars spent on airfare and buses (removing baggage fees) were retrieved from Business Services and from UM Athletics. We then calculated approximate mileage based on passenger yield numbers from ATA.
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) | --- |
| Sulfur oxides (SOx) | --- |
| Carbon monoxide (CO) | --- |
| Particulate matter (PM) | --- |
| Ozone (O3) | --- |
| Lead (Pb) | --- |
| Hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) | --- |
| Ozone-depleting compounds (ODCs) | --- |
| Other standard categories of air emissions identified in permits and/or regulations | --- |
Do the air pollutant emissions figures provided include the following sources?:
| Yes or No | |
| Major stationary sources | --- |
| Area sources | --- |
| Mobile sources | --- |
| Commuting | --- |
| Off-site electricity production | --- |
A brief description of the methodology(ies) the institution used to complete its air emissions inventory:
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 FY18-20 GHG inventory has not yet been made public via our website, but will soon!
The FY18-20 GHG inventory has not yet been made public via our website, but will soon!
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.