Overall Rating Platinum - expired
Overall Score 85.51
Liaison Jennifer Andrews
Submission Date July 27, 2017
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of New Hampshire
OP-1: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 8.56 / 10.00 Jennifer Andrews
Project Director
Sustainability Institute
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1 

Has the institution conducted a GHG emissions inventory that includes all Scope 1 and 2 emissions? :
Yes

Does the institution’s GHG emissions inventory include all, some or none of its Scope 3 GHG emissions from the following categories?:
All, Some, or None
Business travel All
Commuting All
Purchased goods and services Some
Capital goods None
Waste generated in operations Some
Fuel- and energy-related activities not included in Scope 1 or Scope 2 Some
Other categories None

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, including how the institution accounted for each category of Scope 3 emissions reported above:
UNH uses the Campus Carbon Calculator developed by UNH and Clean Air - Cool Planet. Sustainability Institute staff hire student interns to help them collect data from the UNH Energy Office, Campus Planning, Facilities, and other departments for the Calculator. Inventories have traditionally been done every other year to meet Second Nature reporting requirements.

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?:
Yes

A brief description of the internal and/or external verification process:
After the Sustainability Institute interns and staff collect information from different campus departments and enter them into the Campus Calculator, they present this data to the Energy Task Force--which includes students, faculty, and staff from various departments. The ETF reviews both the input data and the results. They also review and provide edits to the short public report and a longer technical report for each inventory.

Documentation to support the internal and/or external verification process:
---

Does the institution wish to pursue Part 2 and Part 3 of this credit? (reductions in Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions):
Yes

Part 2 

Gross Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions from stationary combustion 20,837 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 29,517.10 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions from other sources 3,731 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 3,828.70 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from purchased electricity 2,029 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 25,153 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from other sources 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Total 26,597 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 58,498.80 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
Start Date End Date
Performance Year July 1, 2016 June 30, 2017
Baseline Year July 1, 2000 June 30, 2001

A brief description of when and why the GHG emissions baseline was adopted (e.g. in sustainability plans and policies or in the context of other reporting obligations):
2001 is the baseline year we established in our climate action plan (WildCAP), first published in 2009, and it is the baseline year for our reduction goal of 50% reductions by 2020.

Figures needed to determine total carbon offsets:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Third-party verified carbon offsets purchased (exclude purchased RECs/GOs) 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 sequestration due to land that the institution manages specifically for sequestration 2,328 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Carbon storage from on-site composting 60.80 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 52 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Carbon offsets included above for which the emissions reductions have been sold or transferred by the institution 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Net carbon offsets 2,388.80 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 52 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

If total performance year carbon offsets are greater than zero, provide:

A brief description of the offsets in each category reported above, including vendor, project source, verification program and contract timeframes (as applicable):
UNH forest land is managed for carbon sequestration, wildlife habitat and timber harvest. Composting is done on our research farms, including the organic dairy research farm.

The reporting fields in the table below are reserved for institutions that have NOT already accounted for renewable energy purchases (including RECs and GOs) in their Scope 2 GHG emissions calculations. Other institutions - including all SIMAP users - should report zero ('0') to avoid double-counting. 

Emissions reductions attributable to Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) or Guarantee of Origin (GO) purchases:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Emissions reductions attributable to REC/GO purchases 9,125 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

A brief description of the purchased RECs/GOs including vendor, project source and verification program:
Green e Certified Wind Energy RECs from 3Degrees, 2016 (July 1, 2015-March 1-2017).

Adjusted net Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Adjusted net Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions 22,179.20 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 58,446.80 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Figures needed to determine “Weighted Campus Users”:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Number of students resident on-site 7,396 6,247
Number of employees resident on-site 23 23
Number of other individuals resident on-site and/or staffed hospital beds 0 0
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment 14,292 13,165
Full-time equivalent of employees (staff + faculty) 2,930 3,136
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education 89 0
Weighted campus users 14,704.50 13,793.25

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 1.51 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 4.24 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Percentage reduction in adjusted net Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions per weighted campus user from baseline:
64.40

Part 3

Gross floor area of building space, performance year:
6,607,433 Gross square feet

Floor area of energy intensive building space, performance year:
Floor Area
Laboratory space 256,805 Square feet
Healthcare space 22,549 Square feet
Other energy intensive space 615,362 Square feet

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:
7,781,503 Gross square feet

Adjusted net Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions per unit of EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:
0.00 MtCO2e per square foot

Optional Fields 

Scope 3 GHG emissions, performance year:
Emissions
Business travel 7,537.10 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Commuting 12,203.70 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Purchased goods and services 8,047 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Capital goods ---
Fuel- and energy-related activities not included in Scope 1 or Scope 2 254 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Waste generated in operations 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Other categories ---

A brief description of the institution’s GHG emissions reduction initiatives, including efforts made during the previous three years:
UNH is continually striving to meet its carbon reduction goal of 50% by 2020, 80% by 2050. Major emissions reduction strategies over the past 10 years have included a move toward co-generation, which dropped our Scope 2 emissions very significantly since it meant we stopped buying the vast majority of our electricity and started producing it on campus; a shift to the use of landfill gas to power the co-generation facility; and the very recent adoption of a policy of purchasing Renewable Energy Credits to match 100% of campus electricity demand (both that we which we generate from the cogen plant and that which we purchase from the grid.) In addition, we use our revolving Energy Efficiency Fund (http://sustainableunh.unh.edu/revolvingfund) to pay for efficiency upgrades across campus (e.g. switching to LED's, upgrading to more efficient appliances, etc.) Recently, UNH became the first campus in the Northeast to join the Department of Energy's Smart Labs Accelerator program, which will focus on occupant behavior to promote energy conservation, as well as opportunities to make the lab equipment and spaces more energy efficient. In terms of emissions from our fleet, we mandate the purchase of fuel-efficient vehicles (we operate the largest transit system in the state of New Hampshire, all on Compressed Natural Gas), and for our diesel fleet vehicles, we use biodiesel. For more information about our suite of GHG reduction strategies and activities, please see http://sustainableunh.unh.edu/etf.

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Emissions recorded in the "Purchased Goods and Services" category includes specifically the emissions from the upstream production and distribution of purchases made by UNH Dining. These calculations were done separately from the rest of the inventory (you can see the calculations and emissions factors in the file uploaded under "Additional Documentation to Support the Submission." All other FY17 emissions data come from UNH's CA-CP Carbon Calculator, v9. (The file is attached.) This is a modified version of the CCC that includes FY17 data in the last year in which values are calculated rather than projected--formerly labelled 2016 and changed to 2017 for purposes of transparent calculation while UNH shifts to using the new SIMAP tool. Other contacts: Bill Janelle, Associate Vice President for Facilities and Chair of the UNH Energy Task Force.

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.