Overall Rating Reporter - expired
Overall Score
Liaison Steve Mital
Submission Date Feb. 28, 2014
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

University of Oregon
OP-1: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete Reporter Steve Mital
Office of Sustainability Director
Finance & Administration
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution's GHG emissions inventory include all Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions?:
Yes

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 Yes
Capital goods Yes
Fuel- and energy-related activities not included in Scope 1 or Scope 2 Yes
Waste generated in operations Yes

Does the institution's GHG emissions inventory include Scope 3 emissions from other categories?:
Yes

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

We use the Clean-Air Cool Planet Campus Carbon Calculator


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:

Our GHG Inventory is verified by the Oregon University System in their report "FY2012 Greenhouse Gas Inventory of Operations, Results and Benchmarking" available here: http://www.ous.edu/sites/default/files/dept/capcon/files/ous_fy2012_ghg_inventory_reportfinal061013.pdf


Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Scope 1 GHG emissions from stationary combustion 23,677 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 28,600 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Scope 1 GHG emissions from other sources 558 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 1,338 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Scope 2 GHG emissions from purchased electricity 28,917 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 18,068 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Scope 2 GHG emissions from other sources 504 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 120 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

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 400 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 342 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Third-party verified carbon offsets purchased 1,259 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 132 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

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

NA


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

NA


A brief description of the composting and carbon storage program:
A brief description of the purchased carbon offsets, including third party verifier(s) and contract timeframes:
Figures needed to determine “Weighted Campus Users”::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Number of residential students 4,283 3,950
Number of residential employees 16 16
Number of in-patient hospital beds 0 0
Full-time equivalent enrollment 23,925 19,301
Full-time equivalent of employees 4,748 4,377
Full-time equivalent of distance education students 684 400

Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
Start Date End Date
Performance Year July 1, 2011 June 30, 2012
Baseline Year July 1, 2003 June 30, 2004

A brief description of when and why the GHG emissions baseline was adopted:

2004 was the first year the UO completed Greenhouse Gas Inventory. Although a study has been done projecting 1990 GHG levels, it was decided that 2004 would be the baseline year.


Gross floor area of building space, performance year:
7,800,628 Square feet

Floor area of energy intensive building space, performance year:
Floor Area
Laboratory space 279,202 Square feet
Healthcare space 50,212 Square feet
Other energy intensive space 0 Square feet

Scope 3 GHG emissions, performance year::
Emissions
Business travel 20,912 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Commuting 6,059 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Purchased goods and services 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Capital goods 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Fuel- and energy-related activities not included in Scope 1 or Scope 2 9,672 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Waste generated in operations 284 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Other categories (please specify below) 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

A brief description of the sources included in Scope 3 GHG emissions from "other categories":

Scope 2 T&D losses, wastewater, paper, study abroad air travel


A copy of the most recent GHG emissions inventory:
The website URL where the GHG emissions inventory is posted:
A brief description of the institution’s GHG emissions reduction initiatives, including efforts made during the previous three years:

The UO's emissions reduction initiatives/goals over the past three years are are derived from the Climate Action Plan.


Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

These totals are for fiscal years 2005 and 2009. They are calculated with the Clean Air Cool Planet GHG calculator. It is critical to know that our purchased electricity, under scope 2, only increased by 13 percent in that time, while our overall scope 2 emissions
increased 54 percent. This much larger increase is due to the fact that EWEB (Eugene Water and Electric Board) used a new coefficient for 2009 based on the regional, rather than local energy mix. This new coefficient drastically shows far higher emissions per-purchased electricity.


These totals are for fiscal years 2005 and 2009. They are calculated with the Clean Air Cool Planet GHG calculator. It is critical to know that our purchased electricity, under scope 2, only increased by 13 percent in that time, while our overall scope 2 emissions
increased 54 percent. This much larger increase is due to the fact that EWEB (Eugene Water and Electric Board) used a new coefficient for 2009 based on the regional, rather than local energy mix. This new coefficient drastically shows far higher emissions per-purchased electricity.

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.