University of Pennsylvania
OP-15: Campus Fleet

Penn Transportation operates a propane fueling station at the Pennovation Works campus. The facility, which is the only private propane fueling station in Philadelphia, holds 1,000 gallons of fuel - enough to fuel 15 Penn Transit propane-powered shuttle vans for a week. Propane-powered vehicles produce 30-90% less carbon monoxide and about 50% less toxins and smog producing substances than normal gasoline-powered vehicles. Besides being cleaner-burning, having a fueling station for Penn's shuttles on our campus eliminates the need to drive to a filling station to fuel the vans, further reducing emissions and local congestion. Since propane is over 90% domestically produced, it is more readily available than most other alternative fuels and costs about $1 less per gallon than gasoline. Any campus unit can use this fueling station, and the Penn Transit maintenance shop can convert any gasoline-powered vehicle to propane at its in-house vehicle maintenance facility. Eight of Penn Transit full-size buses are powered by bio-diesel, and the 15 bi-fuel cutaway shuttle vehicles can run on multiple fuel sources. The shuttle fleet operates on propane supplied from Penn Transit Services’ maintenance facility. We have included these vehicles in the number of vehicles fueled with CNG. Penn has four electric vehicle charging stations conveniently located both on the main campus and at the University of Pennsylvania Medical System campus to support permit and transient parkers. In addition, the Facilities department has moved from gasoline trucks to small, electric golf-cart style trucks. So far, there are eleven on campus.

The University of Pennsylvania is a major research institution, with over 3,000 degrees granted annually from twelve professional and academic schools at the Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctorate levels. Penn is committed to reducing emissions and energy use, as stated in the 2014 "Climate Action Plan 2.0". This submission documents Penn's efforts during the FY17 year and compares them to the FY14 baseline year which corresponds with the University's "Climate Action Plan. 2.0". The submission relies on information related to the main, academic, West Philadelphia campus, but to more fully document efforts across the Penn system, information related to the Morris Arboretum and New Bolton has also been referenced and noted as outside the boundary in descriptions. The information is used to enrich examples of University efforts and is not intended to be the primary justification for credits. The responses for each of the questions and sub-questions are drawn from University materials, both internal and public documents. Each section notes the website where the information can be found.