Overall Rating	Silver
Overall Score	45.79
Liaison	Larry Cook
Submission Date	Dec. 4, 2020
Executive Letter	Download

STARS v2.1

University of South Carolina
OP-1: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Status	Score	Responsible Party
	0.00 / 10.00	Tom Syfert Director Environmental Health & Safety

"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

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

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	None
Commuting	None
Purchased goods and services	None
Capital goods	None
Waste generated in operations	None
Fuel- and energy-related activities not included in Scope 1 or Scope 2	None
Other categories	None

A copy of the most recent GHG emissions inventory:

GHG Emissions 2017_FSr0RAZ.xlsx

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:

USC has a vendor GEL Engineering that determines our air emissions, incuding GHG emissions based on the scfm of natural gas (or during natural gas curtailments, the gallons of No. 2 low sulfur diesel) used by our permitted boilers. This information is fed into the EPA's eGGRT online program and eGGRT determines the amount of CO2, CH4, N2O, Total CO2e and Total N2Oe we generate annually. GHG emissions can also be calculated on spreadsheets using emission factors, as we did for SCDHEC's request for insignificant source (non-permitted boilers, generators, and heaters) emissions in 2018.

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 internal and/or external verification process:

The determination of values produced in eGGRT, are performed according to EPA guidelines.

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):

Gross Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions from stationary combustion	41,573.12 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	23,765.70 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions from other sources	---	---
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from purchased electricity	---	---
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from other sources	---	---
Total	41,573.12 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	23,765.70 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	Jan. 1, 2016	Dec. 31, 2018
Baseline Year	Jan. 1, 2013	Dec. 31, 2015

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):

Based on emissions, the USC-Columbia campus has a Title V Air Operating Permit. This permit establishes requirements for SCDHEC and EPA compliance. One of these requirements is that we report GHGs for air permitted equipment annually.

Figures needed to determine total carbon offsets:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Third-party verified carbon offsets purchased (exclude purchased RECs/GOs)	---	---
Institution-catalyzed carbon offsets generated	---	---
Carbon sequestration due to land that the institution manages specifically for sequestration	---	---
Carbon storage from on-site composting	---	---
Carbon offsets included above for which the emissions reductions have been sold or transferred by the institution	---	---
Net carbon offsets	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

A brief description of the offsets in each category reported above, including vendor, project source, verification program and contract timeframes (as applicable):

---

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	---	---

A brief description of the purchased RECs/GOs including vendor, project source and verification program:

---

Adjusted net Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Adjusted net Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions	41,573.12 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	23,765.70 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Figures needed to determine “Weighted Campus Users”:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Number of students resident on-site	14,338	7,700
Number of employees resident on-site	34	10,529
Number of other individuals resident on-site and/or staffed hospital beds	20	20
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment	31,270	34,731
Full-time equivalent of employees (staff + faculty)	5,668	10,529
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education	1,153	1,330
Weighted campus users	30,451.75	37,524.75

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	1.37 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	0.63 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

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

Gross floor area of building space, performance year:

10,497,640 Gross square feet

Floor area of energy intensive building space, performance year:

	Floor Area
Laboratory space	1,117,830 Square feet
Healthcare space	106,338 Square feet
Other energy intensive space	269,552 Square feet

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:

13,215,528 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

Scope 3 GHG emissions, performance year:

	Emissions
Business travel	---
Commuting	---
Purchased goods and services	---
Capital goods	---
Fuel- and energy-related activities not included in Scope 1 or Scope 2	4,572.06 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Waste generated in operations	---
Other categories	---

A brief description of the institution’s GHG emissions reduction initiatives, including efforts made during the previous three years:

---

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:

---

Additional documentation to support the submission:

2017 CO2 Trend Report USC.pdf

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

USC-Columbia conducts annual GHG emissions on Scope 1 equipment for 7 SCDHEC permitted natural gas boilers which provide steam for heating buildings and hot water. During 2018 at SCDHEC's request, we also evaluated GHG and other pollutants produced by stationary generators and other insignificant sources.

A combined total of 78,245 pounds of hazardous and non-hazardous wastes were managed during 2018. Of this amount 36,309 pounds of hazardous waste were recycled. This is a 28% increase in the disposal/recycling of hazardous waste generated during 2017. Hazardous and non-hazardous waste disposal is performed by vendor Tradebe. The Columbia campus also generated and shipped 29,459.8 pounds of infectious or biohazard waste by vendor Stericycle.

Data source(s) and notes about the submission

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.

STARS v2.1

University of South Carolina OP-1: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

University of South Carolina
OP-1: Greenhouse Gas Emissions