| Overall Rating | Silver |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 57.01 |
| Liaison | Meghna Tare |
| Submission Date | April 3, 2022 |
University of Texas at Arlington
OP-2: Greenhouse Gas Emissions
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.76 / 8.00 |
Meghna
Tare Director Office of Sustainability |
Gross Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions:
| Performance year | Baseline year | |
| Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions from stationary combustion | 20,511 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent | 17,038.20 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions from other sources | 1,016.09 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent | 8,484.10 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from imported electricity | 54,746.91 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent | 58,455.70 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from imported thermal energy | 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent | 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Total | 76,274 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent | 83,978 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
Figures needed to determine net carbon sinks:
| Performance year | Baseline year | |
| Third-party verified carbon offsets purchased | 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 storage from on-site composting | 13.55 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent | 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Carbon storage from non-additional sequestration | 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent | 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Carbon sold or transferred | 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent | 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Net carbon sinks | 13.55 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent | 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
A brief description of the carbon sinks, including vendor, project source, verification program and contract timeframes (as applicable):
UTA's composting program annually composts food waste from on-campus dining services and off-campus coffee shops and hospitals as well as yard waste collected from campus ground crews. The University uses this compost as mulch and soil amendment on campus grounds and in the new community garden. All data from UTA's composting program was obtained from the Office of Sustainability.
The data is posted here:
https://sustainability.uta.edu/community-garden-and-composting/
Adjusted net Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions:
| Performance year | Baseline year | |
| Adjusted net GHG emissions | 76,260.45 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent | 83,978 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
| Performance year | Baseline year | |
| Start date | Sept. 1, 2018 | Sept. 1, 2004 |
| End date | Aug. 31, 2019 | Aug. 31, 2005 |
A brief description of when and why the GHG emissions baseline was adopted:
2005 was adopted as baseline since we had data from this year
Figures needed to determine “Weighted Campus Users”:
| Performance year | Baseline year | |
| Number of students resident on-site | 5,214 | 3,278 |
| Number of employees resident on-site | 27 | 2,000 |
| Number of other individuals resident on-site | 80 | 10 |
| Total full-time equivalent student enrollment | 40,769 | 28,000 |
| Full-time equivalent of employees | 3,472 | 5,000 |
| Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education | 17,967 | 8,624 |
| Weighted Campus Users | 21,095.75 | 19,611.50 |
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 | 3.61 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent | 4.28 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:
Floor area of energy intensive building space, performance year:
| Floor area | |
| Laboratory space | 38,334.58 Square meters |
| Healthcare space | 1,621.07 Square meters |
| Other energy intensive space | 8,595.11 Square meters |
EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:
Adjusted net Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions per unit of EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:
A brief description of the institution’s GHG emissions reduction initiatives:
Several options were explored for reducing emissions from electricity consumption, the major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions at UTA. It was found that implementation of solar panels on 14 major UTA buildings would reduce emissions due to purchased electricity by 6.3%. The initial investment would pay for itself in savings in 1.7 years.
UTA currently has solar panels installed on one property, which generated 1430 MMBTU in the performance year (see OP-6).
It was found that about 23.9% of UTA’s campus is covered with trees, which absorb 467 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually. Traditional air pollutants are also removed, providing an estimated $10,000 in benefits. UTA’s trees also provide benefits of almost $9000 per year in terms of avoided stormwater runoff. Planting the 20.7% of UTA’s land currently covered by soil or grass would approximately double the tree benefits at UTA in terms.
Website URL where information about the institution's GHG emissions is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
The discrepancy between the gross floor area of building space figure in this credit and PRE 4 is valid. The figure in PRE 4 is from FY 21. The data in this credit (OP 2) was collected in FY 19 (published in FY 20) so the gross floor area of building space figure is from FY 19.
The discrepancy between the gross floor area of building space figure in this credit and PRE 4 is valid. The figure in PRE 4 is from FY 21. The data in this credit (OP 2) was collected in FY 19 (published in FY 20) so the gross floor area of building space figure is from FY 19.
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.