| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 78.59 |
| Liaison | Beverley Ayeni |
| Submission Date | March 1, 2024 |
University of Toronto Mississauga
OP-1: Emissions Inventory and Disclosure
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.67 / 3.00 |
Minali
Giani Sustainability Intern Facilities Management and Planning |
Has the institution conducted a GHG emissions inventory within the previous three years that includes all Scope 1 and 2 emissions? :
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:
The GHG inventory was completed as part of the Climate Positive Plan that was written in 2023 to fulfil organizational requirements to achieve a climate positive campus by 2050. The plan was written by the Sustainability Office at UTM.
The inventory was accomplished using methods outlined in the February 2023 update of the Guideline for Quantification, Reporting and Verification of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from the Province of Ontario (Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change, 13 February 2023). Emissions factors for each fuel source were obtained from the 2018 National Inventory Report. In that report, emission factors were only available through 2016, so the 2016 factors were carried forward as placeholders for 2017 and 2018. GWP values are from the Fifth Assessment Report of the IPCC.
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 GHG inventory verification process:
N/A
Documentation to support the GHG inventory verification process:
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions, performance year:
| Weight in MTCO2e | |
| Stationary combustion | 10,461.50 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Other sources (mobile combustion, process emissions, fugitive emissions) | 28.77 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
Total gross Scope 1 GHG emissions, performance year:
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions, performance year (market-based):
| Weight in MTCO2e | |
| Imported electricity | 1,233.13 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Imported thermal energy | 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
Total gross Scope 2 GHG emissions, performance year:
Gross GHG emissions from biogenic sources, performance year:
Does the GHG emissions inventory include Scope 3 emissions from the following sources?:
| Yes or No | Weight in MTCO2e | |
| Business travel | Yes | 1,515.48 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Commuting | Yes | 4,584.10 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Purchased goods and services | No | --- |
| Capital goods | No | --- |
| Fuel- and energy-related activities not included in Scope 1 or Scope 2 | Yes | 4,235.40 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Waste generated in operations | Yes | 332 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Other sources | No | --- |
Total Scope 3 GHG emissions, performance year:
A brief description of how the institution accounted for its Scope 3 emissions:
Business Travel:
In March 2023, the University of Toronto launched the Air Travel Emissions Mitigation Initiative (ATEMI) to mitigate the impact of emissions from air travel, as part of its commitment to reduce its carbon footprint and take action to combat climate change. The mitigation initiative involves the university collecting a fee for every kilometre flown using operational dollars. The funds collected will be directed into a fund that supports sustainability projects across its three campuses.
To support this initiative, university-funded business travel is now recorded and was used to calculate emissions.
Methodology:
The emissions calculations are based on university-funded air travel from March 15, 2023 to December 31, 2023, as ATEMI was officially launched in March. The total number of kilometres flown was multiplied by an emissions factor of 0.182 eCO2 kg / km, which is an average emissions per kilometres based on the calculated distribution of flight distances provided within the Committee on the Environment, Climate Change and Sustainability (CECCS’) Business Air Travel report: https://sustainability.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/CECCS_Nov-2020_Business-Air-Travel-Report.pdf
Finally, this number was divided by 1000 to calculate the emissions in metric tons of CO2 equivalent (MTCO2e).
More details on the ATEMI program can be found in the Innovation D credit.
Commuting:
The UTM campus provides a shuttle bus service that provides convenient transportation for students between the UTM and St. George campuses of the university. In addition, shuttle bus service is provided to Sheridan College’s Trafalgar campus for students enrolled in joint UTM-Sheridan programs. Because the shuttle bus is not owned by the university, it is considered an indirect emission and is therefore classified in Scope 3.
Methodology:
Number of roundtrips for Jan - Dec 2022 was provided by UTM's Operations Manager, Parking & Transportation. This number was multiplied by 2 to give the total number of one-way trips per year. This was then multiplied by the number of kilometers travelled per trip to give a total number of kilometers travelled per year.
Total number of kilometers travelled per year was then divided by the fuel economy (in kilometers per liter) to get the total number of litres of fuel (diesel) used.
Emissions of each of the 3 greenhouse gases of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) were then calculated by multiplying the diesel consumption by emissions factors that were sourced from Canada’s National Inventory Report and converting to kilograms.
Each greenhouse gas emission was then multiplied by the global warming potential for that gas, sourced from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fourth Assessment Report as cited by the Government of Canada to convert to CO2 equivalent. Finally, the CO2 equivalent numbers for each gas were added together and converted to metric tonnes.
This process was then repeated for the UTM-Sheridan College route. Emissions for both routes were added together to produce the total emissions.
Commuting (without Shuttle Bus), Waste, Fuel & Energy Related Activities:
U of T Faculty Members - Profs Shashi Kant, Yue Li, Soo Min Toh, Cynthia Goh, and James MacLellan - received a research grant to quantify the Scope 3 emissions of the University of Toronto from the Climate Positive Energy Strategic Research Initiative of the university. As part of this effort, data on student, staff, and faculty commuting patterns at UTM was collected through a combined survey designed for credits AC-6 and EN-6.
The collected data included the type of commute (e.g., public transit, car (carpooling, single-vehicle, electric vehicle), cycling, walking), the address of residence (to calculate the distance from home to campus), and the number of days per week individuals commute. With this data, the researchers were able to calculate the scope 3 emissions associated with the commuting of staff, faculty, and students for the academic year 2022/2023.
In addition to the calculation of scope 3 emissions from commuting, the researchers also calculated the scope 3 emissions associated with waste, fuel, and energy-related activities for the academic year 2022/2023.
Has the institution completed an inventory within the previous three years to quantify its air pollutant emissions?:
Annual weight of emissions for::
| Weight of Emissions | |
| Nitrogen oxides (NOx) | --- |
| Sulfur oxides (SOx) | --- |
| Carbon monoxide (CO) | --- |
| Particulate matter (PM) | --- |
| Ozone (O3) | --- |
| Lead (Pb) | --- |
| Hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) | --- |
| Ozone-depleting compounds (ODCs) | --- |
| Other standard categories of air emissions identified in permits and/or regulations | --- |
Do the air pollutant emissions figures provided include the following sources?:
| Yes or No | |
| Major stationary sources | --- |
| Area sources | --- |
| Mobile sources | --- |
| Commuting | --- |
| Off-site electricity production | --- |
A brief description of the methodology(ies) the institution used to complete its air emissions inventory:
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from purchased electricity (location-based):
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from imported thermal energy (location-based) :
Website URL where information about the institution’s emissions inventories is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Emissions factors for Shuttle Bus (Scope 3) calculations- Canada’s National Inventory Report :
Global warming potentials:
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.