Overall Rating	Gold - expired
Overall Score	69.26
Liaison	Gioia Thompson
Submission Date	March 1, 2017
Executive Letter	Download

STARS v2.1

University of Vermont
OP-1: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Status	Score	Responsible Party
	7.17 / 10.00	Gioia Thompson Sustainability Strategist UVM Office of Sustainability

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

Part 1

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

Yes

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

A copy of the most recent GHG emissions inventory:

UVM FY15 GHG summary.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:

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:

UVM contracts with Sightlines, LLC to conduct the inventory and verify the data and compare with other institutions.

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):

Yes

Part 2

Gross Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions from stationary combustion	28,577 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	34,655 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions from other sources	1,322.29 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	3,336.50 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from purchased electricity	19,949 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	23,159 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from other sources	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Total	49,848.29 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	61,150.50 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	July 1, 2014	June 30, 2015
Baseline Year	July 1, 2006	June 30, 2007

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):

---

Figures needed to determine total carbon offsets:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Third-party verified carbon offsets purchased (exclude purchased RECs/GOs)	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 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	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Carbon offsets included above for which the emissions reductions have been sold or transferred by the institution	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Net carbon offsets	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

If total performance year carbon offsets are greater than zero, provide:

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

None

The reporting fields in the table below are reserved for institutions that have NOT already accounted for renewable energy purchases (including RECs and GOs) in their Scope 2 GHG emissions calculations. Other institutions - including all SIMAP users - should report zero ('0') to avoid double-counting.

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	19,949 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

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

Green-E certified Midwest wind power purchased through Renewable Choice Energy; and Cow Power, from local farm methane projects, also Green-E certified, purchased through the local electric utility Green Mountain Power

Adjusted net Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Adjusted net Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions	29,899.29 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	61,150.50 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Figures needed to determine “Weighted Campus Users”:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Number of students resident on-site	4,954	4,791
Number of employees resident on-site	19	19
Number of other individuals resident on-site and/or staffed hospital beds	0	0
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment	12,251	10,805
Full-time equivalent of employees (staff + faculty)	3,676	3,437
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education	47	2
Weighted campus users	13,153.25	11,882.50

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	2.27 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	5.15 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

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

55.83

Part 3

Gross floor area of building space, performance year:

5,656,908 Gross square feet

Floor area of energy intensive building space, performance year:

	Floor Area
Laboratory space	445,164 Square feet
Healthcare space	9,106 Square feet
Other energy intensive space	86,074 Square feet

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:

6,651,522 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

Optional Fields

Scope 3 GHG emissions, performance year:

	Emissions
Business travel	9,490.20 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Commuting	9,824.80 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Purchased goods and services	---
Capital goods	---
Fuel- and energy-related activities not included in Scope 1 or Scope 2	---
Waste generated in operations	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Other categories	---

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

Energy infrastructure upgrades, LEED building policy, Energy Revolving Fund, solar study and installations, cleaner fuels, Active Transportation Plan, progressive parking fees, RECs purchase

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

http://www.uvm.edu/sustain/sustainability-uvm/climate-action-plan

Additional documentation to support the submission:

FY15 UVM GHG emissions description (Sightlines)_1.pdf

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

The University of Vermont has continued to work with the local electricity and natural gas utilities, as well as the statewide energy efficiency utility, to reduce energy use and peak demand by buildings, with an emphasis on new construction and major renovations. UVM contracts with Sightlines, LLC to analyze facilities needs and to find the most effective ways to invest in building improvements. The decision by the Board of Trustees has been to focus on removing buildings with the greatest need for repair, and replacing them with more efficient buildings that meet current programmatic needs. This strategic direction is supported by the $13M Energy Revolving Fund and the 2004 policy that all major construction and renovation projects be formally commissioned as well as certified at a minimum of LEED Silver level. UVM has also switched from using #6 fuel oil as a backup fuel for the central heating and cooling plant, to using #2 fuel oil, and has converted the boilers in small buildings that are not part of the central system from oil to natural gas. Sightlines, LLC also conducts the institution's greenhouse gas inventory, which includes building energy use, commuting, business travel (ground and air), and study abroad travel. On the transportation front, UVM has continued to expand programs for commuters while further limiting the number of parking spaces on campus, requiring relatively high parking fees, and strictly enforcing policies. A new Active Transportation Plan provides guidance for how to make the campus safe and accessible without a car. Many of the vehicles in the campus fleet cannot easily be replaced with alternate fuel vehicles due to their function --- needing to be used for snowplows, for example, or 15-passenger vans -- but then again, many of these are not used very frequently. The decision has been to focus on the campus buses, which are in near-constant use, and which are responsible for most of the fleet's fuel use. These are now run on natural gas, which provides the benefit of not having the diesel or biodiesel emissions that used to be noticeable to the campus community as buses went by. UVM’s 2010 Climate Action Plan set a goal of 100% renewable electricity by 2015. This goal has been met by purchasing Green-E certified RECs to cover all campus electricity. The decision to buy RECs was made despite the fact that the Burlington Electric Department buys 100% of its power from renewable sources; these sources are not necessarily Green-E certified, however. In addition, UVM has installed solar panels to the extent feasible, working with the Burlington Electric Department to hire a consultant to identify every possible space where solar could be installed at a reasonable price. Several solar projects are already providing power to campus buildings. The LEED Platinum Aiken Center, home of the Rubenstein School for Environment and Natural Resources, sources about 40% of its power from 17 solar trackers nearby.