Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 66.44
Liaison Mike Wilson
Submission Date Jan. 29, 2014
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

University of Victoria
OP-1: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 9.33 / 10.00
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution's GHG emissions inventory include all Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions?:
Yes

Does the institution's GHG emissions inventory include all Scope 3 GHG emissions from any of the following categories?:
Yes or No
Business travel No
Commuting No
Purchased goods and services Yes
Capital goods No
Fuel- and energy-related activities not included in Scope 1 or Scope 2 Yes
Waste generated in operations No

Does the institution's GHG emissions inventory include Scope 3 emissions from other categories?:
No

A brief description of the methodology and/or tool used to complete the GHG emissions inventory:

UVic is a public sector organization in the Province of British Columbia covered under provincial legislation requiring it to perform an annual greenhouse gas inventory and calculate emissions via the government's online "Smarttool" reporting program. It includes Scope 1 and 2 emissions generated in normal business operations for all properties owned and leased, owned and leased vehicles and boats, as well as Scope 3 emssions from purchased paper. See this link for Carbon Neutral Government Regularion: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/cas/legislation/index.html.


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:

In August 2013, UVic's 2012 Greenhouse Gas Inventory was audited by an independent auditing firm, Deloitte, on behalf of the provincial government. Auditors performed a verification of data and collection procedures. No significant problems were identified, with only minor items referenced related to data reporting for paper and building name and data list consistency.


Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Scope 1 GHG emissions from stationary combustion 11,976.87 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 13,139.21 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Scope 1 GHG emissions from other sources 296.66 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 274.29 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Scope 2 GHG emissions from purchased electricity 1,746.76 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 1,719.36 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Scope 2 GHG emissions from other sources 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Figures needed to determine total carbon offsets::
Performance Year Baseline Year
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
Third-party verified carbon offsets purchased 14,167.07 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 15,334.06 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

A brief description of the institution-catalyzed carbon offsets program:

UVic, as well as all other public sector organizations in the Province of British Columbia, are required by legislation to purchase carbon offsets from The Pacific Carbon Trust that sells quality provincially-based offsets. See "Carbon Neutrality" tab on this page: https://www.uvic.ca/sustainability/operations/energy/index.php


A brief description of the carbon sequestration program and reporting protocol used:

N/A


A brief description of the composting and carbon storage program:

N/A


A brief description of the purchased carbon offsets, including third party verifier(s) and contract timeframes:

As a public sector organization in the Province of British Columbia, the university is required by legislation to purchase offsets from a Crown corporation, the Pacific Carbon Trust. The organization sells third party verified quality BC-based offsets. See: http://pacificcarbontrust.com/.


Figures needed to determine “Weighted Campus Users”::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Number of residential students 2,472 2,240
Number of residential employees 0 0
Number of in-patient hospital beds 0 0
Full-time equivalent enrollment 17,669 16,975
Full-time equivalent of employees 4,705 4,982
Full-time equivalent of distance education students 2,233 1,800

Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
Start Date End Date
Performance Year Jan. 1, 2012 Dec. 31, 2012
Baseline Year Jan. 1, 2010 Dec. 31, 2010

A brief description of when and why the GHG emissions baseline was adopted:

2010 was chosen as our baseline year since this was the first year that UVic completed a comprehensive greenhouse gas inventory as per the standardized methodology legislated by the Province of British Columbia for all public sector organizations. It is also the first year the university purchased third-party verified offsets.


Gross floor area of building space, performance year:
3,892,667.06 Square feet

Floor area of energy intensive building space, performance year:
Floor Area
Laboratory space 39,889.28 Square feet
Healthcare space 0 Square feet
Other energy intensive space 13,121.86 Square feet

Scope 3 GHG emissions, performance year::
Emissions
Business travel 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Commuting 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Purchased goods and services 135.53 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Capital goods 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Fuel- and energy-related activities not included in Scope 1 or Scope 2 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Waste generated in operations 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Other categories (please specify below) 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

A brief description of the sources included in Scope 3 GHG emissions from "other categories":

N/A


A copy of the most recent GHG emissions inventory:
The website URL where the GHG emissions inventory is posted:
A brief description of the institution’s GHG emissions reduction initiatives, including efforts made during the previous three years:

UVic's primary efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on campus have focused on increasing the energy effeciency of our largest buildings through initiatives such as the replacement lighting with new energy effecient fixtures, the integration of weather predictors into building HVAC systems, the tightening of occupancy schedules to better match occupants' actual schedules and the installation of a variable speed drive in one building's ventilation system. UVic also funded several energy and water savings projects through our revolving sustainability fund and continued to work with building occupants in offices, labs and student residences through a series of ongoing behavior change programs.
Details are available in our 2012 Carbon Neutral Action Report available here: https://www.uvic.ca/sustainability/assets/docs/CNAR2012.pdf.


Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

UVic's primary efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on campus have focused on increasing the energy effeciency of our largest buildings through initiatives such as the replacement lighting with new energy effecient fixtures, the integration of weather predictors into building HVAC systems, the tightening of occupancy schedules to better match occupants' actual schedules and the installation of a variable speed drive in one building's ventilation system. UVic also funded several energy and water savings projects through our revolving sustainability fund and continued to work with building occupants in offices, labs and student residences through a series of ongoing behavior change programs. Together these initiatives resulted in an 8% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions between 2010 and 2012 at the same time our campus population continued to grow and one new campus residence building was opened.
Details are available in our 2012 Carbon Neutral Action Report available here: https://www.uvic.ca/sustainability/assets/docs/CNAR2012.pdf.


UVic's primary efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on campus have focused on increasing the energy effeciency of our largest buildings through initiatives such as the replacement lighting with new energy effecient fixtures, the integration of weather predictors into building HVAC systems, the tightening of occupancy schedules to better match occupants' actual schedules and the installation of a variable speed drive in one building's ventilation system. UVic also funded several energy and water savings projects through our revolving sustainability fund and continued to work with building occupants in offices, labs and student residences through a series of ongoing behavior change programs. Together these initiatives resulted in an 8% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions between 2010 and 2012 at the same time our campus population continued to grow and one new campus residence building was opened.
Details are available in our 2012 Carbon Neutral Action Report available here: https://www.uvic.ca/sustainability/assets/docs/CNAR2012.pdf.

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.