Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 59.88
Liaison Alex Frank
Submission Date April 14, 2022

STARS v2.2

University of Wisconsin-Madison
OP-1: Emissions Inventory and Disclosure

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.00 / 3.00 Alex Frank
Sustainability Analyst
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Has the institution conducted a GHG emissions inventory within the previous three years that includes all Scope 1 and 2 emissions? :
Yes

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:

UW-Madison utilized the SIMAP (Sustainability Indicator Management and Analysis Platform) tool to complete the GHG emissions inventory (https://unhsimap.org/home). SIMAP offers campuses a simple, comprehensive, and affordable online tool for measuring, calculating, and reporting carbon and nitrogen footprints. The mission of SIMAP is to help institutions, colleges, and universities track their carbon and nitrogen footprints so they can meet their sustainability goals as effectively and efficiently as possible.


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 GHG inventory verification process:

One staff member from the Office of Sustainability reviewed the data used to populate the SIMAP tool to confirm completeness of data used. In addition, a staff member from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee reviewed the SIMAP tool to ensure the settings were appropriate for the region and our approach to GHG accounting.


Documentation to support the GHG inventory verification process:
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Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions, performance year:
Weight in MTCO2e
Stationary combustion 224,369.65 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Other sources (mobile combustion, process emissions, fugitive emissions) 30,890.63 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Total gross Scope 1 GHG emissions, performance year:
255,260.28 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions, performance year (market-based):
Weight in MTCO2e
Imported electricity 245,287.64 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Imported thermal energy 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Total gross Scope 2 GHG emissions, performance year:
245,287.64 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Gross GHG emissions from biogenic sources, performance year:
0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Does the GHG emissions inventory include Scope 3 emissions from the following sources?:
Yes or No Weight in MTCO2e
Business travel Yes 29,644.15 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Commuting Yes 20,496.10 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Purchased goods and services Yes 451.97 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Capital goods No ---
Fuel- and energy-related activities not included in Scope 1 or Scope 2 Yes 27,229.32 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Waste generated in operations Yes 2,130.80 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Other sources Yes 3,446.25 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Total Scope 3 GHG emissions, performance year:
83,398.59 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

A brief description of how the institution accounted for its Scope 3 emissions:

Leveraging the emission factors and calculation methodologies included in SIMAP, UW-Madison included the following components in the Scope 3 Inventory:
- Business Travel: Estimates of emissions from air travel booked through UW-Madison's central travel agency (Fox World Travel / Travel Incorporated) and the travel agency used by the athletics department (Anthony Travel) were included. This is estimated to capture 90% of business air travel from students, staff, and faculty. Estimates of personal vehicle use for business travel (through tracked mileage reimbursement) were also included.
- Commuting: Emissions from student, staff, and faculty commuting were estimated from mode choice and distance traveled data obtained from the 2018 biennial transportation survey (most recent survey to address pre-pandemic travel trends).
- Purchased Goods and Services: Estimates of emissions from purchased paper products on campus were included.
- Waste Generated in Operations: Estimates of emissions from solid waste and wastewater generated from campus operations were included.
- Fuel- and energy-related activities not included in Scope 1 or Scope 2: SIMAP calculates emissions from transmission and distribution losses associated with electricity use.
- Other: Estimates of emissions from student study abroad air travel (based on study location) were included.


Has the institution completed an inventory within the previous three years to quantify its air pollutant emissions?:
Yes

Annual weight of emissions for::
Weight of Emissions
Nitrogen oxides (NOx) 73.54 Tons
Sulfur oxides (SOx) 0.06 Tons
Carbon monoxide (CO) 21.30 Tons
Particulate matter (PM) 14.34 Tons
Ozone (O3) 0 Tons
Lead (Pb) 0 Tons
Hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) 3.40 Tons
Ozone-depleting compounds (ODCs) 0 Tons
Other standard categories of air emissions identified in permits and/or regulations 42.92 Tons

Do the air pollutant emissions figures provided include the following sources?:
Yes or No
Major stationary sources Yes
Area sources Yes
Mobile sources Yes
Commuting No
Off-site electricity production No

A brief description of the methodology(ies) the institution used to complete its air emissions inventory:

The data reported above is from the most recent inventory of emissions from campus stationary sources. The inventory was completed for 2020 as a result of three campus air emission permits executed by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR):
- UW Safety Management (FID# 113103430)
- UW Walnut St. Plant (FID# 113134230)
- UW Charter St. Plant (FID# 113008390)

(Historical data is available at the link provided in the "Optional" section below and each facility can be identified by FID#)

All data reported above are in Short Tons. The Charter St. Plant and UW Safety Management sources produced reportable emissions in 2020. The UW Safety Management permit covers emissions from area sources across the UW-Madison campus including incinerators and sterilizers. The "other" data reported includes 14.20 tons of PM10, 13.84 tons of PM2.5, 10.33 tons of Reactive Organic Gases (ROG), 0.57 tons of VOCs (from vehicle fuels) and 3.99 tons of Nitrousoxide.

Trace amounts (<0.01 tons) of the following were also included in emissions analysis: Arsenic; Barium; Benzene; Cadmium; Chromium Met; Cobalt; Copper Ethylene Oxi; Manganese; Mercury; Methane; Molybdenum; Naphthalene; Nickel CMP; Pentane; Toluene.

Emissions data was collected utilizing the Wisconsin DNR Air Reporting System. Details on the calculation methodology can be found here: https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/AirEmissions/Tutorials.html

Emissions from mobile sources were calculated based upon fuel consumption for UW-Madison owned fleet vehicles and completed using the AFLEET tool (https://greet.es.anl.gov/afleet_tool).


Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from purchased electricity (location-based):
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Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from imported thermal energy (location-based) :
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Website URL where information about the institution’s emissions inventories is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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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.