Overall Rating	Silver - expired
Overall Score	60.83
Liaison	C Jane Hagen
Submission Date	March 2, 2018
Executive Letter	Download

STARS v2.1

Virginia Commonwealth University
OP-1: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Status	Score	Responsible Party
	3.25 / 10.00	Joseph Costa Sustainability Projects and Program Coordinator Sustainability

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

A copy of the most recent GHG emissions inventory:

ghg_2016.xlsm

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:

Between fiscal year 2008 and fiscal year 2016, VCU used the University of New Hampshire Campus Carbon Calculator excel tool. The VCU Office of Sustainability coordinates data collection with Facilities Management and various other academic and administrative units to complete an annual GHG inventory. VCU also works with a third party contractor (Sightlines) to verify utility data. Descriptions of accounting for Scope 3 emission factors reported above are detailed below: Business Travel - Includes directly financed outsourced travel for air, taxi, ferry, and rental car for university faculty and staff, and air travel associated with the study abroad program. Commuting - Includes the number of faculty, staff, and student commuters, trips to campus per week, commuter weeks per year, and an estimated percentage of commuters per transportation mode (bike, walk, carpool, bus, drive alone, etc.) and an estimated average commuting distance for each commuter mode. Percent usage per commuter mode is estimated based on an annual transportation survey collected by the VCU Parking and Transportation Department. Commuting data may be viewed in the green Input_Commuter tab in the attached GHG calculator tool. Purchased Goods and Services - As of fiscal year 2016, VCU only estimated paper use for GHG reporting. Paper usage is calculated based on purchasing reports provided by our office supply contractor. Waste Generated in Operations - Disposal from solid waste is estimated based on monthly reports provided by our various waste haulers. Wastewater is estimated based on building metering. Fuel- and energy-related activities not included in Scope 1 or Scope 2 - ??? I don't think we report on this. Other categories - ??? I don't think we report on this.

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 internal and/or external verification process:

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Documentation to support the internal and/or external verification process:

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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	28,503 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	21,941 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions from other sources	2,582 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	2,418 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from purchased electricity	89,300 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	67,007 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	120,385 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	91,366 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, 2015	June 30, 2016
Baseline Year	July 1, 2007	June 30, 2008

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):

VCU's first Sustainability Director was hired in 2008 and began the GHG inventory process. The first year VCU inventoried greenhouse gas emissions was 2008, therefore it is the baseline used.

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):

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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	0 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:

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Adjusted net Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Adjusted net Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions	120,385 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	91,366 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Figures needed to determine “Weighted Campus Users”:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Number of students resident on-site	5,157	4,706
Number of employees resident on-site	12	0
Number of other individuals resident on-site and/or staffed hospital beds	0	0
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment	28,377	23,884
Full-time equivalent of employees (staff + faculty)	7,931	5,210
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education	1,325	0
Weighted campus users	27,529.50	22,997

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	4.37 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	3.97 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

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

Part 3

Gross floor area of building space, performance year:

8,142,593 Gross square feet

Floor area of energy intensive building space, performance year:

	Floor Area
Laboratory space	1,598,004 Square feet
Healthcare space	11,379.58 Square feet
Other energy intensive space	191,627 Square feet

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:

11,552,987.16 Gross square feet

Adjusted net Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions per unit of EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:

0.01 MtCO2e per square foot

Optional Fields

Scope 3 GHG emissions, performance year:

	Emissions
Business travel	7,643 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Commuting	19,212 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Purchased goods and services	488 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	5,184 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Waste generated in operations	69 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Other categories	2,552 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

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

New construction is being done under LEED standards. In 2017 a $20 million dollar performance contract was begun to address mechanical problems with aging facilities.

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

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Additional documentation to support the submission:

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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

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