Overall Rating	Gold
Overall Score	65.69
Liaison	Jennifer Kleindienst
Submission Date	April 5, 2023

STARS v2.2

Wesleyan University
OP-2: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Status	Score	Responsible Party
	4.66 / 8.00	Jeff Murphy Facilities Business Manager Facilities/Physical Plant

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

Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions

Gross GHG emissions

Gross Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions:

	Performance year	Baseline year
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions from stationary combustion	16,833 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	14,251 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions from other sources	254 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	393 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from imported electricity	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	10,653 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from imported thermal energy	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Total	17,087 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	25,297 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Carbon sinks

Figures needed to determine net carbon sinks:

	Performance year	Baseline year
Third-party verified carbon offsets purchased	1,494 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 storage from on-site composting	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Carbon storage from non-additional sequestration	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Carbon sold or transferred	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Net carbon sinks	1,494 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

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

A brief description of the carbon sinks, including vendor, project source, verification program and contract timeframes (as applicable):

1,494 carbon allowance contributions from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) 2022 market via Climate Vault. Contract is annual with notification from Wesleyan to CV on or before March 15th of each year.

Adjusted net GHG emissions

Adjusted net Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions:

	Performance year	Baseline year
Adjusted net GHG emissions	15,593 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	25,297 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Performance and baseline periods

Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):

	Performance year	Baseline year
Start date	July 1, 2021	July 1, 2007
End date	June 30, 2022	June 30, 2008

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

We established FY 2008 as our baseline for our original climate action plan and signing of the 2007 ACUPCC.

Part 1. Reduction in GHG emissions per person

Weighted campus users

Figures needed to determine “Weighted Campus Users”:

	Performance year	Baseline year
Number of students resident on-site	2,394	2,900
Number of employees resident on-site	38	59
Number of other individuals resident on-site	1	0
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment	3,564.30	2,917
Full-time equivalent of employees	982.10	999
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education	0	0
Weighted Campus Users	4,018.80	3,676.75

Metrics used in scoring for Part 1

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	3.88 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent	6.88 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

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

43.61

Part 2. GHG emissions per unit of floor area

Performance year floor area

Gross floor area of building space, performance year:

2,623,094 Gross square feet

Floor area of energy intensive building space, performance year:

	Floor area
Laboratory space	116,421 Square feet
Healthcare space	0 Square feet
Other energy intensive space	17,843 Square feet

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:

2,873,779 Gross square feet

Metric used in scoring for Part 2

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

0.01 MtCO2e per square foot

A brief description of the institution’s GHG emissions reduction initiatives:

Wesleyan's primary GHG reduction initiatives include annual comprehensive energy programs that focus on energy efficiency and conservation. In 2020, Wesleyan began purchasing 100% wind RECs to cover the entirety of its purchased and generated electricity. We also began in FY 22 purchasing carbon offsets for 100% of air travel emissions, financed by a 5% internal surcharge on all employee air travel). Lastly, Wesleyan is midway through a utilities carbon neutrality master plan (link to plan in URL below) that (in addition to the items mentioned above) converts the heating infrastructure from steam to hot water (phase 5 of 8 is underway in 2023) and then installation of ground source heat pumps, air source heat pumps, and PV with the target of net zero carbon emissions from heating, cooling, and electricity by 2035.

Website URL where information about the institution's GHG emissions is available:

https://www.wesleyan.edu/sustainability/commitments/carbon-neutrality.html

Additional documentation to support the submission:

Climate_Vault_Certificate.pdf

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

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