Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 51.46
Liaison Bradley Flamm
Submission Date March 6, 2020

STARS v2.2

West Chester University of Pennsylvania
OP-1: Emissions Inventory and Disclosure

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.77 / 3.00 Bradley Flamm
Director of Sustainability
Office of the President
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1. Greenhouse gas emissions inventory

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:
Sustainability Indicator & Management Analysis Platform (SIMAP) used to enter GHG emissions sources, then uploaded to Second Nature Reporting website. Scope 3 emissions for business travel were obtained from Purchasing Department records of reimbursed air and ground travel for FY 2019. Commuting data obtained from survey conducted in May and June of 2019 on campus of faculty, staff, and students, complemented with parking permit data from WCU's Public Safety Department.

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?:
No

A brief description of the GHG inventory verification process:
---

Documentation to support the GHG inventory verification process:
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Scope 1 GHG emissions
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions, performance year:
Weight in MTCO2e
Stationary combustion 6,206.45 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Other sources (mobile combustion, process emissions, fugitive emissions) 358.73 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Total gross Scope 1 GHG emissions, performance year:
6,565.18 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Scope 2 GHG emissions
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions, performance year (market-based):
Weight in MTCO2e
Imported electricity 14,786.04 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Imported thermal energy 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Total gross Scope 2 GHG emissions, performance year:
14,786.04 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

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

Scope 3 GHG emissions
Does the GHG emissions inventory include Scope 3 emissions from the following sources?:
Yes or No Weight in MTCO2e
Business travel Yes 1,677.56 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Commuting Yes 12,100.48 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Purchased goods and services No ---
Capital goods No ---
Fuel- and energy-related activities not included in Scope 1 or Scope 2 Yes 1,693.24 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Waste generated in operations Yes 37.55 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Other sources Yes 710.21 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Total Scope 3 GHG emissions, performance year:
16,219.04 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

A brief description of how the institution accounted for its Scope 3 emissions:
Business travel data provided by our Finances and Purchasing Department for FY 2019. Commuting data from a May and June 2019 survey of faculty, staff, and students. Fuel- and energy-related activities not included in Scope 1 or Scope 2 value of 1,693.24 MTCO2E refers to study abroad air travel. Other sources refers to T&D Losses and Solid Waste (Solid Waste is calculated as a negative value by SIMAP because our waste goes to the LanChester landfill in Chester County PA where methane is captured and used for power generation). Waste generated in operations refers only to wastewater treatment.

Part 2. Air pollutant emissions inventory

Has the institution completed an inventory within the previous three years to quantify its air pollutant emissions?:
No

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

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

None
A brief description of the methodology(ies) the institution used to complete its air emissions inventory:
---

Optional Fields

Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from purchased electricity (location-based):
---

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:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
While the university does not have formal policies to improve outdoor air quality, nor has it completed an official air emissions inventory, WCU has installed a large system of geothermal wells, allowing it to decommission in October 2014 a coal-fired boiler plant which had been a significant county source of air pollutant emissions: https://www.wcupa.edu/communications/2014/10.8BoilerPlant.aspx.

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.