Green House Gas Report

Elmhurst College Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventory Report June 2010

Prepared for Elmhurst College

by Affiliated Engineers, Inc

Table of Contents A Greenhouse Gas Inventory (GHG) Inventory – What is it? .................................................. 3 Overview of Elmhurst College’s Emissions ........................................................................... 4 Scope 1 Emissions ................................................................................................................ 6 Overview .......................................................................................................................... 6 Methodology .................................................................................................................... 6 Emission Factors ............................................................................................................... 7 Scope 2 Emissions................................................................................................................. 7 Overview ........................................................................................................................... 7 Methodology ..................................................................................................................... 7 Emission Factors .............................................................................................................. 8 Scope 3 Emissions ................................................................................................................ 8 Overview .......................................................................................................................... 8 Methodology .................................................................................................................... 9 Emission Factors ............................................................................................................. 10 Excluded Emissions............................................................................................................. 10 Conclusion and Next Steps ................................................................................................. 10 Appendix A: Commuting Survey Questions ........................................................................ 12 Appendix B: Comparison to Peer Institution’s GHG Inventories .......................................... 13 Appendix C: Definitions ...................................................................................................... 14

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A Greenhouse Gas Inventory (GHG) Inventory – What is it?

With nearly every action we take, through the flip of a light switch, through the heating of a building and through the firing of a kiln, greenhouses gases and pollutants are emitted. A GHG Inventory provides a detailed picture of Elmhurst College’s contribution to global greenhouse gases. An inventory uses energy consumption data along with other metrics (outlined below) that establish the foundation upon which to make future energy and capital investments.

Source: World Resources Institute, New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development, http://www.wri.org/chart/operational-boundaries-ghg-emissions

A GHG Inventory is comprised of three scopes as graphically represented in the image above.

The three scopes are defined as follows: Scope 1 includes directly occurring emissions from sources that are owned or controlled by the institution. Included in Elmhurst College’s inventory are the consumption of the following: o Natural gas o Refrigerants o Fleet vehicle fuel Scope 2 includes indirect emissions generated in the production of electricity consumed by Elmhurst College.

Scope 3 emissions are all the other indirect emissions that are a consequence of the activities of the institution, but occur from sources not owned or controlled by the institution. Included in Elmhurst College’s Inventory are the greenhouse gas emissions attributed to the following: o Air travel (for travel related to school business and study abroad) o Commuting (for travel to and from the campus) o Directly financed vehicle trips Because of the unique cross-campus nature of a GHG inventory, many schools find that the first time developing an inventory can be time-consuming due to the lack of institutional Page | 3

process for aggregating data. Some data is found easily through facilities management, other data through the travel agents or purchasing departments, and yet for other data, such as commuting, the data needs to be extracted for the first time in institutional history. For Elmhurst College, the challenges were overcome by reaching out to various campus departments to compile an accurate list of greenhouse gas emitting sources.

In order to ensure accurate accounting of GHG emissions, Elmhurst College employed the operational control approach which defines the inventory boundaries as those buildings, entities and people over which Elmhurst College has authority to introduce and implement operating policies. Anything outside these operational boundaries are not considered a part of the inventory.

The GHG emissions are calculated by multiplying the quantity of the various consumed resources by an appropriate emission factor. The Clean Air-Cool Planet (CA-CP) Inventory tool was mainly used to calculate Elmhurst College’s GHG emissions. The tool is accepted by the ACUPCC and widely utilized by colleges and universities across the country.1 The exceptions to using the CA-CP Tool have been pointed out in this report. All the original consumption data used in the Inventory can be found in a separate spreadsheet; this spreadsheet can be used to organize data in future inventories.

The final inventory numbers have the units of MT CO2e (read: metric tons of CO2 equivalence) and include the global warming impact of nitrous oxide (NO2), methane (CH4) and refrigerants which are released during the combustion of fossil fuels.

Overview of Elmhurst College’s Emissions A GHG Inventory is not a static event, but rather a picture that changes over time. As the campus transforms or grows, this inventory will change to reflect the different operations and associated emissions. After a few years of collecting data, an inventory can become an effective way to see how the campus is operating as a whole.

For this first inventory, data was gathered for the temporal range for this inventory of Elmhurst College’s Fiscal Years 2007-2009, which begin in July and ends in June.

2007 2008 2009

Natural Gas 2,907 3,293 3,290

Fleet

Refrig erants

Electricity

106 106 106

23 23 463

6,267 6,253 6,686

Faculty / Staff Commuti ng 445 445 445

Student Commu ting

Air Travel

1017 1017 1017

714 714 714

Other Directly Finance d Travel 239 239 239

Study Abroa d

Total

403 403 403

12,121 12,493 13,363

1

More information on the CA-CP Inventory tool can be found here: http://www.cleanaircoolplanet.org/toolkit/inv-calculator.php

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Elmhurst College Emissions by Scope 2009

Scope 3 2,818 21%

Scope 1 3,859 29%

Scope 2 6,686 50%

Elmhurst College Emissions by Source Student 2009 Faculty / Staff Commuting 445 3%

Commuting 1,017 8%

Air Travel Other Directly 714 Financed Travel 5% 239 2% Study Abroad 403 3%

Purchased Electricity 6,686 50%

Natural Gas 3,290 25% Fleet 106 1% Refrigerants 463 3%

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Scope 1 Emissions Overview Scope 1 emissions are those emissions from combustion that occurs on campus. For Elmhurst College, these emissions sources are derived from natural gas, refrigerant usage and campus fleet.

Scope 1 Emissions 2009 Refrigerants 463 12%

Fleet 106 3%

Natural Gas 3,290 85%

Scope 1 Emissions 2007

Natural Gas (MT CO2e)

Fleet (MT CO2e)

Refrigerants (MT CO2e)

2,907

106

23

2008

3,293

106

23

2009

3,290

106

463

Methodology Natural gas information was gathered through Facilities Management. Elmhurst College’s natural gas utility is Nicor.

Refrigerant data was gathered through Facilities Management. FY 2009 was an anomaly due to a burst pipe which caused the entirety of the chiller charge to be lost. Normal years are assumed to be simply topping off of the refrigerants at 30 pounds per year.

The fleet data was compiled through Facilities Management for FY 2009 and assumed to stay constant for the two previous years.

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Emission Factors Natural gas emission factors are calculated using the following equation:

Where: EFCO2= 52.7556 kg CO2/MMBTU EFCH4= 0.00528 kg CO2/MMBTU GWPCH4 (global warming potential, or carbon equivalents)=23 EFN20 = 0.000106 kg CO2/MMBTU GWPN20 = 296 The fleet emissions are calculated using data provided by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics in a report entitled National Transportation Statistics 2005.

Refrigerant emissions are calculated using the global warming potentials of R-22, as defined by the 3rd Assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Scope 2 Emissions Overview All emissions that are not directly emitted on campus but can be directly attributed to campus activities fall under Scope 2 emissions.

Scope 2 Emissions 2007

Electricity (MT CO2e) 6,267

2008

6,253

2009

6,686

Methodology Electricity consumption data was provided by Facilities Management for FY 2007-2009.

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Emission Factors Scope 2 emission factors were derived through EPA’s eGRID database of electrical emissions.

The database takes into consideration the fuel mix of regions of the country separated by Independent Service Operator and Regional Transmission Operator networks. Using the numbers provided by eGrid, the electrical emissions were calculated with the following formula:

Where: EFCO2= 0.327 kg CO2/MMBTU EFCH4= 8.4974E-06 kg CO2/MMBTU GWPCH4 (global warming potential, or carbon equivalents)=23 EFN20 = 5.89608E-06 CO2/MMBTU GWPN20 = 296 Scope 3 Emissions Overview Scope 3 emissions are considered emissions that are indirectly emitted during activities related to campus activities. This scope includes commuting to and from the campus, business and school travel on university business. Scope 3 data was collected for the first time for this GHG Inventory; the data collected for FY2009 was assumed to have stayed constant for the two years prior.

It is common that institutions find Scope 3 emissions to be the most difficult information to gather. Whereas electric and gas bills are compiled on a regular basis, commuting and air travel patterns are rarely noted. With this in mind, the process behind obtaining Scope 3 data should be institutionalized to ensure that future GHG inventories are performed more efficiently.

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Scope 3 Emissions 2009 Study Abroad 403 14%

Faculty / Staff Commuting 445 16%

Other Directly Financed Travel 239 9% Student Commuting 1,017 36%

Air Travel 714 25%

Scope 3 Emissions

Faculty / Staff Commuting (MT CO2e)

Student Commuting (MT CO2e)

2007-2009

445

1017

Air Travel (MT CO2e) 714

Other Directly Financed Travel (MT CO2e) 239

Study Abroad (MT CO2e) 403

Methodology A survey was sent out in March 2010 to represent FY 2009 commuting patterns. Approximately 506 students and 293 Faculty/Staff responded to the survey. The survey questions are listed in Appendix A. The data was linearly extrapolated to include the broader campus population.

This data was calculated in the GHG Data spreadsheet and hard-entered into the CA-CP tool; since the CA-CP does not take into consideration the varying efficiencies of vehicles, we felt that calculating the vehicle emissions separate provided a more accurate picture of the College’s inventory. The data calculated for this inventory includes the differences from larger versus smaller vehicles.

Air travel data was provided to Facilities Management by individual users, departmental secretaries, and administrative offices.

Study abroad travel was documented for all students traveling on study abroad programs and exchange programs. The data was tallied for FY 2009 and assumed to stay constant for the Page | 9

two years prior. The distance between two airports was determined through World Airport Codes (http://www.world-airport-codes.com/). Mileage was tallied per person per trip.

Emission Factors Emissions factors for vehicle usage and air travel used by the CA-CP were derived from U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics data from 2005.

Scope 3 Emission Factors Automobile Use Air Travel

CO2 (kg /gal) 8.706632 CO2 (kg/mile) 0.774

N2O (kg /gal) 0.00174157 N2O (kg/mile) 8.76E-06

CH4 (kg /gal) 0.000599446 CH4(kg/mile) 7.62E-06

Excluded Emissions While it was our best effort to include every piece of campus emissions, there were certain items that we did not include in the inventory: -

-

Grounds maintenance equipment—fuel usage was not tracked, only hours of operation.

Without knowing the efficiency of the equipment, it was not possible to calculate the amount of fuel consumed.

Diesel for Emergency Generator—the data was provide in lump sum dollars rather than in gallons, which made it difficult to calculate the emissions associated with the generator

These elements likely do not comprise of a great majority of the College’s emissions. However, it is recommended that the manner by which the institution tracks and collects this data be reexamined to enable inclusion in future inventories.

Conclusion and Next Steps Elmhurst College has taken a commendable step in understanding its environmental and greenhouse gas impact. With this initial inventory or baseline, the College can use this data examine its various functions to find more streamlined and efficient operations, above and beyond what it has already undertaken.

The highest portion of emissions from electricity suggests that there may be future projects that may be undertaken on campus to reduce electricity usage. Both natural gas and electricity demonstrate an upward moving trend of consumption; while it is difficult to draw definitive conclusions on the reasons for this using just three years of data, this is something to Page | 10

take note of over time. Scope 3 emissions show a majority stems from commuting emissions.

Again, this may be a target of future initiatives to reduce the school’s overall greenhouse gas emissions. Likewise, business-related air travel, at 25% of the Scope 3 emissions, may also be considered a target for emissions reductions programs, through travel policies and/or encouragement of distance conferencing/work.

Appendix B shows how Elmhurst College compares to other Midwestern institutions who have reported their carbon footprint. By either measuring standard, i.e. emissions per FTE (Full Time Equivalent) or emissions per square foot, Elmhurst has one of the lowest emissions levels.

The College’s low emissions in comparison to peer institutions likely reflect the commitment of the administration and Board of Trustees and the actions of Facilities Managements to maintain an efficiently run campus. For thirty years Facilities Management has been diligently pursuing innovative strategies and improvements to conserve energy and reduce the college’s environmental impact. They have re-designed the campus air conditioning system, replaced windows, increased insulation, undergone several phases of lighting upgrades, added a building automation system, modified HVAC systems and designed a new building to a LEED Gold standard. The results of their efforts have positioned the college very favorably in reducing energy costs and minimizing its overall carbon footprint.

While compiling the data for a GHG inventory can be a daunting task, it can also be a useful mechanism to examine the energy use and expenditures on campus. The first time compiling such data is usually the most difficult; to make the inventory an effective trending tool, it is recommended that the data is collected and tracked at least every other year, if not every year.

This will provide the resolution upon which future action to reduce the College’s energy use can be made.

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Appendix A: Commuting Survey Questions 1. Which best describes you? a. Student b. Faculty c. Staff 2. Do you live in Elmhurst College residence halls/apartment/house? a. Yes b. No 3. How many miles do you live from the Elmhurst College Campus?

4. How many days a week to you commute to Elmhurst College Campus for the following periods? a. Fall Semester b. Winter Interim c. Spring Semester d. Summer Session 5. Of these round trips taken to Elmhurst College, how many trips do you typically use the following transportation modes? a. Drive in my car by myself b. Public transportation c. Walk d. Bike e. Drive in a car with someone else 6. What kind of a vehicle do you drive most of the time? a. Motorcycle b. Compact Car c. Standard Car d. SUV

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Appendix B: Comparison to Peer Institution’s GHG Inventories While understanding that each institution has unique circumstances contributing to their inventory, it can be valuable to know how peer institutions are engaging in the process of reducing their carbon emissions. The following schools publicly state their GHG inventories and were chosen here to for their geographic proximity to Elmhurst College and/or their institutional similarities. Two common metrics, emission per full-time equivalent enrollment and emissions per 1,000 square feet, are included for ease of comparison.

Anonymous School Elmhurst College College 1 College 2 College 3 College 4 College 5 College 6 College 7 College 8 College 9 College 10

Net emissions MT of CO2 13,363 21,669 21,533 12,044 21,823 38,639 19,665 25,239 17,109 16,883 21,175

FTE 3,023 3,492 1,986 1,156 2,087 2,298 4,143 2,505 2,423 2,101 4,281

Residents

Gross Sq. Ft.

Emissions FTE

1,000 1,043 1,589 925 n/a 2,298 1,872 n/a 2,068 1,433 750

911,000 1,045,189 1,815,648 859,606 1,227,093 1,826,305 1,847,254 1,536,996 1,474,227 1,069,725 785,733

4.1 6.2 10.8 10.4 10.5 16.8 4.7 10.1 7.1 8.0 4.9

Emissions 1000 Sq. FT. 14.6 20.7 11.9 14.0 17.8 21.2 10.6 16.4 11.6 15.8 26.9

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30.0

College 10

Thousand's of Square Feet

25.0

College 5

College 1

20.0

College 4 Elmhurst College College 7 College 9

15.0

College 3 College 8

10.0

College 2 College 6

5.0

0.0 0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

40,000

45,000

Metric Tons of Carbon Equivalent

18.0

College 5

16.0

Full Time Equivalent

14.0 12.0

College 2 College 3 College 4

10.0

College 7

College 9 College 8 College 1 College 10 College 6 Elmhurst College

8.0 6.0 4.0 2.0 0.0 0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

40,000

45,000

Metric Tons of CO2 equivalent

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Appendix C: Definitions All definitions, unless otherwise noted, are taken from US Environmental Protection Agency’s Glossary of Climate Change Terms2 Atmospheric Lifetime: The lifetime of a greenhouse gas refers to the approximate amount of time it would take for the anthropogenic increment to an atmospheric pollutant concentration to return to its natural level (assuming emissions cease) as a result of either being converted to another chemical compound or being taken out of the atmosphere via a sink. This time depends on the pollutant's sources and sinks as well as its reactivity. The lifetime of a pollutant is often considered in conjunction with the mixing of pollutants in the atmosphere; a long lifetime will allow the pollutant to mix throughout the atmosphere. Average lifetimes can vary from about a week (sulfate aerosols) to more than a century (chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), carbon dioxide).

Alternative Energy: Energy derived from nontraditional sources (e.g., compressed natural gas, solar, hydroelectric, wind).

Carbon Dioxide Equivalent: A metric measure used to compare the emissions from various greenhouse gases based upon their global warming potential (GWP). The carbon dioxide equivalent for a gas is derived by multiplying the tons of the gas by the associated GWP. De Minimis Emissions: Small emissions sources that collectively comprise less than 5% of the institution's total GHG emissions (from ACUPCC Reporting Guidelines) Emissions Factor: A unique value for scaling emissions to activity data in terms of a standard rate of emissions per unit of activity (e.g., grams of carbon dioxide emitted per barrel of fossil fuel consumed) Fluorocarbons: Carbon-fluorine compounds that often contain other elements such as hydrogen, chlorine, or bromine. Common fluorocarbons include chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), and perfluorocarbons (PFCs).

Global Warming Potential: Global Warming Potential (GWP) is defined as the cumulative radiative forcing effects of a gas over a specified time horizon resulting from the emission of a unit mass of gas relative to a reference gas. The GWP-weighted emissions of direct greenhouse gases in the U.S. Inventory are presented in terms of equivalent emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), using units of teragrams of carbon dioxide equivalents (Tg CO2 Eq.).

2

http://epa.gov/climatechange/glossary.html

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Greenhouse Gas (GHG): Any gas that absorbs infrared radiation in the atmosphere.

Greenhouse gases include, but are not limited to, water vapor, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), ozone (O3 ), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6).

Methane (CH4): A hydrocarbon that is a greenhouse gas with a global warming potential most recently estimated at 23 times that of carbon dioxide (CO2). Methane is produced through anaerobic (without oxygen) decomposition of waste in landfills, animal digestion, decomposition of animal wastes, production and distribution of natural gas and petroleum, coal production, and incomplete fossil fuel combustion. The GWP is from the IPCC's Third Assessment Report (TAR).

Metric Ton: Common international measurement for the quantity of greenhouse gas emissions. A metric ton is equal to 2205 lbs or 1.1 short tons.

Nitrous Oxide (N2O): A powerful greenhouse gas with a global warming potential of 296 times that of carbon dioxide (CO2). Major sources of nitrous oxide include soil cultivation practices, especially the use of commercial and organic fertilizers, fossil fuel combustion, nitric acid production, and biomass burning. The GWP is from the IPCC's Third Assessment Report (TAR) Sink: Any process, activity or mechanism which removes a greenhouse gas, an aerosol or a precursor of a greenhouse gas or aerosol from the atmosphere.

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