GHG Report for Grand Valley State University
Submitted on January 13, 2010; last updated on January 13, 2010
Summary Statistics
Making fair comparisons between higher education institutions is always challenging due to the rich diversity of higher education. The unverified nature of the information in this database and unavailability of unbiased normalization metrics means such comparisons are even more difficult. Users should therefore approach direct institution to institution comparisons with caution and recognize that all comparisons between institutions are inherently biased.| Total | Per Full-Time Enrollment | Per 1000 Square Feet | % Offset | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross emissions (Scopes 1 + 2) | 56,778 metric tons of CO2e | 2.8 metric tons of CO2e | 13.6 metric tons of CO2e | 0% |
| Gross emissions (Scopes 1 + 2 + 3) | 84,778 metric tons of CO2e | 4.2 metric tons of CO2e | 20.2 metric tons of CO2e | 0% |
| Net emissions | 84,597 metric tons of CO2e | 4.2 metric tons of CO2e | 20.2 metric tons of CO2e | N/A |
Emissions Inventory Methodology and Boundaries
| Start date of the 12-month period covered in this report | July 1, 2005 |
| Consolidation methodology used to determine organizational boundaries | Operational control approach |
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If any institution-owned, leased, or operated buildings or other holdings that should fall within the organizational boundaries are omitted, briefly explain why.
GVSU has three campus locations located in West Michigan including Grand Rapids, Allendale, and Holland. Additionally, there are several regional centers located in Muskegon and Traverse City Michigan. The primary campus locations are Grand Rapids and Allendale. These two campus locations contain ~95% of our students and class rooms. The Allendale campus has ~1275 acres and the Grand Rapids campus ~38 acres. The GHG report for GVSU focuses primarily on these 2 campus locations. |
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| Emissions calculation tool used | Clean Air-Cool Planet |
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Please describe why this tool was selected.
GVSU is a member of the American Association of Sustainability in Higher Education. AASHE has been a leader in promulgating climate change strategies for colleges and universities. They have also held workshops for the colleges and universities that have signed on to the ACU PCC. GVSU has attended these workshops and determined that the Clean Air-Cool Planet model was the inventory model of choice that was being used. GVSU selected Version 5 of this emissions calculator tool based on this consensus. |
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Please describe the source(s) of the emissions coefficients used.
We used the emissions coefficients that were provided in the Clean Air-Cool Planet calculations tool. |
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| Which version of IPCC's list of global warming potentials did you use? | Second Assessment Report |
| Who primarily conducted this emissions inventory? | Student researcher(s) |
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Please describe the process of conducting the inventory.
GVSU first established an interdisciplinary climate action team that was composed of faculty, staff, and students. The primary input came from facilities services, administration, and lead faculty. The students collected the information and determined the overall GHG inventory using the Clean Air-Cool Planet emissions calculator tool. Wherever possible we tried to obtain 5 year data so that trends could be determined for the current GHG inventory as well as for the baseline year. 2006 was selected as the reporting year for the GHG inventory.
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Please describe any emissions sources that were classified as de minimis and explain how a determination of the significance of these emissions was made.
No information provided |
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Please describe any data limitations related to this submission and any major assumptions made in response to these limitations.
Student Air travel miles were calculated by taking the distance flown by the GVSU athletic teams over the course of the year. Air travel miles for faculty and staff were determined by reviewing a sample of recently submitted expense accounts and determining the percentage of air travel miles per dollar of overall expenses.
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Emissions Data
Emissions from the following sources (in metric tons of CO2e)
| Scope 1 Emissions | |
|---|---|
| Stationary Combustion | 13,949.7 metric tons of CO2e |
| Mobile Combustion | 466.2 metric tons of CO2e |
| Process Emissions | 69.1 metric tons of CO2e |
| Fugitive Emissions | 0.0 metric tons of CO2e |
| Total Scope 1 emissions | 14,485.0 metric tons of CO2e |
| Scope 2 Emissions | |
| Purchased Electricity | 41,497.3 metric tons of CO2e |
| Purchased Heating | 0.0 metric tons of CO2e |
| Purchased Cooling | 0.0 metric tons of CO2e |
| Purchased Steam | 796.1 metric tons of CO2e |
| Total Scope 2 emissions | 42,293.4 metric tons of CO2e |
| Scope 3 Emissions | |
| Commuting | 20,010.9 metric tons of CO2e |
| Air Travel | 2,110.9 metric tons of CO2e |
| Solid Waste | 1,731.7 metric tons of CO2e |
| 57.5 | 4,146.0 metric tons of CO2e |
| Total Scope 3 emissions | 27,999.5 metric tons of CO2e |
| Biogenic Emissions | |
| Biogenic Emissions from Stationary Combustion | No information provided |
| Biogenic Emissions from Mobile Combustion | No information provided |
Mitigation Data
| Carbon Offsets | |
|---|---|
| Carbon offsets purchased | 0.0 metric tons of CO2e |
| Offset verification program(s) | No information provided |
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Description of offsets purchased (including vendor, project source, etc.)
No information provided |
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| Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) | |
| Total RECs purchased | 0 kWh |
| Percent of total electricity consumption mitigated through the purchase of RECs | None % |
| Emissions reductions due to the purchase of RECs | No information provided |
| REC verification program(s) | No information provided |
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Description of RECs purchased (including vendor, project source, etc.)
No information provided |
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| Sequestration and Carbon Storage | |
| Sequestration due to land owned by the institution | 181.0 metric tons of CO2e |
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Description of how sequestration was calculated
No information provided |
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| Carbon storage due to composting | 0.0 metric tons of CO2e |
Normalization and Contextual Data
| Building Space | |
|---|---|
| Gross square feet of building space | 4,189,524.0 sq ft |
| Net assignable square feet of laboratory space | No information provided |
| Net assignable square feet of health care space | No information provided |
| Net assignable square feet of residential space | No information provided |
| Population | |
| Total Student Enrollment (FTE) | 19988.0 |
| Residential Students | No information provided |
| Full-time Commuter Students | No information provided |
| Part-time Commuter Students | No information provided |
| Non-Credit Students | No information provided |
| Full-time Faculty | 1407 |
| Part-time Faculty | No information provided |
| Full-time Staff | 1076 |
| Part-time Staff | No information provided |
| Other Contextual Data | |
| Endowment Size | 63213297 |
| Heating Degree Days | 6586 |
| Cooling Degree Days | 662 |
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Please describe any circumstances specific to your institution that provide context for understanding your greenhouse gas emissions this year.
No information provided |
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Supporting Documentation
| Completed inventory narrative | No information provided |
| Completed inventory calculator | No information provided |