GHG Report for Northeastern University
Submitted on January 15, 2010; last updated on June 18, 2012
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) | 71,388 metric tons of CO2e | 3.5 metric tons of CO2e | 12.5 metric tons of CO2e | 0% |
| Gross emissions (Scopes 1 + 2 + 3) | 73,128 metric tons of CO2e | 3.6 metric tons of CO2e | 12.8 metric tons of CO2e | 0% |
| Net emissions | 73,128 metric tons of CO2e | 3.6 metric tons of CO2e | 12.8 metric tons of CO2e | N/A |
Emissions Inventory Methodology and Boundaries
| Start date of the 12-month period covered in this report | January 1, 2005 |
| Consolidation methodology used to determine organizational boundaries | Financial 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.
All buildings financially controlled by the facilities department were included. |
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| Emissions calculation tool used | Other |
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Please describe why this tool was selected.
The carbon footprint was manually calculated to ensure that the emission factors that were used accurately reflected the actual emissions from our local sources. |
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Please describe the source(s) of the emissions coefficients used.
Natural Gas - U.S. EPA, Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2005 (2007)
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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? | The Office of the Associate Director of Suatainability and Energy Management |
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Please describe the process of conducting the inventory.
The University has adopted best practices accounting principles as defined by The Climate Registrys General Reporting Protocol, version 1.1. These principles are the same as those published by the World Resource Institute (WRI)/ World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting Standard. This standard encourages: relevance, completeness, consistency, transparency and accuracy. In addition, the University has followed existing GHG programs and protocols documented by the Registry from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14064-1, The California Climate Action Registry, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. |
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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.
Air travel and busines related automobile travel information was calculated by collecting 880 records from reimbursements made by accounts payable during the calendar year. This number represented approximately 20% of all reimbursed travel expenses and was used to create a model to estimate total Scope 3 indirect emissions for these sources. |
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Emissions Data
Emissions from the following sources (in metric tons of CO2e)
| Scope 1 Emissions | |
|---|---|
| Stationary Combustion | 35,513.5 metric tons of CO2e |
| Mobile Combustion | 608.9 metric tons of CO2e |
| Process Emissions | 0.0 metric tons of CO2e |
| Fugitive Emissions | 959.9 metric tons of CO2e |
| Total Scope 1 emissions | 37,082.3 metric tons of CO2e |
| Scope 2 Emissions | |
| Purchased Electricity | 34,305.9 metric tons of CO2e |
| Purchased Heating | 0.0 metric tons of CO2e |
| Purchased Cooling | 0.0 metric tons of CO2e |
| Purchased Steam | 0.0 metric tons of CO2e |
| Total Scope 2 emissions | 34,305.9 metric tons of CO2e |
| Scope 3 Emissions | |
| Commuting | 29.9 metric tons of CO2e |
| Air Travel | 1,709.5 metric tons of CO2e |
| Solid Waste | 0.0 metric tons of CO2e |
| 0 | 0.0 metric tons of CO2e |
| 0 | 0.0 metric tons of CO2e |
| 0 | 0.0 metric tons of CO2e |
| Total Scope 3 emissions | 1,739.4 metric tons of CO2e |
| Biogenic Emissions | |
| Biogenic Emissions from Stationary Combustion | 0.0 metric tons of CO2e |
| Biogenic Emissions from Mobile Combustion | 0.0 metric tons of CO2e |
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.)
n/a |
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| Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) | |
| Total RECs purchased | 0 kWh |
| Percent of total electricity consumption mitigated through the purchase of RECs | 0.0 % |
| Emissions reductions due to the purchase of RECs | 0.0 metric tons of CO2e |
| REC verification program(s) | No information provided |
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Description of RECs purchased (including vendor, project source, etc.)
n/a |
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| Sequestration and Carbon Storage | |
| Sequestration due to land owned by the institution | 0.0 metric tons of CO2e |
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Description of how sequestration was calculated
n/a |
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| Carbon storage due to composting | No information provided |
Normalization and Contextual Data
| Building Space | |
|---|---|
| Gross square feet of building space | 5,733,330.0 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) | 20426.0 |
| 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 | 838 |
| Part-time Faculty | 764 |
| Full-time Staff | 1762 |
| Part-time Staff | 75 |
| Other Contextual Data | |
| Endowment Size | 512100000 |
| Heating Degree Days | 5902 |
| Cooling Degree Days | 888 |
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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 |
NU - 2005 Carbon Footprint Download |
| Completed inventory calculator | No information provided |