ACUPCC Reporting System

GHG Report for University of California, Berkeley

Submitted on July 20, 2009; last updated on December 10, 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) 163,157 metric tons of CO2e 4.7 metric tons of CO2e 10.2 metric tons of CO2e 0%
Gross emissions (Scopes 1 + 2 + 3) 207,513 metric tons of CO2e 6.0 metric tons of CO2e 13.0 metric tons of CO2e 0%
Net emissions 207,513 metric tons of CO2e 6.0 metric tons of CO2e 13.0 metric tons of CO2e N/A

Emissions Inventory Methodology and Boundaries

Start date of the 12-month period covered in this report January 1, 2008
Consolidation methodology used to determine organizational boundaries Operational control approach
If any institution-owned, leased, or operated buildings or other holdings that should fall within the organizational boundaries are omitted, briefly explain why.

N/A
Emissions calculation tool used Clean Air-Cool Planet
Please describe why this tool was selected.

Used by many other educational institutions and suited UC Berkeley's needs for reporting.
Please describe the source(s) of the emissions coefficients used.

Clean Air Cool Planet - Campus Carbon Calculator V5.0 is used with the exception of business air travel and water. For purchased electricity a custom blended fuel mix - provided as an option in CA-CP - is used to reflect several electricity commodities purchased by the campus. 98.5% of electricity is purchased from the utility (using the emissions factor derived from the 2008 PG&E power mix) and 1.5% is purchased from a Direct Access provider (using the emissions factor derived from the CA power mix).
Which version of IPCC's list of global warming potentials did you use? Third Assessment Report
Who primarily conducted this emissions inventory? Sustainability office staff
Please describe the process of conducting the inventory.

UC Berkeley's GHG emissions inventory analyzes emissions in three different categories:

Scope 1 Direct Emissions: natural gas, campus fleet, fugitive emissions from coolants
Scope 2 Indirect Emissions: purchased electricity, purchased steam
Scope 3 Optional Emissions: business air travel, student commute, faculty/staff commute, solid waste, water

The UC Berkeley inventory includes all six major greenhouse gases. The campus uses a greenhouse gas inventory calculator, developed by Clean Air-Cool Planet (CA-CP) specifically for universities, to calculate the six major gas emissions types into a common unit of measurement - metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. The emissions factors used by CA-CP are those generally used by the campus, with the exception of water and air travel that have been customized based on the data available to the campus and approved by a third party through the inventory verification process.

The geographic boundary for the inventory is generally defined as those buildings central to the University mission and under operational control of the campus. This includes central campus buildings, student housing, and off-central campus facilities owned by the University including the Richmond Field Station. Emissions associated with electricity and gas use in buildings leased by the campus are not included in the inventory but transportation emissions associated with the occupants of these buildings are.

Please describe any emissions sources that were classified as de minimis and explain how a determination of the significance of these emissions was made.

Based on protocol and third-party verified, UC Berkeley reports eight de minimis sources totaling 424 metric tons CO2e.

Please describe any data limitations related to this submission and any major assumptions made in response to these limitations.

Square footage of buildings may not be fully inclusive of sites off the central campus

Emissions Data

Emissions from the following sources (in metric tons of CO2e)

Scope 1 Emissions
Stationary Combustion 10,076.0 metric tons of CO2e
Mobile Combustion 1,524.0 metric tons of CO2e
Process Emissions 0.0 metric tons of CO2e
Fugitive Emissions 204.0 metric tons of CO2e
Total Scope 1 emissions 11,804.0 metric tons of CO2e
Scope 2 Emissions
Purchased Electricity 65,121.0 metric tons of CO2e
Purchased Heating 0.0 metric tons of CO2e
Purchased Cooling 0.0 metric tons of CO2e
Purchased Steam 86,232.0 metric tons of CO2e
Total Scope 2 emissions 151,353.0 metric tons of CO2e
Scope 3 Emissions
Commuting 20,482.0 metric tons of CO2e
Air Travel 21,062.0 metric tons of CO2e
Solid Waste 861.0 metric tons of CO2e
Water 1,951.0 metric tons of CO2e
Total Scope 3 emissions 44,356.0 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
Description of offsets purchased (including vendor, project source, etc.)

No information provided
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
Description of RECs purchased (including vendor, project source, etc.)

No information provided
Sequestration and Carbon Storage
Sequestration due to land owned by the institution 0.0 metric tons of CO2e
Description of how sequestration was calculated

No information provided

Carbon storage due to composting No information provided

Normalization and Contextual Data

Building Space
Gross square feet of building space 15,986,234.0 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) 34623.0
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 6316
Part-time Faculty No information provided
Full-time Staff 8628
Part-time Staff No information provided
Other Contextual Data
Endowment Size No information provided
Heating Degree Days 2857
Cooling Degree Days No information provided
Please describe any circumstances specific to your institution that provide context for understanding your greenhouse gas emissions this year.

See inventory narrative.

Supporting Documentation

Completed inventory narrative UC Berkeley 2007 & 2008 Inventory Narrative
Download
Completed inventory calculator No information provided

Auditing and Verification

These emissions data have been audited, verified, or peer-reviewed.
Please briefly describe this verification, if any.

The 2008 inventory has been verified as part of the California Climate Action Registry (CCAR) membership. This report is publically available on the CCAR website.