ACUPCC Reporting System

Progress Report for Bard College

Submitted on Jan. 15, 2012; Last updated on Feb. 27, 2013

The Progress Report is intended to help signatories assess and track progress toward the goals outlined
in their Climate Action Plans and to share that progress with their stakeholders and the general public.

General Statement of Progress

ACUPCC, along with STARS, have helped shift our campus culture to focus attention on climate and sustainability issues, and deliver concrete and measurable results.

As such, Bard has decided to prioritize and systematically retrocommission (RXc) its existing facilities. The college has begun audit and investigation phases in its first round of RCx efforts, including 5 of its largest buildings and several smaller offices and dorms. Once implementation of measures for this initial round are underway or completed, Bard will undertake subsequent rounds of RCx activities.

Bard is also monitoring the success of several energy efficiency pilot projects, including LED street lighting and solar thermal DHW, and is investigating opportunities for the development of medium- to large-scale solar photovoltaic projects (in the 50 - 1000 kW range) on campus.

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GHG Emissions & Reduction Targets

Climate Neutrality Target Date: 2035
Interim Milestone Emission-Reduction Target Target Date Baseline*
8% reduction in Total Scopes 1, 2 Emissions by 2015 relative to baseline emissions in 2009
25% reduction in Total Scopes 1, 2, 3 Emissions by 2020 relative to baseline emissions in 2009
100% reduction in Total Scopes 1, 2, 3 Emissions by 2035 relative to baseline emissions in 2009
[click to view Climate Action Plan - Bard College Climate Action Plan]

GHGs summary

GHGs for Bard College
Reporting Year Gross Emissions Net Emissions Full Time Enrollments Total Bldg. Sq. Ft. [action]
2008 16492.0 16492.0 2324.0 1485036.0 [ view ]
2009 14715.0 14715.0 1883.0 1122861.0 [ view ]
2010 14084.0 14000.0 1927.0 1127997.0 [ view ]
2011 13718.0 13634.0 1997.0 1127997.0 [ view ]
2012 12971.0 12517.0 1992.0 1167090.0 [ view ]
  • Change in GHG gross emissions

    -3521.0

    2010 vs. 2011: No new building stabilized energy usage. Minor: reduced van count for B&G and purchase of electric vans and high efficiency vans reduced gasoline usage. 2008 to 2009: we no longer track a small college in MA as part of our reporting.


  • Change in GHG emissions per 1000 sq.ft. building space

    0.00851253502953


  • Change in GHG emissions per full time enrollment (FTE)

    -0.58483935743

Education, Research, & Community Engagement

Curriculum

  • How is your institution making climate neutrality and sustainability a part of the curriculum and other educational experiences for all students?

    CoCurricular: Bard has an EcoRep program and participates in initiatives like Focus the Nation, 350, Recyclemania and CCN's Compete to Reduce program.
    Curricular: We have launched the refurbished undergraduate major, Environment & Urban Studies. The College has issued its first Sustainability Literacy Survey that went out January 8, 2012 to all freshmen during their Citizen Science intersession program. A follow up two hour session one week later will explain the results and further discuss campus sustainability and climate neutrality efforts. The C2C Fellows program was launched: C2C Fellows is a national network for undergraduates and recent graduates aspiring to sustainability leadership in politics and business. The Master’s Degree in Climate Science & Policy was launched. A sustainability MBA was announced for Fall 2012. We have included sustainability in fulfilling our Middle States accreditation requirements as part of the 5 year review.
    The dean of the college has requested that the faculty senate consider incorporating sustainability contributions into the current proposal for regular internal and external review of the academic programs. The dean is also asking the assessment committee to consider piloting learning outcomes in five departments on a trial basis; she will suggest that sustainability might factor into program considerations of the curriculum. First-Year Seminar First Year Seminar is a year long course that introduces important intellectual, cultural, and artistic ideas that serve as a basis for the liberal arts education. The next co-directors will be invited to consider ways in which the idea of sustainability might be incorporated into the curriculum.

  • Education methods in use

    • Included sustainability in fulfilling regional accreditation requirements.
    • Other - Bard recently received a grant from the Mellon Foundation for the development of the Environmental and Urban Studies program. This grant includes funding for: Course replacement incentives for faculty, who teach in EUS but whose primary appointments are in traditional disciplines, to encourage course contributions and curriculum development, and to hire visiting professors of practice and postdoctoral fellows for

  • Does your institution offer an undergraduate degree program(s) related to climate change/sustainability?

    see STARs report for Bard College

  • Does your institution offer a graduate degree program in climate change/sustainability?

    see STARs report for Bard College

Co-Curriculum

Research

  • If applicable, how is your institution expanding research efforts toward the achievement of climate neutrality research?

    The college will conduct a faculty survey to understand whether they are have current research or planned future research in this area. Mellon Grants have been awarded to student and faculty teams on climate/sustainability issues. Faculty on the Sustainability Council assist with project review. Senior projects have had sustainability and climate focus. We have begun to track projects that have a sustainability and/or climate lens. New academic centers have been established through the Bard Center for Environmental Policy – a sustainability MBA (Fall 2012) and a Master’s Degree in Climate, Science & Policy. Press releases celebrate sustainability research. The screening process for new candidates informally emphasizes a preference for faculty engaging in sustainability research.

  • Does your institution have a program to encourage student climate and or sustainability research?

    see STARs report for Bard College

  • Does your institution have a program to encourage faculty climate and or sustainability research?

    see STARs report for Bard College

Community Engagement

  • How is your institution expanding community outreach efforts toward the achievement of climate neutrality?

    We have assisted the Town of Red Hook with their Energy & Climate Action Plan, including faculty review of the plan, staff participation on the committee, and now a student intern program. We have also used Citizen Science Day of Engagement for a light bulb swap in the senior citizen community.

  • Does your institution participate in community climate change and or sustainability partnerships?

    see STARs report for Bard College

  • Has your institution advocated for federal, state, and/or local public policies that support campus sustainability or that otherwise advance your goal of climate neutrality?

    see STARs report for Bard College

Many of the above questions correspond to AASHE's Sustainability Tracking Assessment & Rating System (STARS) credits. For signatories that are STARS participants you may find more detail on their efforts in the areas of education, research, and community engagement by accessing their STARS report.

Energy & Finances

Energy Efficiency Projects

  • Number of Energy Efficiency Retrofit Projects planned, but not yet implemented:

    20


  • Number of buildings that have received a green building certification since signing the ACUPCC:

    0

  • Number of green buildings planned or scheduled for completion in the next 2 years:

    3

  • For all buildings, the green building certification/rating used is:

    Other

Renewable Energy

  • Annual output (in kWhs) for each renewable energy system utilized by Bard College

    • Solar output: 50000 kWh

    • Annual renewable energy purchased: 2000000 kWh

  • Other GHG mitigation efforts:
    LED Streetlight Pilot: Central Hudson, Bard College, and the Electric Power Research Institute are demonstrating high-efficiency outdoor LED lighting at a parking area on campus. Ten outdoor LED lighting fixtures have replaced metal halide lamps, each expected to cut energy use by about a third and together save more than 3,000 kilowatt-hours. At the end of the research project, Bard will retain use of the LED fixtures. http://inside.bard.edu/berd/energy_lighting.shtml

    Solar Thermal DHW Pilot: solar thermal panels to provide hot water in Tremblay and Keene residential halls—was supported by funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, received by the College in November. Real time monitoring of the solar output and other data is being collected for one year: http://inside.bard.edu/berd/energy_renewable.shtml

Financial Data

savings...

  • Has your Climate Action Plan and/or related sustainability efforts saved your institution money so far, e.g. by reducing operational expenses?

    yes

  • Amount spent on CAP projects:

    $50-99k

  • Estimated amount saved to date from implementing your CAP projects:

    $10-49k

  • Estimated total savings expected from implementing entire Climate Action Plan

    $250-499k

  • Additional information or context to support expected savings:

    Value for above "estimated total savings expected from implementing entire Climate Action Plan" refers to annual electricity and fuel cost-savings estimated to be achieved once all facilities have been systematically retrocommissioned and upgraded. This estimate was generated using metrics for average retrocommissioning energy savings retrieved from Mills (2011), "Building Commissioning: a golden opportunity for reducing energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions in the United States".
funding....

  • Financial resources (dollar amount) secured from outside sources to support mitigation efforts related to the Climate Action Plan (grants, gifts, etc...) :

    350000

  • Additional information on secured outside funding:

    ARRA, Clean Cities
finance methods...
  • Financing Methods utilized for Mitigation or Renewable Energy Projects:
    • Other
        We continue to evaluate Power Purchase Agreement proposals, but have not yet put one in place. We are currently considering a 1 MW photovoltaic project, representing 5% of our electric needs.

Non-public data

This data is available to ACUPCC signatories with reporting system access.
"" fields in which no data was submitted have been omitted from this report


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