Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 47.51
Liaison Chris Frantsvog
Submission Date May 1, 2014
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Luther College
OP-1: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 5.70 / 10.00 Jim Martin-Schramm
Professor of Religion
Religion
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution's GHG emissions inventory include all Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions?:
Yes

Does the institution's GHG emissions inventory include all Scope 3 GHG emissions from any of the following categories?:
Yes or No
Business travel Yes
Commuting Yes
Purchased goods and services No
Capital goods No
Fuel- and energy-related activities not included in Scope 1 or Scope 2 Yes
Waste generated in operations Yes

Does the institution's GHG emissions inventory include Scope 3 emissions from other categories?:
No

A brief description of the methodology and/or tool used to complete the GHG emissions inventory:

The Clean-Air Cool Planet Campus Carbon Calculator was used to calculate emissions. We used the default emissions coefficients provided by this tool in our calculations. There are supporting spreadsheets for each of the categories directly paid by Luther College. These expenses are reconciled to the College's audited financial statements. The units associated with carbon amounts were collected from these detailed expenditures and totaled for each carbon category. The emissions resulting from rented property for the Nurses in Rochester, Mn and in Nottingham, England represent less than .3 of 1% of the total college owned properties, and it would not be practical to obtain these emissions as the utilities figures are not provided or paid by Luther, so these sources were left out.


Has the GHG emissions inventory been validated internally by personnel who are independent of the GHG accounting and reporting process and/or verified by an independent, external third party?:
Yes

A brief description of the internal and/or external verification process:

All of our numbers are drawn from bills and financial statements that are subject to annual audits by the college's auditing firm. As an ACUPCC signatory college Luther submits an annual GHG emissions report to the ACUPCC.


Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Scope 1 GHG emissions from stationary combustion 5,629 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 6,842 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Scope 1 GHG emissions from other sources 309 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 694 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Scope 2 GHG emissions from purchased electricity 10,882 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 15,121 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Scope 2 GHG emissions from other sources 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

Figures needed to determine total carbon offsets::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Institution-catalyzed carbon offsets generated 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Carbon sequestration due to land that the institution manages specifically for sequestration 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Carbon storage from on-site composting 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Third-party verified carbon offsets purchased 4,156.30 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

A brief description of the institution-catalyzed carbon offsets program:

Luther College purchases renewable energy certificates (RECs) from two community wind turbine projects. One project is a 900kW wind turbine located 60 miles from campus in St. Ansgar, IA. The other turbine is located just to the west of the Luther College campus. In both cases, the REC purchase contract terms mirror Green-e certification requirements.


A brief description of the carbon sequestration program and reporting protocol used:

None.


A brief description of the composting and carbon storage program:

None.


A brief description of the purchased carbon offsets, including third party verifier(s) and contract timeframes:

The contract for REC purchases from the community wind turbine project owned by Wind Vision, LLC in St. Ansgar, IA expires May 31, 2015. The contract for REC purchases from the community wind turbine project owned by Luther College Wind Energy Project, LLC in Decorah, IA expires September 30, 2021.


Figures needed to determine “Weighted Campus Users”::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Number of residential students 2,066 2,064
Number of residential employees 0 0
Number of in-patient hospital beds 0 0
Full-time equivalent enrollment 2,442 2,531
Full-time equivalent of employees 479 500
Full-time equivalent of distance education students 0 0

Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
Start Date End Date
Performance Year June 1, 2012 May 31, 2013
Baseline Year June 1, 2003 May 31, 2004

A brief description of when and why the GHG emissions baseline was adopted:

Luther is a charter signatory of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment. Thus, Luther is obligated to measure its campus carbon footprint. The college has calculated its footprint based on available and reliable data beginning with the 2002-03 academic year, which is as far back as reliable data could be found. Emissions peaked in the 2003-04 academic year and declined thereafter due to a major investment in energy efficiency.


Gross floor area of building space, performance year:
1,474,227 Square feet

Floor area of energy intensive building space, performance year:
Floor Area
Laboratory space 25,000 Square feet
Healthcare space 0 Square feet
Other energy intensive space 0 Square feet

Scope 3 GHG emissions, performance year::
Emissions
Business travel 497.80 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Commuting 732.60 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Purchased goods and services 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Capital goods 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Fuel- and energy-related activities not included in Scope 1 or Scope 2 1,168.30 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Waste generated in operations 1,559 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent
Other categories (please specify below) 14 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent

A brief description of the sources included in Scope 3 GHG emissions from "other categories":

Biogenic Emissions from B100 Biodiesel Production


A copy of the most recent GHG emissions inventory:
The website URL where the GHG emissions inventory is posted:
A brief description of the institution’s GHG emissions reduction initiatives, including efforts made during the previous three years:

Examples from the previous three years include:
Installation of a 1.6 MW wind turbine on the bluff west of campus (2011)
Installation of a 280 kW solar photovoltaic system on Pole Line Road to power all of Baker Village (2012), and installation of a 20 kW solar array to power Baker Commons (2013). Implementation of building retrocommissioning energy efficiency measures in multiple buildings (2013-14). For more information on Luther's greenhouse gas reduction initiatives see: http://www.luther.edu/sustainability/about/commitments/climate-action-plan/ghg-mitigation/


Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.