| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 83.87 |
| Liaison | Yolanda Cieters |
| Submission Date | March 1, 2024 |
Seattle University
OP-1: Emissions Inventory and Disclosure
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.79 / 3.00 |
Yolanda
Cieters Associate Director CEJS |
Has the institution conducted a GHG emissions inventory within the previous three years that includes all Scope 1 and 2 emissions? :
A copy of the most recent GHG emissions inventory:
A brief description of the methodology and/or tool used to complete the GHG emissions inventory:
Seattle University's CEJS staff (Center for Environmental Justice and Sustainability) collects SU's GHG data annually from different departments and inputs it in SIMAP.
--For Natural gas/Electricity/Fertilizer Application: Program Managers from the different departments track the necessary input data for the GHG inventory, fill out a datasheet (used since 2009 and annually updated for the GHG Emissions Inventory), and send to CEJS. CEJS does additional analysis where needed and reviews data inconsistencies, if any.
--For Gas/Diesel/Propane of University fleet: At the end of each fiscal year CEJS gathers the mileage data (odometer readings) for the entire University fleet from the different departments that own or lease a vehicles used for SU business purposes.
--Population: data provided by SU Institutional Research
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?:
A brief description of the GHG inventory verification process:
Seattle University's Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory has been reviewed by SIMAP in January-February 2024; see review confirmation in the attached file.
Documentation to support the GHG inventory verification process:
Gross Scope 1 GHG emissions, performance year:
| Weight in MTCO2e | |
| Stationary combustion | 3,005.91 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Other sources (mobile combustion, process emissions, fugitive emissions) | 75.16 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
Total gross Scope 1 GHG emissions, performance year:
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions, performance year (market-based):
| Weight in MTCO2e | |
| Imported electricity | 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Imported thermal energy | 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
Total gross Scope 2 GHG emissions, performance year:
Gross GHG emissions from biogenic sources, performance year:
Does the GHG emissions inventory include Scope 3 emissions from the following sources?:
| Yes or No | Weight in MTCO2e | |
| Business travel | Yes | 5,335.97 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Commuting | Yes | 3,359.79 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Purchased goods and services | No | 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Capital goods | No | 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Fuel- and energy-related activities not included in Scope 1 or Scope 2 | Yes | 1,217.31 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Waste generated in operations | Yes | 152.27 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
| Other sources | No | 0 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent |
Total Scope 3 GHG emissions, performance year:
A brief description of how the institution accounted for its Scope 3 emissions:
Seattle University's CEJS staff (Center for Environmental Justice and Sustainability) collects SU's GHG data annually from different departments and inputs it in SIMAP.
--Air Travel Employees: This is calculated from reimbursement receipts and online purchases made in SU’s electronic purchasing system per fiscal year.
--Air Travel Study Abroad: The data of “number of students that traveled” and their “travel destinations” is provided by the Education Abroad office to CEJS. CEJS does additional analysis where needed and reviews data inconsistencies, if any.
--Athletics student travel: Data provided by Travel operator
--Commuting: Every three years since 2016, CEJS in partnership with SU Facilities and SU’s transportation department administers, conducts, and analyzes a campus-wide commuting survey that assesses commuting patterns of Seattle University’s students, staff and faculty. The information allows us to study commuting habits over the years and also supports data needs for the university’s annual greenhouse gas emissions inventory. Campus-wide commuting surveys have been conducted in 2001, 2007, 2016, 2020, and 2023. For the FY23 GHG inventory, we used the campus-wide commuting survey that was conducted in March-April 2023.
--For Trash, Recycling, Compost data: Program Managers from SU Facilities (Recycling team and Operations team) track the necessary input data for the GHG inventory, fill out a datasheet (used since 2009 and annually updated for the GHG Emissions Inventory), and send to CEJS. CEJS does additional analysis where needed and reviews data inconsistencies, if any.
Has the institution completed an inventory within the previous three years to quantify its air pollutant emissions?:
Annual weight of emissions for::
| Weight of Emissions | |
| Nitrogen oxides (NOx) | 15.52 Tons |
| Sulfur oxides (SOx) | 0 Tons |
| Carbon monoxide (CO) | 0 Tons |
| Particulate matter (PM) | 0 Tons |
| Ozone (O3) | 0 Tons |
| Lead (Pb) | 0 Tons |
| Hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) | 0 Tons |
| Ozone-depleting compounds (ODCs) | 0 Tons |
| Other standard categories of air emissions identified in permits and/or regulations | 0 Tons |
Do the air pollutant emissions figures provided include the following sources?:
| Yes or No | |
| Major stationary sources | Yes |
| Area sources | Yes |
| Mobile sources | Yes |
| Commuting | No |
| Off-site electricity production | No |
A brief description of the methodology(ies) the institution used to complete its air emissions inventory:
We have confirmed that we have no significant stationary sources for air emissions on campus.
SeattleU does not report any annual data to USEPA or the Washington Department of Ecology for the Clean Air Act at this time. Since SU does not operate under an Air Operating Permit, it has not been necessary to report over the last six years. An Air Operating Permit is a significant trigger for reporting and requires an organization to have Hazardous Air Pollutants from specific sources and above specific thresholds. Since we do not have specific sources like a powerplant, large volume Chlorine tanks, large volumes of highly toxic gases like ethylene oxide, or Ammonia it has not been necessary to obtain an Air Operating Permit, so no reporting.
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from purchased electricity (location-based):
Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from imported thermal energy (location-based) :
Website URL where information about the institution’s emissions inventories is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
NOTES AOBOUT THE DATA ABOVE:
1. The GHG data in this credit is for Fiscal year 2023 (July 1, 2022-June 30, 2023).
2. NOTE ABOUT SCOPE 2- GHG EMISSIONS FROM ELECTRICITY: We are reporting zero for electricity because our electricity provider, Seattle City Light is a carbon neutral utility. In 2005, SCL became the first electric utility in the country to achieve zero net greenhouse gas emissions. Most of its power supply portfolio includes hydropower (86%), nuclear (5%), wind (5%) and biogas (1%). Any emissions associated with unspecified market purchases are offset through their greenhouse gas neutrality policy. Also, SIMAP did a third-party verification of our GHG emissions inventory (see "Documentation to support the GHG inventory verification process" in PART 1 of this credit) and confirmed that we can claim “0” emissions for electricity as we have been doing since our FY09 baseline for our GHG inventories as well as for our 2016, 2018, and 2021 STARS reports.
3. NOTE ABOUT FUEL- AND ENERGY-RELATED ACTIVITIES NOT INCLUDED IN SCOPE 1 AND SCOPE 2 (SEE TABLE IN PART 1, ABOVE): The “1217.31 metric ton of CO2 equivalent entered in the table above refers to the FERA number which is a scope 3 data point that relates to natural gas leakage. The FERA number has been incorporated into SIMAP’s GHG calculator starting in FY22 and is automatically calculated based off of the scope 1 natural gas entry data.
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.