University of Connecticut
OP-1: Emissions Inventory and Disclosure

The 2022 GHG Inventory was conducted with the UNH SIMAP online calculator. UConn originally used the traditional spreadsheet-style Campus Carbon Calculator (CCC) by UNH, but replaced the CCC with SIMAP in 2017.

For Scope 3 emissions, Commuting reflects only the emissions associated with students and faculty/staff driving to campus in automobiles (SIMAP lists Faculty and Staff separately, but our university tracks them as one group of permits, so we only listed them under "Faculty"). Parking permit numbers are used to estimate the number of miles driven annually. For Purchased goods and services, only paper is reflected here. This data is retrieved from UConn’s purchasing office. For solid waste, data is obtained from UConn’s waste contractor, Willimantic Waste, and wastewater data is retrieved from the Facilities department, who runs our on-site wastewater treatment plant.

Once completed, the inventory is reviewed and verified by the Sustainability Program Manager and the Energy & Compliance Manager who is responsible for the Energy Management unit within Facilities Operations & Building Services, which operates and maintains the stationary sources that account for the vast majority of our GHG emissions, and which manages UConn's purchased power activities. The inventory is also presented annually at the spring meeting of UConn's Environmental Policy Advisory Council, which is responsible for overseeing implementation of UConn's Climate Action Plan and carbon-neutrality commitment pursuant to the Second Nature's Carbon/Climate Commitment.

UConn’s Storrs Campus is subject to the EPA’s GHG reporting requirements, which are codified in 40 CFR 98, because the facility has stationary fuel combustion sources with an aggregate maximum rated heat input capacity equal to or greater than 30 million Btu per hour and the facility’s total CO2e emissions are equal to or greater than 25,000 metric tons. UConn prepares a GHG emissions report to EPA by March 31st of each year covering emissions during the previous calendar year and submits the report electronically through EPA’s online e-GGRT system. EPA reviews and verifies the accuracy of our annual GHG emissions report/inventory as a regulatory compliance matter.

UConn internally tracks all Scope 3 emissions data, including but not limited to Faculty commuting, student commuting, waste water, paper purchasing, and more. All data is tracked within fiscal and calendar years and is submitted annually to the Office of Sustainability.

The University uses a combination of methodologies to track emissions from our fuel burning sources of emissions. For most sources, UConn tracks fuel use and/or hours of operation and applies a standard emissions factor (EPA AP-42, manufacturer’s guarantee, or from stack test results) with worst case assumptions. For one particular boiler, the University uses actual continuous emission monitoring data for NOx. Every month a new 12-month rolling total is calculated for the emissions categories to demonstrate permit compliance.

UConn Design Guidelines and Performance Standards (pp 19, 3.10 Air Emissions):
http://paes.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/1525/2016/04/Design-Guidelines-and-Performance-Standards-March-2016.pdf

UConn Environmental Health & Safety
https://ehs.uconn.edu/

NOx and VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) are precursors to ozone formation and are dependent upon atmospheric conditions. Therefore, ozone and ODCs are difficult to measure and not tracked.

Ozone and ODCs are not tracked (difficult to measure). We do however track HCFCs used to replace refrigerants in chillers and other cooling equipment. This is tracked as part of our GHG inventory as a way to measure emissions of ODCs that are also GHG emissions sources.

On our attached Greenhouse Gas Report, 'Direct Transportation' encompasses business travel.