Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 57.04
Liaison Larry Cook
Submission Date Feb. 29, 2016
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

University of South Carolina
OP-2: Outdoor Air Quality

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Namita Koppa
Assistant Director for Program Management
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution have policies and/or guidelines in place to improve outdoor air quality and minimize air pollutant emissions from mobile sources?:
Yes

A brief description of the policies and/or guidelines to improve outdoor air quality and minimize air pollutant emissions from mobile sources:

UofSC does have policies and guidelines in place to improve outdoor air quality and minimize air pollutant emissions from mobile sources. This policy is described in USC’s Vehicle Management’s Genesis 2015 plan to create a petroleum-free fleet and reduce emissions by 90 percent by the year 2015. This is being accomplished by powering USC’s 400 vehicles by ethanol, biodiesel, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), electricity, or hydrogen fuel cells. As a result of this initiative, USC earned top green ratings from the Princeton Review and the College Sustainability Report Card in 2009.

The USC Vehicle Management website also provides an alternative fueling station locator which identifies 249 locations in South Carolina and 15,565 locations throughout the U.S. where alternative fuels can be found.


Has the institution completed an inventory of significant air emissions from stationary sources on campus?:
Yes

A brief description of the methodology(ies) the institution used to complete its air emissions inventory:

USC's last emissions inventory was completed in February 2014. This was completed using AP-42 factors for calculating emissions.


Weight of the following categories of air emissions from stationary sources::
Weight of Emissions
Nitrogen oxides (NOx) 20.04 Tons
Sulfur oxides (SOx) 0.80 Tons
Carbon monoxide (CO) 29.65 Tons
Particulate matter (PM) 2.92 Tons
Ozone (O3) ---
Lead (Pb) ---
Hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) ---
Ozone-depleting compounds (ODCs) ---
Other standard categories of air emissions identified in permits and/or regulations ---

A brief description of the institution’s initiatives to minimize air pollutant emissions from stationary sources, including efforts made during the previous three years:

We minimize air pollutants by the following: - Burning natural gas instead of diesel fuel as long as natural gas is available. - Upgrading all of our 7 boilers to low NOx burners to reduce emissions. - In 2009, USC unveiled it's Genesis 2015 initiative to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 90% by using ethanol, biodiesel, LPG, or hydrogen fuel cells. - Where possible, USC uses light duty electric vehicles on campus.


The website URL where information about the institution’s outdoor air quality policies, guidelines or inventory is available:
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.