- Reporting Institutions

2009 Greenhouse Gas Inventory
Northern Kentucky University
9/15/2010
INTRODUCTION
In December of 2007, Northern Kentucky University (NKU) President James C. Votruba signed
the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), the text of which can
be found at www.acupcc.org. Signatories to this commitment agree that universities are uniquely
positioned to provide leadership in sustainability in their communities and across the world. They
recognize that global warming is real and believe colleges and universities must demonstrate on their
campuses means and methods of reducing greenhouse gas emissions which contribute to that warming.
Further, signatories each agree to establish a comprehensive action plan to pursue climate neutrality by a
specified date and to track their progress towards that goal.
This document is the second greenhouse gas inventory that NKU has submitted to the ACUPCC
to document its progress towards its goal of climate neutrality in 2050. This document will:
1. Describe the chief characteristics of NKU and its recent efforts to improve campus
sustainability;
2. Outline the methods used to assess NKU’s FY 2009 GHG emissions;
3. Present the results of this assessment;
4. Discuss the meaning of those results and summarize the conclusions; and,
5. Chart NKU’s path forward to climate neutrality.
I. CHARACTERISTICS OF NORTHERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY AND ITS COMMITMENT
TO REDUCE GHGs
Northern Kentucky University is a rapidly growing, largely commuter, university located seven
miles from downtown Cincinnati in Highland Heights, Kentucky. Founded in 1968 to supply the Northern
Kentucky community with an educated and skilled labor force, NKU now serves as a regional leader
impacting nearly every aspect of daily life in Northern Kentucky, one of Kentucky’s fastest growing
economic regions. Kentucky’s Council on Postsecondary Education calls for NKU to continue to grow,
projecting a student body of 22,000 by 2020.
To accommodate its growing enrollment, NKU has added buildings such as the new Science
Center in 2002; the 10,000 seat Bank of Kentucky Center arena in 2008; and a Student Union in 2008.
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Additional buildings are planned to support the growth projected by the Council on Postsecondary
Education.
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions as enrollment expands and buildings increase is
challenging for all universities, including Northern Kentucky University. In 2009, the commonwealth of
Kentucky adopted administrative regulations for high performance buildings, creating standards which
mandate that new construction and major renovation projects with budgets of $25 million or more shall be
designed, built and submitted for certification at the LEED silver level or higher. Renovation projects with
lesser budgets are to be guided by or designed to other LEED standards. These standards may assist in
reducing greenhouse gas emissions created by NKU’s new buildings.
A. President’s Climate Commitment Taskforce
To guide the implementation of the ACUPCC requirements, President Votruba created the
President’s Climate Commitment Task force (NKU Green), consisting of sustainably-minded
administrators, faculty, staff and students. A list of current members can be found in the appendix of this
document. Led by Larry Blake, the assistant vice president of facilities management and Jane Goode,
the campus and space planning coordinator, the task force plans and executes the activities that improve
the overall sustainability of the campus and provides documentation as required by the ACUPCC.
The task force’s first major task was to prepare and submit an assessment of the GHG emissions
of NKU from 1990 through 2007 (found at: http://green.nku.edu/commitment/report.php) to the ACUPCC.
Following that submission which set the NKU GHG baseline, the task force addressed the ACUPCC’s
seven tangible actions. Signatories to the agreement are required to implement two or more of these
actions. In order to evaluate NKU’s ability to meet the ACUPCC tangible actions, the task force divided
into committees, one for each of the tangible actions as well as one for campus-wide “Green
Communications.”
NKU’s first tangible action was to provide access to and encourage the use of public
transportation by all students, faculty and staff. NKU partnered with the Transit Authority of Northern
Kentucky (TANK) to establish a U-PASS program which makes all TANK buses and university shuttles
free for NKU faculty, staff, and students. NKU riders simply present their valid campus IDs when
boarding buses or shuttles. Between the start of the program in July 2007 and August 2010, the U-PASS
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program provided almost 692,000 free trips for a savings of 1,866 metric tons of CO2 equivalent in the
Northern Kentucky atmosphere.
The second tangible action NKU adopted was a policy to encourage the purchase of ENERGY
STAR qualified products. The ENERGY STAR Procurement Policy was finalized in June 2009 and is now
included in all university bid documents as well as the NKU Procurement Services website. The policy
stipulates that ENERGY STAR products are to be purchased when a) they are available; b) the quality
and function of the ENERGY STAR qualified product is equal or superior to that of non-ENERGY STAR
qualified projects; and, c) the additional upfront cost of the ENERGY STAR qualified product is equal to or
less than its anticipated life cycle energy savings.
Eventually, NKU committed to two additional tangible actions described below.
The third tangible action NKU has put into practice is that, as mentioned above, all new campus
construction or renovation projects are to be guided by the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED
(Leadership in Environmental Energy and Design) standards. As described above, this practice is in
compliance with the commonwealth of Kentucky’s administrative regulations for high performance
buildings. A new state-of-the-art building for the College of Informatics, designed to be LEED Silver, will
be completed in 2011.
The fourth tangible action to which NKU committed is participation in the Waste Minimization
portion of RecycleMania, a friendly nation-wide campus waste reduction competition. NKU has
participated in RecycleMania since 2008 and each year adopts three or more measures to reduce
campus waste. Some of the past measures have included:
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Creation of a university-wide “craigslist” to share office supplies, furniture and equipment;
•
Use of reusable “to go” boxes in campus dining facilities;
•
Beverage discounts for those who use reusable drink containers;
•
Promotion of the use of reusable envelopes for campus inter-office mail;
•
Creation of a website on which members of the campus community offer suggestions for
waste reduction and resource savings;
•
Media programs to educate faculty, staff and students about waste minimization; and,
•
Program to sell or donate unused campus surplus property.
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Once the task force determined which of the tangible actions it would adopt, it reorganized to
work towards the reduction of emissions created by the NKU campus. The “Green Communications”
committee continued to share information about sustainability across campus. The RecycleMania
committee expanded its mission to include year-long recycling. Three new committees were established
to explore renewable energy sources, vehicle-share programs and a personal responsibility program.
In 2010, the task force also submitted the NKU climate action plan as required by the ACUPCC.
The action plan documented NKU’s then current carbon footprint, identified the green initiatives that
reduced that footprint, outlined the university’s existing and planned sustainable efforts and charted
NKU’s path to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.
B. Other Sustainability Activities and Initiatives
The task force frequently collaborates with other sustainably-minded university organizations to
encourage students, faculty and staff to lower their individual and collective impact on the campus carbon
footprint. Where possible, the task force and its partner organizations work to design activities and
programs that are fun, memorable and informative.
There are at least three student groups on campus that are interested in campus sustainability.
ECOS (Environmentally Concerned Organization of Students) is one of the task force’s primary partners.
Although students comprise the majority of their membership, ECOS also welcomes faculty and staff as
members. Working with organizations both on and off campus, ECOS seeks to demonstrate how the
choices made in daily life can have a major impact on the environment. Years ago, ECOS members
strongly and successfully advocated for the establishment and subsequent expansion of the campus
recycling program. ECOS also organizes the annual Earth Day celebration on campus.
BIOTA is a group of biology majors who educate others about biology and sustainability. BIOTA
takes biology and sustainability activities off campus and into Northern Kentucky K-12 schools. They also
work with ECOS and the task force on the annual Earth Day celebration.
Tri-Beta is an honor society for undergraduate students in the biological sciences. Tri-Beta works
closely with ECOS on fundraising efforts for sustainable activities and on the planning for campus Earth
Day festivities.
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In addition to the three student groups, there are several other organizations on campus that
address sustainability. The Center for Applied Ecology, a self-funded regional stewardship enterprise, is
committed to the protection and restoration of native eco-systems in the Northern Kentucky and greater
Cincinnati area. A non-profit organization, it partners with governmental agencies, non-profits and
private landowners to offer to the local community professional, science-based, ecological services,
including stream and wetland restoration, forest assessment and restoration, invasive species
management, rare plant surveys and research, conservation planning and geographic information system
mapping. The center also provides professional training and practical work experience for NKU students.
Established in 2002, The Center for Environmental Education provides teacher training for preservice and in-service teachers through courses, curriculum training and other programs. The Center
loans resources and activity trunks to P-12 teachers who lead environmental instruction for their students.
It also offers an Environmental Education Graduate Endorsement and a Certificate Program for
Kentucky’s Non-formal Environmental Educators. Further, the center also provides work experience for
NKU students.
NKU Wellness has actively promoted the Northern Kentucky Community Gardens project which
provides 52 plots to gardeners of all skill levels in three different locations on or near the NKU campus.
Gardeners agree to grow crops organically, use water responsibly and compost garden waste. Wellness
also encourages the campus community to buy and grow local foods in order to reduce emissions from
the transportation and distribution of foods.
Wellness and NKU Green collaborated in the fall of 2009 on “The Big Green Climb”, a six week
competition amongst students, faculty, and staff that health through stair climbing and energy
conservation through elevation avoidance. This initiative led to the NKU community climbing 301,112
flights of stairs. NKU representatives presented the results of this initiative at the 2010 Campus
Community Partnerships for Sustainability (CCPS) conference in Lexington, KY.
NKU Green works with the NKU’s recycling staff. Prior to 2003, there was no recycling program
on the NKU campus. As stated previously, ECOS was the student group that lobbied for campus
recycling. Initially, the program only recycled cardboard and paper. By 2006, the university’s recycling
program expanded to include recycling of some plastics, aluminum, and glass. Since then, motor oil,
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copper wiring, scrap metal, electronic waste, fluorescent light bulbs, carpet, and toner cartridges have
been added to the list of recycled materials.
The recycling staff now diverts from landfill over thirteen tons of material monthly. Much of that
material is collected in the many recycling bins that NKU has purchased and placed in offices, hallways,
outside walkways, and residence hall rooms to encourage people to recycle. The rest is collected by the
5-person recycling team and other facilities management staff.
NKU Green also collaborates with NKU horticulture on the annual Arbor Day festivities and the
general greening of the campus. In 2008 through the efforts of NKU horticulture, NKU was the first
university to receive the designation of “Tree Campus USA” from the Arbor Day Foundation. Since then,
NKU has received an annual “Tree Campus USA” designation.
II. METHODS
In placing his signature on the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment
(ACUPCC), President Votruba committed NKU to eliminate NKU’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by a
pre-determined date. To track the university’s progress towards this goal, NKU chose to use the Clean
Air-Cool Planet Calculator to quantify its GHG emissions. The calculator is based on information from the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), an organization established by the United Nations
Environmental Programme (UNEP) and World Meteorological Organization and endorsed by the UN
General Assembly. The IPCC recognizes that six gases contribute heavily to the greenhouse gas effect.
Those gases are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs),
perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6).
A. The Clean Air-Cool Planet Campus Carbon Calculator
The ACUPCC encourages member universities to use the Clean Air-Cool Plant Campus Carbon
Calculator, an Excel workbook provided by Clean Air-Cool Planet (http://www.cleanair-coolplanet.org/), to
estimate and analyze their greenhouse gas emissions. The calculator specifies the data required to
complete the calculations, summarizes the data, provides visual representations of a university’s GHG
emissions and predicts future trends. The calculator has embedded formulas that convert the data into
an estimate of the metric tons of eCO2 (carbon dioxide equivalent) produced by a university annually.
The calculator requires four types of data:
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1. Institutional data - numbers of students and employees, gross square footage of buildings and
university budgets;
2. “Scope 1” data to calculate direct emissions from fuels, lawn equipment, and fertilizers;
3.
“Scope 2” data to calculate indirect but easily specified emissions such as purchased electricity;
and,
4. “Scope 3” data to calculate “difficult to measure” indirect emissions such as those from commuter
miles and air travel.
The calculator estimates each scope separately and then combines them, with any offsets, to
determine a campus’ total metric tons of eCO2 produced in a year. This calculation is important as it
enables an institution to evaluate its progress towards climate neutrality and provides a means by which
universities can compare themselves with their peers.
The following table lists the six greenhouse gases and their relative Global Warming Potential
(GWP or ability to absorb, retain and re-radiate heat) as recognized by the calculator. In order to
accommodate these differences, the calculator translates the GHGs into “CO2 equivalent” units. Table 1
below summarizes the conversion factors.
TABLE 1: GREENHOUSE GASES IMPACTS RELATIVE TO CARBON DIOXIDE
Gas
GWP (100 year time horizon)
Carbon Dioxide (CO₂)
1
Methane (CH₄)
21
Nitrous Oxide (N₂O)
310
Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)
140 to 11,700
Perfluorocarbons (PFCs)
6,500 to 9,200
Sulphur Hexafluoride (SF₆)
23,900
Source: IPCC Third Assessment Report, 2001
B. Data Collection and Entry
NKU’s first data collection and full GHG inventory spanned 1990 to FY 2007 and required two
student workers, a faculty member, and a staff member to identify and locate all the necessary data. By
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establishing communication paths with university data providers, those people laid the groundwork for
future inventories.
The formal data collection for the 2009 Complete Greenhouse Gas Inventory began in May 2010
by two NKU student workers in the facilities management office, Emily Spinks and Lauren Tesla. The
data that was required for the 2009 Greenhouse Gas Inventory in shown in the chart below.
TABLE 2: DATA REQUESTED BY CA – CP CARBON CALCULATOR
INSTITUTIONAL
SCOPE 1: DIRECT SCOPE 2:
SCOPE 3:
OFFSETS
DATA
EMISSIONS
INDIRECT
INDIRECT
FROM
EMISSIONS
EMISSIONS FROM
STATIONARY
FROM ENERGY UNIVERSITY
SOURCES
PURCHASES
ACTIVITIES
Distillate Oil
Research Budget
Natural Gas
Student Commuting
Energy Budget
LPG (Propane)
Faculty/Staff Travel
# Full-time
Students
Gasoline Fleet
Student Study
Abroad Travel
Diesel Fleet
Solid Waste (No
CH₄ Recovery)
HFC-134a
Paper [Purchasing]
# Part-time
Students
# Summer
Students
# Faculty
HFC-404a
# Staff
Total Building
Space
Total Research
Space
HCFC-22
Electricity
Faculty/Staff
Commuting
Operating Budget
On-campus
Composting
Synthetic Fertilizer
Organic Fertilizer
Ms. Spinks found much of the institutional information on the NKU website and by contacting
NKU’s office of institutional research. She also contacted the various university administrative units for
information related to the three “scopes.” Scopes 1 and 2 information was readily available. Some of the
Scope 3 data, such as the amounts of purchased paper and land filled solid waste, could be easily
obtained. Other data required significant time and effort to acquire.
Commuting and travel mileage were the most difficult information to obtain. In the spring of 2008,
the students who prepared the first assessment surveyed 840 students, faculty, and staff on their
commuting patterns and used this information to generate averages for the number of trips per year and
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the average distance per trip commuted by each of these groups. For this inventory, the data collectors
used the same average commuting information generated by the 2008 data collectors and used the
calculator to generate the total commuting distances based on the FY 2009 numbers of faculty, staff, and
students. Separate from this inventory, Ms. Tesla and NKU institutional research created a commuter
survey which will provide updated information in order to generate distance and trip averages for future
inventories.
It took 95 student worker and staff hours to estimate air and auto travel mileage for faculty and
staff on official business and for students studying abroad for this inventory. Using the same procedure
utilized for the 2007 GHG inventory, the data collectors reviewed the entire set of FY 2009 reimbursement
claims generated by faculty and staff in their official travels. A similar process was used for determining
student study abroad travel mileage. See B4. Scope 3a below for more details.
B1. Institutional Data
This portion of the calculator requires schools to enter data pertaining to campus population,
physical building size, and university-wide budget. This information allows universities of similar size that
use the Clean Air-Cool Planet calculator to compare their efforts. Most institutional data was obtained
from the NKU website and institutional research; the exceptions were the campus energy budget, total
research building space, and total building space.
The superintendent of energy management provided the total energy budget. This superintendent
and his staff are charged with predicting the energy budget based on usage in previous years and
anticipated expenses. The FY 2009 energy budget is not an accurate reflection of the amount of energy
used as the energy usage for the new Student Union was over-estimated by about $800,000.
The guide that accompanies the CA-CP carbon calculator suggests that data collectors decide
whether to include all parts of the campus in their reporting. For this GHG Inventory, the assessment
team opted to exclude residence halls as well as a few other areas of campus (see B3. Scope 2 below
for more details). To maintain consistency, the square footages of those buildings and spaces were not
included for purchased electricity totals.
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B2. Scope 1: Direct Campus Emissions
This area of the calculator addresses emissions from stationary sources on campus such as
refrigerants, fertilizers, fleet vehicles as well as fuels such as of oil, gas, and propane. Data about these
sources was supplied by the NKU offices of energy management and roads, grounds & transportation
services.
The university’s power plant uses natural gas to heat water to produce steam to heat campus
buildings and uses electricity to produce chilled water to cool campus buildings. NKU maintains a supply
of distillate oil #2 and propane in its buildings’ emergency generators. Every two years, the distillate oil
must be replaced. When possible, the old distillate oil is used in the Power Plant.
B3. Scope 2: Indirect Emissions from Purchased Energy
Scope 2 addresses purchased electricity. NKU does not purchase steam or chilled water
generated off campus because they are produced, via purchased natural gas and electricity, in the
campus power plant.
The purchased electricity figure is relatively large and covers all the academic buildings. In
addition, NKU owns a number of smaller buildings in the surrounding neighborhoods. NKU uses some of
these buildings for academic purposes and the energy use in these buildings is included in Scope 2.
Other buildings are used by tenants who pay rent to NKU. Although NKU owns the buildings, it is not
responsible for tenants’ energy consumption and does not pay their energy bills. Energy use in these
buildings is not included in Scope 2.
As mentioned above, the calculator guide recommends that the assessment team determine
which buildings are the direct responsibility of the university and should be included in the calculator. For
this FY 2009 assessment, the team excluded the rental houses, the Bank of Kentucky Center, the
childcare center, all residence halls, the cafeterias that serve the residence halls, and the on-campus
convenience store. Among these, the building that had the largest impact on purchased electricity was
the Bank of Kentucky Center (BOK), a 10,000 seat arena that opened in 2008. This facility is operated by
a contractor who books events and pays the utility costs. For detailed reasons for exclusions, see the
discussion under Figure 3 in Section III below.
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B4. Scope 3: Emissions from Indirect Activities of NKU Community
a. Commuting Mileage
The FY 2007 assessment team developed a survey for the 2007 GHG Inventory. The survey
was distributed via Survey Monkey, at Earth Day celebrations, and in targeted classes. A total of 840
surveys were returned. The survey included questions about the distance of a person’s commute,
average commute time, days of the week travelled to campus, mode of transportation, hometown,
awareness of the U-PASS program offered through the Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky (TANK)
bus system, and willingness to change commuting behaviors. The intent of the survey was to gain a
detailed understanding of commuting behaviors of the campus community.
The 2011 Commuter Survey is based on the previous survey but expands upon some questions
that are important when considering some of the alternative transportation modes listed above. Some of
these questions include whether or not commuters come directly to and from campus, what type of roads
they typically drive on (i.e. city or highway), and if they live in a privately owned apartment complex within
two miles of NKU. When the survey is distributed again, the data collectors hope to gain knowledge into
what type of vehicle-share program(s) may work best for the university.
The commuting figures for the FY 2009 Inventory were based on data (i.e. % personal vehicle, %
carpool, trips/week, weeks/year, miles/trip) from the earlier survey combined with 2009 campus
population numbers of students, faculty, and staff.
b. Air Travel
At this time, NKU does not keep track of the number of miles that NKU employees travel on
university business. Rather, the focus is on the proper use of state funds for university travel. To
determine the number of miles travelled for university business, the assessment team had to review the
travel records for an entire year.
For the 2009 fiscal year, all faculty and staff who received reimbursed travel expenses were
required to submit a travel voucher to NKU accounts payable. These vouchers included many details,
some of which were of interest to the assessment team. Accounts payable made these documents
available to the data collectors for review. As the voucher system was new, the vouchers were
completed accurately only 70% of the time. When there was no mileage listed, the data collectors used
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Internet sites to estimate the miles between locations. They used Webflyer.com to determine the
distances between airports and Google Maps to find the distances between ground locations such as
hotels, airports, and conference centers.
The process of going through multiple-page travel vouchers and locating and recording the
information needed took three data collectors about 65 hours; an additional 30 to 35 hours was spent to
enter the data into an Excel spreadsheet. Although this process was used for the FY 2009 Inventory, it
will not be available for future inventories. Effective July 1, 2010, the travel voucher system is moving online through SAP, the university's software for business and student systems. Accounts payable will no
longer have hard copies of travel records. Future assessment teams will need to find another, less
cumbersome, means to calculate university sponsored travel.
Student study abroad mileage was also estimated for the calculator. The office of education
abroad provided a list of students who travelled abroad during the fiscal year 2009 as well as their
destination countries. As students were not required to complete travel vouchers, less data was available
and the data collectors were required to make more assumptions. When airport information was missing,
the assessment team chose the largest nearby international airport to calculate travel mileage. Typically,
these served capital cities. Once the airports were identified, the data collectors used Webflyer.com to
determine travel distances.
C. Group Data Handling
The FY2009 assessment team consisted of Emily Spinks, student; Lauren Tesla, student; Dr.
John Metz, NKU geography department; and Jane Goode, campus and space planning coordinator. Ms.
Spinks acquired most of the data and input it into the calculator. She also prepared the first draft of this
inventory. Ms. Tesla assisted her in the review of the travel vouchers and other data. Dr. Metz served as
an advisor and reference as he had been an active part of NKU’s first GHG Inventory in 2007 and
performed the FY 2008 update. Ms. Goode oversaw the entire inventory process and served as a mentor
as well as the editor of the first draft. In a separate effort, Ms. Tesla built upon the previous commuter
survey to create, with the office of institutional research, a new and more comprehensive survey that is
scheduled to be administered in the spring of 2011.
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III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The CA-CP Carbon Calculator estimates NKU’s 2009 carbon footprint at 67,524.5 metric tons of
carbon dioxide equivalent (MTeCO2) (see Figures 1 and 5). This number may be compared to NKU’s
previous GHG inventory to assess its progress towards climate neutrality. It can also be used to compare
NKU’s sustainability efforts with the efforts of other regional and peer universities. To calculate the NKU’s
carbon footprint, a multiplicity of information (see Table 2 above) had to be entered into the Clean AirCool Planet Calculator.
The 2009 results reveal the major sources of NKU’s emissions (see Figures 2 and 3 below) to be
commuting and purchased electricity. Those sources, plus others, can be seen in Figures 2 and 3
below. Figure 4 shows how the three scopes impact NKU’s carbon footprint, while Figure 5 depicts the
actual metric tons of GHG emissions attributed each to the scopes.
Figures 6, 7, and 8 break down the total down further into units - MTeCO2 per full-time students,
MTeCO2 per campus community member and MTeCO2 per square foot of campus buildings – that easier
to understand.
FIGURE 1: TOTAL EMISSIONS BY SECTOR
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Figure 1 above shows that NKU GHG emissions peaked in 2005. Since then, GHG emissions
have declined. The one exception was 2008 when the amount rose slightly. The relatively large
decrease between 2008 and 2009 emissions may be due, in part, changes made the assessment team in
what data was collected for this inventory.
The Clean Air-Cool Planet estimates the net weight of eCO2 emissions for NKU for fiscal year
2009 is 67,524.5 metric tons, as shown in Figure 1 above. That figure is less than both FY 2007’s eCO2
emissions of 69,272 metric tons and FY 2008’s eCO2 emissions of 71,394.8 metric tons.
Some sources of emissions are not shown in this figure as they make up only a minor portion of
the total carbon count. These sources include emissions from other directly financed travel (such as
travel taken in taxis, shuttles, and buses), wastewater, paper, co-generation electricity, co-generation
steam, direct transportation, agriculture, refrigerants and chemicals. Only the sources contributing
substantially to the NKU’s emissions count are included in Figure 1.
FIGURE 2: EMISSIONS BY YEAR AND SOURCE
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Figure 2 shows that the top two contributors to the GHG emissions produced by NKU’s
community are commuting and purchased electricity. These are followed, at a distance, by on-campus
stationary sources which include oil, natural gas, and propane as well as the diesel fuel and gasoline
used for the campus fleet vehicles.
Since 1990, commuting and purchased electricity have taken turns as the main contributor of
NKU emissions. As seen in Figure 2, the sources flip position most recently in 2006. Since that year, the
emissions resulting from commuting have increased steadily while the emissions resulting from
purchased electricity have declined irregularly.
Campuses across the country vary widely in their largest sources of eCO2. As NKU is primarily a
commuter campus, it is understandable that the highest number of NKU emissions result from the many
cars that travel to and from campus daily. With 84% of students commuting to campus and over 90% of
faculty and staff travelling to campus alone in a personal vehicle, the commuting number is likely to
continue to grow. Ways to reduce the impact of this source are discussed under Figure 3 below.
As these two sources – commuting and purchased electricity - are the largest contributors to NKU
eCO2 emissions, they are NKU’s best opportunities to reduce the emissions. The climate commitment
task force’s committees research ways to lower emissions in these two areas through alternative energy
production and alternative transportation programs. As the task force believes that each of NKU’s
community members shares the responsibility of lowering emissions, it shares new emission-lowering
ideas and initiatives with the campus community via its “Green Communications” committee.
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FIGURE 3: EMISSION SOURCES & THEIR PERCENTAGE OF NKU’S CARBON
FOOTPRINT
Figure 3 shows that the combined student, faculty, and staff commuting are the largest source of
emissions or 45% of NKU’s carbon footprint. Faculty and staff commuting contribute contributes 5,098.5
metric tons of eCO₂ annually and student commuting contributes 24,997.3 metric tons of eCO₂ annually.
Purchased electricity at 33% represents just one third of the campus emissions on campus or 22,251.5
metric tons of eCO₂ annually.
In order to address the largest emission source or commuting, commuter surveys were created to
better understand the size and nature of the activity as well as the attitudes about it. Based on the results
of the first survey, a task force committee is currently exploring transportation alternatives, such as carshare, ride share, and bike share programs. NKU may be able to reduce the impact of commuting on its
carbon footprint by investing in one or more of these transportation modes as well as by increasing
awareness of and participation in the U-PASS program.
A task force committee is currently addressing the reduction of emissions due to purchased
electricity usage on campus by exploring and monitoring developments in alternative energy production.
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In 2004 when Siemens was contracted to perform an ESCO at NKU, the efficacy of both solar and wind
power was considered. Neither was found to be cost effective on the NKU campus. As the technology
supporting these alternative energy sources improves and their cost goes down, the task force hopes to
position the university to take advantage of these as well as other sustainable and renewable energy
sources.
In preparing this inventory, the assessment team decided some areas of campus could be
excluded from the total purchased electricity. One of the decisions was to exclude the purchased
electricity used by the residential village from the total count. The students living on campus are only
15% of the 15,000+ NKU students or approximately 1,800 students. Whether these students live on
campus or off campus, they still require energy to support their non-academic or daily living activities. It
was felt that to count the energy to support these non-academic activities was to unnecessarily inflate
NKU’s carbon footprint. Therefore, the assessment team decided to exclude the purchased electricity for
the residence halls.
Other auxiliaries that were excluded from the total were the residential housing cafeterias and
convenient store, childcare center and the Bank of Kentucky Center (BOK). Although the cafeterias and
convenience store are used predominately by students, they do not support academic activities. The
cafeterias and convenience store was excluded from the NKU purchased electricity total for the same
reasons that the residence halls were excluded.
Energy used by the childcare center was also excluded as it is independent entity that would exist
even if it was not on the NKU campus. The center meets state childcare accreditation standards and its
workers are required to have specific certifications. It was considered reasonable to exclude its electricity
use.
NKU purchases none of the electricity for the BOK. The BOK is managed by an outside company
and is not recognized by the Council on Postsecondary Education as being part of Northern Kentucky
University. For these reasons, the BOK’s energy was not included in NKU’s purchased electricity total.
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FIGURE 4: PERCENTAGE OF EMISSIONS REPRESENTED BY SCOPES
FIGURE 5: METRIC TONS OF CO2 EQUIVALENT BY SCOPE
FY 2009 Emissions by Scope
Scope 1
8,696.3
Scope 2
22,251.5
Scope 3
36,599.8
Additional
Offsets
23.1
Net
Emissions
MTeCO₂
67,524.5
Figures 4 and 5 illustrate how NKU’s carbon footprint is divided between the three scopes.
Scope 3 accounts for 54% or over half of NKU’s carbon footprint. Campus commuting is include in Scope
3 and accounts for 30,095.8 MTeCO2 of that total. The remaining 6,504 MTeCO2 are generated by
faculty and staff travel, student study abroad, solid waste,and paper purchasing. Scope 2, which is
produced solely by purchased electricity, accounts for one third of the NKU’s GHG emissions. Scope 1
makes up the remainder of NKU’s emissions and is the result of NKU use of fuels such as oil, natural gas
and propane as well as the campus’ fleet vehicles.
By dividing emissions reporting into three separate scopes, the calculator clearly identifies those
areas in which a university might focus its efforts to reduce its carbon footprint and further its progress
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towards climate neutrality. For NKU, those areas appear to be programs, policies and practices around
campus commuting and purchased electricity.
Figures 6, 7 and 8 seek express the campus’ carbon footprint in units that easier to understand.
Metric tons of eCO2 emissions are difficult to imagine and individuals may not realize the impact that they
individually may have on the campus carbon footprint.
FIGURE 6: AVERAGE RELEASE OF eCO2 PER STUDENT ANNUALLY
Figure 6 shows that the average MTeCO2 emissions equivalent to one NKU student on an
annual basis has reached an all-time low in 2009. As high as 6.8 metric tons of eCO2 emissions per
student in 2004, that number dropped continuously to 5.4 metric tons eCO2 emissions per student in
2009. NKU has calculated its carbon footprint back through 1990 and the metric tons of eCO2 emissions
per student during that period have never been lower.
This is an important accomplishment especially considering NKU’s growth in building space and
student population since 1990. There are two possible reasons for this steady reduction since 2004. The
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first is the advent of the campus recycling program which began in 2004 and has only increased in activity
throughout the years. NKU sends much less waste to local landfills than it did prior to 2004. The second
reason is that the university experienced a noticeable reduction in the purchased electricity as a result of
the implementation of the Siemens’ Energy Service Company program (ESCO). These results were
initially realized in 2005.
FIGURE 7: AVERAGE RELEASE OF eCO2 PER COMMUNITY MEMBER ANNUALLY
Figure 7 divides the 2009 total metric tons of eCO2 emissions by all members of the campus
community. The result is 4.6 MTeCO2 per person or .8 MTeCO2 less than for each student. This number
is also the lowest since 1990, the earliest year for which NKU has data.
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FIGURE 8: eCO2 PER SQUARE FOOT ANNUALLY
Figure 8 considers NKU’s annual MTeCO2 by dividing it by the total number of square feet in the
campus buildings. Here again, the calculator provides information in units that are easily to manage and
comprehend. This graph allows campuses to add buildings (more square footage) and still chart the
efficiency of campus buildings. The two sharp rises on the graph represent the addition of buildings that
by their type and function consume a great deal of energy. The 2001/2002 rise shows when the new
Science building with its 120 fume hoods went on line. The rise is 2008 documents the addition of an
assembly building (BOK) and the new Student Union to campus.
IV. CONCLUSION
Colleges and universities are often viewed as bucolic settings in which to educate students,
impart knowledge and conduct research. The ACUPCC believes that these institutions must be active
and “exercise leadership in their communities and throughout society by modeling ways to minimize
global warming emissions, and by providing the knowledge and the educated graduates to achieve
climate neutrality.” Further, ACUPCC believes that colleges and universities that exert leadership in
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addressing climate change will stabilize and reduce their long-term energy costs, attract excellent
students and faculty, attract new sources of funding, and increase the support of alumni and local
communities.
NKU Green, an alternative name for the Climate Commitment Task force, is an organization open
to all NKU students, faculty, and staff. NKU Green has successfully collaborated with other NKU
organizations on sustainable events and initiatives to encourage campus community members to directly
and intentionally reduce their “carbon footprint”. Recently, these initiatives include attending new student
orientations to educate incoming students about NKU’s sustainability programs, competing nationally in
RecyleMania, piloting an “eco-clamshell” program which encourages the use of reusable “to-go”
containers in campus dining halls, sponsoring an on-line “craigslist” for office supplies and annual “swap
meets” for office supplies, and staging a two day eScrap event in which more than 16,000 pounds of
electronic scrap was diverted from landfill. These initiatives not only educate the NKU community but
also model sustainable behaviors for the Northern Kentucky region. The task force remains open to new
ideas and collaborative relationships to increase NKU sustainability.
NKU and NKU Green recognize that there is still much to do to reduce NKU’s current carbon
footprint of 67,524.5 MTeCO2 to zero by 2050. The process will be challenging, requiring both creative
thinking and financial resources. Success will require both institutional and personal commitments to the
goal. With a carbon footprint lower that the preceding inventory in 2007, this 2009 inventory indicates that
NKU is moving in the right direction. Whether NKU can move far enough, fast enough and boldly
enough is remains a question.
References for Inventory
o
o
http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/items/2830.php (Kyoto Protocol)
http://www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org/about/commitment/faqs
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Appendix 1: Members of President’s Climate Commitment Taskforce FY 2009
Architecture and Construction
Coleen Hamilton
Chemistry
Jim Wilkinson
A&S Sustainability Committee
Gretchen Vaughn
College of Informatics
Chris Strobel
Biological Sciences
Rebecca Kelley
ECOS
Diannea Wilson
Building Services
Glenn Scott
Energy Mgmt/Technical Systems
Jeff Noel
Business Operations & Auxiliary
Services
Andy Meeks
Environmental Safety
Jeff Baker
Campus & Space Planning
Jane Goode (co-chair)
Mary Paula Schuh
Campus Recreation
Matt Hackett
Center for Applied Ecology
Cecilia Baker
Devin Schenk
Chase College of Law
Bryce Rhoades (student)
Facilities Management
Larry Blake (chair)
Faculty Senate
Dr. John Metz
Faculty Senate (alternate)
Dr. Nancy Hancock
Grounds/Horticulture/Transportati
on
Bill Moulton
Information Technology
Jeff Chesnut
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Marketing &
Communications
Michael Frazier
Parking Services
Lisa Bunkley-Boyd
Procurement Services
Jeff Strunk
Staff Congress
Jenny Wagner
Unaffiliated Students
Chris Kaeff
Jennifer Lantz
University Housing
Peter Trentacoste
University Housing
(alternate)
Destiny Harper
Kelley Woods
Wellness
Shelli Stinson