Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies The Yale Climate Initiative: Assessing...

Yale UniversitySchool of Forestry and Environmental Studies

The Yale ClimateInitiative:Assessing Yale’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Yale Climate Initiative

Yale UniversitySchool of Forestry and Environmental Studies 2

YCI Presentation Overview

• YCI Overview• Inventory

– Introduction– Power Plants and Buildings– Transportation– Other Sources

• Improving the Inventory• Next Steps



YCI Overview: Purpose

Student-initiated study to:– Understand Yale’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions– Evaluate strategies to improve Yale’s GHG emissions

inventory over time– Analyze approaches to make the University more

climate friendly

Necessary steps before articulating a more detailed climate change strategy



YCI Overview: Group Structure

Arnulf Grübler

Power Plants Buildings Transportation Other Sources

Marty Walters

Trisha EylerWoon Kwong Liew

Seth DunnNalin Sahni

Brandon Carter

Marco ButtazzoniKate Zyla

Liz MartinKathleen Campbell

• Various experts participated in classes and advised the group

• Various members of Yale staff provided fundamental support and assistance during the data gathering phase of the project



Why are GHGs Important?

CO2 concentration in the atmosphere since the industrial revolution

Over 32% increase in less than 300 years

• GHGs in the atmosphere trap energy– Allow short wave solar

radiation to pass– Trap long wave radiation

from earth• There are various GHGs but the

one of most concern is CO2

• CO2 concentration in the atmosphere is currently around 370 ppm– It has been below 300 ppm

for the last 150,000 years



Why are GHGs Important?

Climate: Natural forcing Climate: Natural and anthropogenic

IPCC scientists are in agreement that:– Global temperature is increasing– Part of this is due to anthropogenic change



Greenhouse Gases at Yale

CO2

CH4

N2OHFCs

CO2e offsets?

CFCsHFCsSF6

CO2

N2O

CO2

CH4

N2O

CO2

CH4

N2O

CO2

CH4

N2O

SF6

HFC-32

HFC-23

CFC-12

1

21

310

23,900

650

11,700

8,500

GHG GWP

CO2. CH4, N2O, CFCs



Zip code data

Correction

+/- 2%

CT-DOT transport

parameters

Edited zip code data

Cars only

vs. PT and bike

Total miles

traveled

aaa Data

Assumptions with change in the parameter

Calculations

bbb

ccc

# trips+/-1%

Miles+/-5%

Miles traveled

per mode of transpor

t

Emissions parameter

s

Cars +22 -22%

PT +120 –50%

16,700 T

+ 11%- 12%

xx% Change in emissions

+ 5.9%- 9.5%

+ 4.8%- 4.8%

+ 1.5%- 3.7%

FES & parking

dep. data

Occ. Rate+/-

17%

+ 20%- 14%

car +22%- 22%

PT +3.2%- 1.3%

+ 80%- 49%

GHG Inventory: A Complicated Process



Yale’s GHG Emissions: Year 2002

Yale University GHG Emissions (2002)Total 291,696 Tons CO2 equivalent

38,653

13,254

246,080

-6,291

-50,000

0

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

300,000

Power Plants/Buildings Transportation Other Sources Sinks

ton

s o

f C

O2

eq

uiv

ale

nt

Other sources 4%

Transport. 13%

Power Plants/ buildings 83%



Yale Power Plants & Buildings : Overview

• 257 buildings

• 3 power plants

• 1,173,408 m2 in building area

• 2,599,076 GJ of energy consumed annually

AthleticsFields

MedicalCenter

OldCampus

ScienceHill

SterlingPower Plant

CentralPower Plant

Pierson-SagePower Plant

YALE



Yale Power Plants : Overview

Central Power Plant

electricity

steam

chilled waterScience Hill

Old Campus

Pierson-Sage

Power Plant

Sterling Power Plant

steam

electricity, gas & fuel oil

steam

chilled water

Utility grids and

othersMedical Center

Athletic Fields



Yale Power Plants & Buildings : Emissions

2003,064

122,371

30,767

2,862

78,529

8,2880

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

120,000

140,000

160,000

Centralpower plant

(energygeneration)

Sterlingpower plant

(energygeneration)

Buildings(purchasedelectricity)Buildings

(boilers andfurnaces)Sterlingpower plant(purchasedelectricity)

Centralpower plant(purchasedelectricity)Pierson-

sage powerplant (energygeneration)

tons CO2 equivalent

Other sources 4%

Transport. 13%




Yale Power Plants : Central Power Plant

Central Power Plant Energy Consumed

#2 Oil,6%,

#6 Oil,2%,

kW, 1%,

Natural Gas 91%,

Central Power Plant Energy Delivered

Steam 46%

kW, 30%CHW, 24%

Energy production

2,355,212 GJ 1,821,773GJ

Overall Plant Efficiency is 57%



Yale Power Plants : Sterling Power Plant

Sterling Power Plant Energy Consumed (GJ)

#2 Oil, 0%,

#6 Oil, 40%,

kW, 3%, NG 57%,

Sterling Power Plant Energy Delivered

1,007,635 GJ

CHW, 44%

Steam 56%

Energy production

Conversion from #6 to #2 Oil by mid-2004

1,321,937 GJ

Overall Plant Efficiency is 76%



Yale Power Plants : Emissions

• 79% of fuel consumed is Natural Gas

• 10,000 tons CO2 eq. reduced if 100% NG used

• Power plants are within standard efficiency ranges

• Improvements have to be driven from end-use

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Natural Gas Oil # 2 Oil # 6 MWh

GJ

emissions



Interior Building Area

0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

Medical

Laboratory, Wet

Academic Housing

Administrative

AthleticsOther

Laboratory, Dry

Library

1,173,408 m2 in building area



Energy Intensity

0

200400

600

8001,000

1,200

1,4001,600

1,800

Medical

Laboratory, Wet

AcademicHousing

Administrative

AthleticsOther

Laboratory, Dry

Library

kWh/M

2/year

Average IntensityYale: 628 kWh/m2Stanford: 560 kWh/m2



0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

50,000 100,000 150,000 200,000 250,000 300,000

Area in M2

kWh / M2 / Year

Distribution of Area and Energy Consumption

Medical

Labs, Dry

Labs, Wet

Academic

Housing

Other

LibraryAthleticsAdmin

Area of circles denotes total energy consumed



Energy use: Consumption profile

Energy Consumption vs. Proportion of Buildings

(0.25, 0.84)

(0.50, 0.96)

(0.20, 0.78)

(0.10, 0.58)

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1

Proportion of Buildings

Proportion of Energy Consumption

• 10% of buildings account for 58% of energy consumption

• 20% of buildings account for 78% of energy consumption

• Half of the buildings account for only 4% of energy use



10 Most Energy Consumptive Buildings

0.0%

0.5%

1.0%

1.5%

2.0%

2.5%

3.0%

3.5%

4.0%

4.5%

5.0%

Congress Avenue Building

Sterling Hall of Medicine, Wing BSterling Hall of Medicine, Wing I

Kline Biology Tower

Sterling Divinity QuadrangleCenter for Molecular Medicine

Kline Geology LabLab of Epidemiology Payne Whitney Gym

Environmental Science Center

% of Total Yale Consumption

Red - >1,000 kWh/m2

Blue - <1,000 kWh/m2



Yale Power Plants & Buildings : Uncertainties

• Instrument & data transmission– cost of equipment vs better accuracy

• Computerized data collection– reliability of intranet / internet data transfer

• Manual data collection and entry– issues with data consolidation and analysis over time

• Data processing and analysis – emission factors and conversion factors– limited data on “building use” activities



Transportation: Overview

•Institutional–Yale-owned vehicles

•Work-related–Flights–Train–Ground transportation

•Commuters–Daily (faculty, students)–Travel home (students)

•Contracted vehicles–Not addressed

Yale owns 366 vehicles, over half of which are trucks

or vans

Yale spends about $20 million in travel each year

Yale commuters travel over 57 million miles per year



Transportation: Total Emissions

4151,700 1,688

16,700

8,3945,400

2,7341,622

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

Institutionaltravel

Work relatedair travel

through travel

agentOther workrelated travel

Employeescommutesand visitsStudentscommutesand visitsStudentsreturninghome (dom.)

Studentsreturninghome (int’l.)

Transport'other

activities'

tons CO2 equivalent

Other sources 4%

Transport. 13%




Institutional Travel

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

Physical Plant

PoliceGroundsMedical

Fire Marshall

TR&SAthleticTelecom

RISDiningF&ES

Department

tons CO2 emissions

Unleaded

Unleaded Plus

Super Unleaded

Other

Diesel

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

EngineeringGeology

MB&B

YSM DiningMail Services

AthleticLSF

AnimalDiningPsychiatry

Grounds

Department

kg CO2 per vehicle

However, miles traveled are not known

Most GHG Emitting Fleets Most GHG “Intensive” Fleets



Work-Related Travel Emissions

Total GHG emissions 11,100 tons 3.8% of Yale’s total

-1,0002,0003,0004,000

5,0006,0007,0008,0009,000

TA fligh

ts

Non T

A

flight

sTra

ins

Car re

ntal

Groun

d

trans

porta

tion

To

ns

CO

2

emis

sio

ns

Work related emissionsTravel expenditure Breakdowns

Total foreign25%

Total domestic

75%

Air/rail40%

Lodging 32%

Car rental and ground trans. 14%

Other 14%



Emissions from Employee Commuting

Where employees live

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

less than

1

between

1+ and 5

between

5+ and 10

between

10+ and25

between

25+ and50

more than

50

Miles from school

% Employees

Employees total Miles traveled

-

5,000,000

10,000,000

15,000,000

20,000,000

25,000,000

less than

1

between

1+ and 5

between

5+ and10

between

10+ and25

between

25+ and50

more

than 50

Miles from school

Total Miles per annum

• GHG emissions from employee commuting are 16,700 tons CO2

– 5.7% of Yale’s total emissions– Emissions from student commuting are about 1,700 tons



Yale Transportation: Uncertainties

• Institutional: – Lack of reliable Mileage data– Fuel purchase data

• Work related travel– $ spent per transportation mode– Air travel: number of trips, miles per trip, emissions of aircraft– Other: $ spent per type, number of trips, miles per trip, type of

vehicle, emissions per vehicle

• Commuting: – Transportation parameters– Residence location– Number of commutes



Other Sources: Overview

Yale generated• 5,300 tons of municipal

solid waste– 76% is incinerated, – 18% is recycled, – 6% is landfilled

• 50 million gallons of waste water

• 18,000 liters of Volatile Organic Compounds

• 5,800 lbs. of CFCs and HFCs

80,000 lbs. of

SF6 in Stock

10,880 acres of

Forest in NH, VT, CT



Other Sources and Sinks

Small Sources but Large Global Warming Potentials!

Source CO2 CH4 N20 VOC SF6 HFC-134a HFC-23 CFC-12

Global Warming Potential

1 21 310 ? 23,900 3,800 11,700 8,500

Solid Waste X X X

Waste Water X X

Refrigerants X X X

Lab Gases X X X



30373,861

-6,291313

9,013

-20,000

-15,000

-10,000

-5,000

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

Refrigerants Incineration Laboratorygasses

Wastewater Landfilling Forest sink

tons CO2 equivalent

Other Sources: GHG Emissions

Total (without Offset) = 13,254 tons CO2 eq. (5% of total emissions)Forest Sinks Offset = 6,291 tons CO2 eq. (2% of total emissions)



Yale University GHG Emissions (2002)By Activities

Total 288,496 Tons CO2 equivalent

9,013 8,288 5,400 3,861

122,371

30,767

8,394

78,529

16,700

-20,000

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

120,000

140,000

160,000

Centralpower plant

(energygeneration)

Sterlingpower plant

(energygeneration)Buildings(purchasedelectricity) Employeescommutesand visits

Refrigerants

Workrelated air

travelthroughtravel agentBuildings(boilers andfurnaces)

Studentsreturninghome(dom.)

Incineration

tons CO2 equivalent

Other Sources: Refrigerants

Old leaking chillers represent a larger portion of emissions than was thought!



Other Sources: Sequestration is Small

- Yale owns 10,880 acres of forestland- In CT, NH, and VT - Mostly mixed hardwoods.

- Total offset is estimated to be 6,291 tons of CO2 eq. - 0.58 tons per acre

.

To offset Yale’s total 2002 emissions we would need to reforest an area almost the

size of Rhode Island



Other Sources: Risk Management

• Yale has 80,000 lbs of SF6 in stock

• This is equivalent to 850,000 tons of CO2 eq.

• If released, it represents 4 times Yale’s annual emissions!



Other Sources and Sinks: Uncertainty

Refrigerants• Does not include data on window air-conditioning unitsIncineration and Landfilling• Reliability of Carbon content• Decay Function of Waste • Amount of fugitive landfill gas emissionsLab Gases• Assumption that all gases are released to atmosphereWastewater• Conversion Factor Uncertainty • Lack of data on the occurrence of anaerobic conditions in

treatment systems, especially incidental occurrences.Forest Sinks• Divergence in sequestration estimates



Yale GHG Emissions

• Yale emissions are equivalent to those of:– The Cayman Islands– Central African Republic

• Each ‘Yalie’ emits about 13 t GHG per year– UVM = about 7 t– Tufts = about 2 t

13t is equal to emitting 173 times your weight

Yale 2002 Total: 291,696 Tons CO2 equivalent

GHG Emissions comparison

050,000

100,000150,000200,000250,000300,000350,000

Yale University Cayman Islands

Central African Republic University of Vermont

Tulane University Oberlin College

Univ. Colorado-Boulder

Tufts University

Emissions MT CO2 0246

8101214

t CO2e per person

Emissions

Per capitaemissions



Next Steps: GHG Inventories at Yale

• Yale personnel has been wonderfully supportive to the YCI team

• Currently Yale systems gather a wealth of data that can be used for GHG inventory purposes

• The current system and process is not conducive to creating GHG emissions inventories– Some data are missing– Some inconsistencies– Cumbersome data extraction

Relatively minor systems and process changes could significantly improve Yale’s ability to inventory GHG emissions



Next Steps: GHG Emission Reductions

• The team explored – improvements to inventories– preliminary mitigation options

• A number of spin off-projects are already addressing these questions – ACEM Green Fund financing– Student projects

Yale Climate Initiative Fall 2004?



And finally …

Thank you to all the members of Yale University who

assisted us in our efforts!

Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies The Yale Climate Initiative: Assessing...

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