2 0 1 3 - 2 0 1 4GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS INVENTORY

SUMMARY REPORT

CSULB SUSTAINABILITY

IntroductionClimate change is one of the most serious challenges of our time and higher education institutions have a critical role to play in addressing this challenge. California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) is committed to leading in the fight against climate change by doing all we can to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from campus operations, encourage and support sustainable transportation options, and educate and empower our students and campus community to be part of the solution.

Our CommitmentCSULB formalized its commitment to climate action in 2010 when then President Alexander signed the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), now known as the Carbon Commitment. As a Carbon Commitment signatory, CSULB is responsible for conducting regular greenhouse emissions inventories, creating and regularly updating our own Climate Action Plan (CAP), and setting a date by which the university will achieve climate neutrality. In addition to identifying strategies for reducing our carbon footprint, the CAP must also describe how climate change-related research will be supported by the university and how sustainability and climate literacy will be prioritized in the curriculum.

In 2010, the Campus Sustainability Task Force (STF) was established by the Academic Senate to ensure successful fulfillment of the Carbon Commitment. The STF works in collaboration with a variety of campus departments and stakeholders to ensure that key Carbon Commitment targets and deliverables are met.

Progress to date:

CSULB Joined Carbon Commitment

Completed 1st GHG Emissions

Inventory(of 2009-10

emissions)

Created Climate Action

Plan

Created 2nd GHG Emissions

Inventory(of 2013-14 emissions)

Climate Neutrality

Target

2010 2013 2014 2016 2030

Inventory ProcessThis is the second inventory of CSULB’s greenhouse gas emissions completed to date. This inventory, like the one completed in 2013, relied heavily on CSULB students to collect, analyze, and compile the data used to calculate the university’s emissions. Five student volunteers, who were drawn from five different majors, were trained and supervised by the Energy and Sustainability Manager and Sustainability Coordinator. The students attended meetings to learn about the emissions sources to be analyzed, the step-by-step process for collecting the data, and the methods and tools used to calculate emissions. Each student was then assigned a set of data that they were responsible for collecting and analyzing.

Once all of the data was collected and compiled (more on that below), the Energy and Sustainability Manager and Sustainability Coordinator input the data into the Carbon Management and Analysis Platform (Carbon MAP) calculator in order to arrive at the total metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions generated by the university during the 2013-14 fiscal year.

Data Collection and Sources

The students gathered data related to campus operations, including fuel used by campus vehicles, natural gas and electricity use, fertilizer and refrigerant use, and solid waste generation. The Facilities Management Department oversees and tracks campus utilities and waste operations, while the Foundation manages and tracks its natural gas and refrigerant use and waste operations separately.

Data on university funded travel (air, bus, and personal vehicle mile reimbursements) were provided to the student researchers by the University’s Accounts Payable Office and the Athletics Department.

Collecting data related to faculty, staff, and student transportation habits, which are needed to calculate emissions generated by vehicle commutes to campus, was a multi-step process. Transportation habits of faculty and staff were identified through a survey distributed to employees via email by the Parking and Transportation Office, which is responsible for collecting the data for an annual report to the Southern California Air Quality Management District.

Student commuting data were collected through an email survey as well as paper surveys distributed at outreach events during Earth Week.

Both sets of data collected through the surveys were shared with a transportation planning consulting firm, who calculated the final mode split ratios, vehicle miles traveled, and greenhouse gas emissions totals.

2013-14 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory Key FindingsTable 1 below lists each of the emissions sources that were included in the inventory along with the respective metric tons of greenhouse gases produced by each source. The total emissions generated during the 2013-2014 fiscal year totaled approximately 62,000 metric tons.

Table 1.

Scope # Emmissions Source MTCO2e

1

Stationary Combustion 6,176

Mobile Combustion/Fleet Fuels 373

Fugitive Emmissions 716

2 Purchased Electricity 16,763

3

Student Commuting 28,036Faculty/Staff Commuting 4,487Air Travel 1,251Solid Waste 4,337Total GHG Emmissions 62,139

(In Metric Tons of CO2 Equivalent)

Consistent with the findings of the 2009-2010 emissions inventory, Figure 1 illustrates that in 2013-2014 the largest proportion of CSULB’s greenhouse gas emissions continue to be generated by student, faculty and staff vehicle commuting and purchased electricity.

Figure 1.

Stationary Combustion

10%

Mobile Combustion/Fleet Fuels1%

Fugitive Emissions1%

Purchased Electricity27%

Student/Faculty/Staff Commuting

52%

Air Travel2%

Solid Waste7%

The current inventory also reveals that, overall, CSULB’s 2013-2014 greenhouse gas emission levels were slightly higher than 2009-2010 emissions. As figure 2 shows, emissions levels from solid waste and purchased electricity increased, while emissions from student commuting and fugitive emissions decreased. Emissions from university funded air travel, faculty and staff commuting, mobile fuel combustion and stationary combustion remained relatively static. Overall, CSULB’s total emissions increased by 4% (see Interpreting the Findings section for further explanation).

Figure 2.

CSULB GHG Emissions by Source(metric tons CO2e)

Interpreting the FindingsGiven that CSULB has only 14 years to reduce our emissions to zero if we want to achieve our 2030 climate neutrality goal, it is somewhat concerning that our overall emissions appear to be on the incline. However, the data indicates that this slight uptick actually represents a peak in our emissions from which the university could expect to see a steady decline.

Purchased ElectricityThe nearly 21% increase in emissions from purchased electricity can be partly attributed to construction of new buildings on campus as well as the fact that our campus population, (and therefore the number of people utilizing energy), was higher in 2013-14 than it was in 2009-10. However, ongoing and planned efforts to increase energy efficiency and expand on-campus renewable energy generation are expected to steadily reduce the amount of purchased electricity that will be needed to power the campus.

Solid WasteOne of the most significant increases in emissions between the previous and current inventories were those associated with solid waste. Although our total tons of solid waste increased by 13% (163 tons) since our previous GHG inventory, the associated emissions increased by a disproportionate 66%. This can be explained by the fact that the emissions factors1 for solid waste were updated to reflect the most current scientific knowledge in the latest version of the calculator tool used to produce the inventory. The emissions factors used in the version of the tool used to complete the previous inventory substantially underestimated the global warming potential of solid waste.

It is anticipated that this will be a one-time correction to the emissions factors that, unfortunately, gives the misleading impression that our generation of solid waste increased much more than it did. Regardless, the trajectory for solid waste emissions is expected to begin a sharp decline in the very near future. The Sustainability Task Force’s Zero Waste Working Group is currently developing a Zero Waste Campus Plan, which when fully implemented, will significantly increase our waste diversion rates and decrease solid waste emissions.

Student, Faculty and Staff Commuter Emissions According to the transportation planning consultants who analyzed the transportation survey responses, the slight increase in emissions from faculty and staff commuting can be attributed to an increase in the number of individuals driving alone to campus as well as longer average distances traveled by those driving alone.

The consultants also concluded that the decrease in emissions attributed to student commuters was more a result of improved vehicle emissions (fuel efficiency standards) rather than an increase in the proportion of students walking, biking, carpooling, or riding transit to campus.

1 An emissions factor is a representative value that attempts to relate the quantity of a pollutant released to the atmosphere with an activity associated with the release of that pollutant (EPA, http://www3.epa.gov/ttnchie1/ap42/)

Next StepsTo ensure that our greenhouse gas emissions will decline at the rate necessary to meet our 2030 climate neutrality goal, the university must continue to identify and aggressively pursue emissions reduction strategies in all areas. However, purchased electricity and vehicle commuting emissions must be prioritized because they represent our largest sources of emissions and therefore represent the most significant opportunities for meaningful reductions.

With this in mind, efforts to improve building energy efficiency and expand renewable energy are currently underway, including the development of a Clean Energy Plan that will be used to guide future renewable energy projects on campus. Likewise, opportunities to further expand and improve the sustainable transportation programs already available to our campus community are being explored by Parking and Transportation Services with the support of the Sustainability Task Force’s newly formed Transportation Emissions Working Group.

These are important steps forward, but the path toward climate neutrality will not be easy and it will take a campus-wide commitment to achieve true climate leadership. That is why we also plan to ramp up efforts to educate our entire campus community about the impacts of climate change and the role that each individual and campus department can play in helping us achieve our greenhouse gas reduction goals.

Acknowledgements

The Sustainability Task Force would like to thank and acknowledge the following individuals and departments who contributed time, effort, and energy to the completion of the 2013-14 greenhouse gas inventory:

Anastaysia Cole, Student ResearcherChloe Lippold, Student ResearcherDylan Pastor, Student ResearcherJoshua Rhodes, Student ResearcherSarah Rae, Student Researcher

Brian McKinnon, Grounds and Landscaping Services ManagerCarol Monson, Accounts Payable ManagerCindy Masner, Senior Associate Athletics Director/Senior Women’s AdministratorHolli Fajack, Sustainability CoordinatorJoe Salvador, Lead Automotive and Equipment MechanicJon Root, Night Manager

Josh Cichuciec, Assistant Grounds and Landscaping Services ManagerMichael Gardner, Capital Projects ManagerNathaniel Dotti, Campus Space AnalystPaul Wingco, Energy, Utilities and MEP Manager (formerly Energy and Sustainability Manager)Zeke Bonilla, Foundation Facilities ManagerCSULB Parking & Transportation Services

Brian Canepa, Director of Operations & Principal, Nelson Nygaard Consulting Associates

Report design by Katarina Stiller, Marketing and Communications Intern, CSULB Sustainability Office

For more about sustainability and climate action at CSULB, check out: www.csulb.edu/sustainability