Uncategorized

December 6, 2007

UW greenhouse gases down 10 percent from 2001 to 2005, inventory finds

The UW’s first inventory of greenhouse gas emissions shows that the University reduced overall emissions 10 percent from 2000 to 2005. The inventory includes emissions from the UW Seattle, Tacoma, and Bothell campuses and from other facilities that the UW owns or operates.

The gases inventoried include: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulfur hexafluoride, hydrofluorocarbons and perfluorocarbons. The report was prepared as part of the UW’s participation in the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment and the Seattle Climate Partnership. The report was compiled by Roel Hammerschlag, a recent master’s degree graduate of the UW’s Evans School of Public Affairs.

“This is a remarkable achievement,” says Sandra Archibald, dean of the Evans School and chair of the Environmental Stewardship Advisory Committee. “We believe the potential for future progress is great. There is a tremendous capacity at the UW to develop and implement programs to keep us at the forefront nationally in campus sustainability. One of the most important things we can do, as individuals, is to consider the actions we can take in our daily decisions to reduce production of greenhouse gases.”

The study showed that direct emissions were down 9.3 percent over the five-year period. These include emissions from the power plant (which provides heating for 200 buildings and chilled water for air conditioning in 50 buildings), the Montlake Landfill (which releases methane) buildings which generate their own heat and UW-owned vehicles. These decreases were achieved despite increases in the UW population of more than 8 percent.

The UW has an aggressive program of energy conservation that has been in place for over a decade. Interior building temperatures are set to 68 degrees F; most buildings are not air conditioned. The University has transitioned to using energy-efficient lighting throughout its buildings. The power plant boilers all use natural gas as the primary fuel. The boilers are high efficiency with reduced nitrogen oxide emissions.

All new campus construction and renovation is conducted to ensure that buildings meet sustainability standards. The UW as a matter of policy promotes sustainability in land use, development and construction projects.

Greenhouse gases attributable to energy purchased by the University fell 69.5 percent. This drop occurred chiefly because Seattle City Light began delivering electricity to the UW with zero net greenhouse gas emissions (mainly hydroelectric and wind power) in 2005. The UW also uses a centralized energy management and monitoring system, which helps in making decisions that can save energy.

“Other  emissions” rose 7.8 percent. Greenhouse gases attributable to commuting and travel increased, mainly due to increased commuting populations and increased commuting distances by faculty, staff and students.  Still, the UW’s award-winning U-PASS program decreased the percentages of UW Seattle employees and students who drive alone from 25 percent in 2000 to 23 percent in 2005 and increased the percentage who take transit from 31 percentin 2000 to 38 percent in 2005.

The report also notes that, while not officially part of the inventory, the UW has an aggressive program of waste management and recycling that has resulted in a reduction of about 10 percent in greenhouse gas emissions from solid waste disposal. The UW also manages forest land that is responsible for removing a significant amount of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.  Harborview Medical Center, which is owned by King County but managed by the UW, reduced emissions by 25 percent.

The UW is in the process of preparing an action plan for future reduction of the university’s carbon footprint. The complete inventory is available for viewing at http://www.washington.edu/admin/facserv/conserve.php. A summary of important figures is below.

	Gross emission 2000 2005		Emission intensity 2000 2005
Scope 1 – direct emissions
Seattle
Power plant	90,500	82,700	1,530	1,310
Buildings	5,080	6,440	86	102
Vehicles	3,030	3,040	51	48
Landfill	17,000	12,800	287	201
Fugitive gases	1,820	136	31	2
Total	117,000	105,000	1,990	1,660
Tacoma
Buildings	341	699	184	285
Vehicles	10	12	6	5
Fugitive gases	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.
Total	351	710	190	289
Bothell
Buildings	258	622	158	332
Vehicles	133	61	81	32
Fugitive gases	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.
Total	392	683	239	364
Outlying facilities	221	239	1,870	1,870
University-wide	118,000	107,000	1,890	1,570
Scope 2 – electricity
Seattle
Central loop	16,100	–	274	–
Other	8,390	4,670	142	74
Total	24,500	4,670	416	74
Tacoma	629	343	340	140
Bothell	664	2,730	406	1,460
Outlying facilities	46	144	390	1,130
University-wide	25,900	7,890	413	116
Scope 3 – other emissions
Seattle
Student commuting	19,100	21,800	324	345
Faculty & staff commuting	27,000	32,700	459	517
Professional travel	16,700	18,700	283	295
Off-campus medical	16,700	12,600	282	198
Total	79,500	85,800	1,350	1,350
Tacoma	2,150	2,340	1,160	955
Bothell	1,390	1,570	849	837
Outlying facilities	55	62	469	485
University-wide	83,100	89,800	1,330	1,320
Grand totals
Seattle	221,000	196,000	3,750	3,090
Tacoma	3,130	3,400	1,690	1,380
Bothell	2,450	4,980	1,490	2,660
Outlying facilities	322	445	2,730	3,480
University-wide	227,000	204,000	3,630	3,010
Optional Information
NSF research vessels	4,380	6,640
Seattle campus waste	(7,790)	(6,240)
Forest carbon sequestration	(12,200)	(16,400)
University-wide total w/ O.I.	212,000	188,000

This chart shows the components of the UW’s carbon emissions and how they changed from 2000 to 2005. 
Emission intensities are calculated per gross headcount — students, faculty and staff combined.