Mountain Research Station is remote and de minimis in energy usage.

To enable enhanced data consolidation, tracking and analysis, CU chose to create its own basic emissions calculation spreadsheet tool. This custom tool does, however, adhere to the same basic GHG accounting principles, methodologies and emissions factors used in the CA-CP Calculator.

Same source as the CA-CP Calculator: Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2004 (April 2006) USEPA #430-R-06-002; Annex 2

Data collection for emissions inventory was compiled from pre-existing campus data aggregation and tracking systems in various departments including Accounting, Facilities Management, Parking and Transportation Services, Purchasing, and Human Resources.
Once per year these data are collected by the inventory manager. Emissions are calculated by multiplying the energy usage and other data by their coefficients.

Identified de minimis sources are: CH4 and N2O from fossil fuel and electricity usage; HFCs from cooling equipment; CO2, CH4 and N2O from fleet transportations fuels; and waste landfilling.

The University of Colorado has several programs and initiatives to reduce emissions in university-owned fleet and waste landfilling (composting and recycling). Although de minimis, we are including emissions from university-owned fleet and waste landfilling in order to measure progress in reductions in these emissions categories.

These sources individually make up less 1% of the total inventory and cumulatively less than 5%. Using standard emissions factors we determined CH4 and N2O from all fossil fuel usage was de minimis, including for electricity. Similarly, using the CA-CP factors for waste we determined these emissions to be less than 1% of the University total.

Using upper-bound calculations of cooling equipment used and building space cooled, we determined HFCs to be less than 1% of the University total. We have not included the refrigerators used in laboratories or dining services as the maintenance and end of life coolant disposal is handled by outside vendors. Even if included in the inventory, we determine these emissions would not be more than 1% of university total.

One limitation is the emissions factor used to estimate CO2, CH4 and N2O emissions from electricity purchased from our utility, Xcel Energy. As prescribed by the CA-CP tool we used the Department of Energy�s eGRID database of regional emissions factors from electricity generating plants. However, these factors are released with a lag time of several years. The current factors used in our GHG inventory are from 2004. This limitation is common as most entities reporting GHG inventories depend on these factors.

With growing focus on GHG emissions, we expect that individual utilities will eventually be releasing official annual updates to the emissions intensity of their electricity. We will use these annual factors when they become available from the utility for public use.

However, with the passing of Amendment 37 (Colorado's Renewable Portfolio Standard) in 2004 and its strengthening in 2007, all Colorado investor-owned utilities must have 20% of retail electricity sales come from renewables by 2020. Since 2004, Xcel Energy, the utility that serves CU, has already installed or is scheduled to add several hundred MW of renewables. Because the most current eGRID factors use aggregated generation data from 2004, the carbon reduction benefits of these renewables are not captured in the electricity emissions factor used in the CU inventory filed in September 2008. By the next inventory reporting period in 2010, eGRID will release emissions factors that more accurately capture the lower carbon content of Xcel's electricity. This will be reflected in the CU�s 2010 inventory as lower emissions in Scope 2 for purchased electricity, regardless of changes in electricity usage on campus.

Metric tons of carbon reduction are purchased from the Colorado Carbon Fund (CCF). The CCF is a state-coordinated offset program designed to stimulate verifiable carbon reduction projects in the state. http://www.coloradocarbonfund.org/

Wind energy RECs from Colorado and Minnesota projects. Vendor is Community Energy.

N/A

As detailed in #10 above, all reporting of CU's GHG emissions are reported as and not� as no emissions other than CO2 are included in our final reporting.

Emissions from commuting are based on commuting behavior survey data from 2005/2006. At the time of this reporting, commuter survey data from 2007/2008 is in the process of being aggregated and summarized but was not complete.
Commuter emissions by category:
Staff/faculty car and bus commuting: 9400
Student car and bus commuting: 5000