American University Lindsay Madeira, Manager of Sustainability Programs American University Mayra Portalatin, LEED AP, Project Manager Facility Engineering Associates, PC

American University Institutional Sustainability Tallories Declaration American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) * Requirement Baseline Data for Sustainable Rating Systems – STARs – OP Credit 11: Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reductions – LEED EB: Operations & Maintenance- EA

ACUPCC Commitment to move towards carbon neutrality by… – eliminating their contribution to global warming over time – accelerating their research and educational efforts to re-stabilize the earth’s climate

ACUPCC What does the commitment involve? – Create Institutional Structure – Emissions Inventory – Take Immediate Steps to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions – Establish a Climate Neutrality Action Plan – Make the Action Plan, Inventory and Progress Reports Publicly Available

American University Greenhouse Gas Inventory Student Driven Initiative AU’s President Signs ACUPPC Facility of Engineering Associates – FEA to help Facilitate Data Collection & Calculation Clean Air – Cool Planet Carbon Calculator

Greenhouse Gas Inventory Meeting the Challenges Different Departments Hold Information Incomplete Information Unavailable Information

Greenhouse Gas Inventory Transportation Transportation sources accounted for approximately 29 percent of total U.S. GHG emissions in Accounts for 47% increase of total US emissions since Falls under Scope 3 Emissions for GHG Calculations

Table 5: Fleet and Air TravelTable 5: Fleet and Air Travel Campus calculator:

Tables 6 & 7: Students, Faculty, and Staff Commuter Habits

Transportation Data Collection Challenges Table 5: University Fleet and Air Travel – Not all Travel is Purchased by AU – Not all Travel is Documented – Calculator Needs Miles Travel, Available Information is Mainly Financial Tables 6 & 7: Student, Faculty and Staff Commuter Habits – Two types of commuter data Commuters with parking permits Non permitted Commuters (Pay by day)

Data Collection Challenges Commuters with Parking Permits Multiple Permits for One Commuter (Multiple Cars) – Double Counting Sharing of Permits Privacy Issues Data With Transportation Services Data Collection is Difficult and Time Consuming – Multiple Departments – Multiple Data Sets – Sorting Through Different Types of Parking Permits (2,700 Permitted Commuters)

Data Collection Challenges Non-Permitted Commuters Little to No Trends Campus Wide Survey Necessary Some Commuters Could Not Provide Information (Did not know) Many Assumptions Necessary Reliability & Repeatability of Data

Collection of Commuter Data Small Class – 15 People Collected Data They Surveyed Students, Staff, & Faculty in Different Parking Lots Calculated Miles/Gallon Using Make/Model Calculated Miles Driven

Collection of Commuter Data Target Non-Permitted, Daily-Fee Commuters – Nebraska Lot (Completed) – Katzen Lot (On-Going) Survey Methodology – Data Collection Times – M,T,W – 8:00-9:30 AM – 11:00 AM-12:30 PM – 5:00-6:30 PM – After each survey period, all of the cars in the lot were counted, noting permit status.

Survey QuestionsSurvey Questions What is your status? – Student, Faculty, Staff, Other How many times a week do you commute? What distance do you commute each way? What is the approximate gas mileage of your car? – 40

Types of Commuters (%)Types of Commuters (%) Note: Data for “others” were removed from subsequent analyses

Commuting Frequency

Commuting DistancesCommuting Distances

Average Fuel EfficiencyAverage Fuel Efficiency

DateTime N surveyed Mean CO 2 (kg per week) # of Commuters Total CO 2 (kg per 32 weeks) 6-Octam ,755 6-Octnoon ,712 6-Octpm ,857 7-Octam ,839 7-Octnoon ,931 7-Octpm ,948 8-Octam ,427 8-Octnoon ,232 8-Octpm- Carbon Dioxide Emissions

Estimate of Total Annual Commuter Emissions Carbon footprint: – 1,033,023 kg = 1,033 metric tons (mt) of carbon Monetary Value – Carbon savings ($30 per mt) = $30,990

Emissions Comparison EmitterCO 2 eq ContributionTons per Year You (average human)2 pounds/day.36 Your Car1 ton per 100 gallons of gas5 – 7 Mother Pig and her Piglets9.2 tons per year (primarily Methane from effluent) 9.2 Electricity ConsumptionAverage U.S. Household of 28.1 Waste GenerationAverage U.S. Household of 21.0 Coal Fueled Power Plant (500 Megawatt Plant) 3.7 Million Tons of CO 2 alone (not including SOx, NOx, particulates, and heavy metals) 3.7 Million AbsorberCO 2 RemovalTons per Year Tropical Zone Trees50 pounds/year.025 or 40 trees/ton

Tips for Data Gathering Maintain a detailed journal of every telephone call, inquiry, and successful information acquisition throughout the collection process. Note data gaps to identify areas were record keeping may need improvement. Establish data reporting system moving forward. Set deadlines and follow-up with contacts when the deadline is here.

Comments or Questions Contact Lindsay Madeira, Manager of Sustainability Programs American University Mayra Portalatin, LEED AP, Project Manager Facility Engineering Associates, PC