Calculating COA's Carbon Emissions Footprint

In October 2006, the College of the Atlantic Board of Trustees passed a resolution stating the following:

"At the request of the President, the Trustees of the College of the Atlantic resolve to avoid, reduce or offset all greenhouse gas emissions associated with the activities of the college. Activities covered by this policy include all on-campus energy use, transportation associated with academic programs, and transportation to and from campus by students, staff, faculty and other transportation made necessary by campus events. Emissions that cannot be avoided will be offset by investing in energy efficiency and renewable energy production in such a manner as to reduce actual emissions to the atmosphere in an amount that equals or exceeds emissions generated by College of the Atlantic activities. All offsets will be quantifiable and verifiable according to international standards and best practices.”

To accomplish this, the college identified its carbon emissions footprint by collecting data on activities that use fossil fuels, such as electricity consumption, heating of buildings, and transportation.

Campus Carbon Calculator
COA is a member of the nonprofit Clean Air•Cool Planet's Campuses for Climate Action Program. Clean Air•Cool Planet has made available to the college their Campus Carbon Calculator. Data on electricity and heating fuel use was collected for the period 1990 to 2007. The spreadsheet calculator then figures the associated emissions.

Additionally, data was collected to calculate carbon emissions from commuting by COA faculty, staff and students; bringing prospective students to campus; events held on campus such as conferences, workshops and celebrations, and academic program travel.

The college's first offset covers carbon emissions for the fifteen-month period from October 1, 2006 to December 31, 2007 to honor the Board of Trustees resolution that required all emissions that cannot be avoided or reduced to be offset from the date of their resolution forward.

The following is a more detailed description of the process used for determining the college's carbon emissions footprint for the fifteen-month period:
 
Direct Heating Fuel (oil and propane) 
The company providing the college's oil and propane fuel provided data on fuel delivery for the period from October 1, 2006 to October 31, 2007. For November and December of 2007, we substituted our fuel use data for November and December 2006. This data was entered into the Clean Air--Cool Planet spreadsheet calculator to get the total tons of carbon emissions for heating fuel use for the period.
 
Indirect Carbon Emissions from Electricity Use
We acquired electrical energy use data from our electricity provider covering October 1, 2006 to September 30, 2007, and used data from October 2006 as a proxy for October 2007. We did not project our carbon emissions for electricity use for November and December 2007 because we switched to 100 percent renewable electrical energy from an in-state, low-impact hydroelectric power plant as of November 1, 2007. The kilowatt hours of electricity use for the period October 1, 2006 to October 31, 2007 was entered into the Clean Air•Cool Planet spreadsheet calculator to get the total tons of carbon emissions from electricity use for the period.

Commuting
In the fall of 2006, the college surveyed faculty, staff and students to determine daily commuting mileage and calculate carbon emissions over the course of one year. This information was then expanded to cover the 15-month period.

Carbon emissions from events
An Events Carbon Calculator was devised to capture information on people driving and flying to events held on the campus from October 1, 2006 to December 31, 2007. These events included a presidential inauguration, dedications, receptions, symposiums, lectures, holiday parties, etc. Events for November and December 2007 were based on events that were scheduled but had not yet taken place and their likely attendance correlated with similar events held in November and December 2006. 
 
Admissions Office Programs
COA's Admissions Office brings prospective students to campus to acquaint them with the college, our academic programs and our community. Admissions created its own spreadsheet system to collect this data.
 
Estimated COA air and other program travel
We estimated that 125 tons of carbon emissions would be generated from program travel. We intend to improve on this estimate by collecting information on vehicle and air travel in the future, and by modifying our travel reimbursement form to require this information.
 
Total Carbon Emissions for October 1, 2006 to December 31, 2007 (15 months)*