Emissions Study

Sightlines Sustainability Report

Facilities has been working with a company called Sightlines to analyze the college’s emissions and provide possible solutions to areas the campus could improve upon in regard to their emissions. Sightlines collects data from Siena College, and then compares that data to data from comparable colleges. 2017’s report compared Siena to Babson College, Bentley University, Emerson College, Fitchburg State University, Hamilton College, Rider University, Skidmore College, Union College, University of Dayton and Wesleyan University.

Sightlines breaks the sources of campus emissions into three categories. The first is “scope 1” and this includes emissions from sources owned or controlled by Siena College, such as on-campus stationary, our vehicle fleet, refrigerants and fertilizer. Scope 2 includes emissions from the generation of electricity purchased by Siena. Last is scope 3 which includes emissions from sources that are not directly controlled by Siena. These emission sources include directly financed and study abroad travel, waste and wastewater, student, faculty and staff commuting and paper purchasing transmissions. After analysis, Sightlines found that scope 1 comprised 39% of total emissions, scope 2 made up 23% and scope 3 made up 38%. For total normalized gross emissions, Siena sits at around 8 MTCDE/1,000 GSF, with the average being 11.43 MTCDE/1,000 GSF. MTCDE stands for metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent and GSF stands for gross square feet. As a whole school we are the third lowest for total emissions and per student we are the second lowest for emissions.

A deeper look into scope 1 and scope 2 emissions also compares us to other schools in terms of the emission types from those scopes. Our total scope 1 and 2 emissions also sit below the average MTCDE/1,000 GSF number. The average is 7.92 and Siena sits at around 5.0. Overall, we are the second lowest college for scope 1 and 2 emissions.

Scope 3 emissions were assessed independently, and it is important to know that they are the hardest to track control and/or mitigate. In the commuting category, Siena is has the third lowest emissions for commuting however, we were barely below the average for travel. The travel emissions average is .68 MTCDE/1,000 GSF and we’re at .62 MTCDE/1,000 GSF. We are also barely below the average for water consumption too. Siena ranked below average for waste stream however, we do not have composting implemented onto campus yet, so we do send more things to landfills than other colleges do. Paper consumption is the only category we came in above average for. Overall, scope 3 gross emissions are below average.

Sightlines also provides suggestions for how we can further mitigate our emissions output. For scope 1, we could reduce on-campus stationary source emissions by engaging the campus community to establish a common ground for indoor temperatures. By keeping temperatures inside low but still comfortable, we can alleviate costs and emissions. For scope 2, we are already doing pretty well since the college is on the second cleanest energy grid in the country. Scope 3 is more difficult to reduce since it is hard to limit travel and commuting. However, other institutions have established green revolving funds to fund projects that offset emissions from user activities and Siena could think of doing that as well.