The Path to Climate Positive

Historic Emissions

Vassar tracks its annual carbon footprint through the Sustainability Indicator Management & Analysis Platform (SIMAP). Contained within this carbon footprint are all greenhouse gas emissions resulting from heating and cooling campus buildings, total electricity purchased, fuel used by owned and leased vehicles, business and research travel funded by Vassar, Junior Year Abroad, and staff and faculty commuting.

In 2005, these sources of emissions totaled 30,561 metric tons (mTons) of greenhouse gas. Over half of all emissions came from the fuel oil used to heat the campus, with another third from purchased electricity. Travel, JYA, commuting, and fleet emissions combined for the remaining 14% of the total campus footprint.

Progress to Date­

Over the next decade, Vassar made significant progress in reducing emissions, especially from heating and purchased electricity. By 2018, Vassar’s carbon footprint had fallen to approximately 17,050 mTons – a 45% reduction from the 2005 baseline.

Migrating from fuel oil to natural gas, combined with some energy efficiency improvements, reduced total campus heating and cooling emissions by 6,690 mTons. The greening of the New York electrical grid and some renewable power purchasing agreements led to a similar reduction in purchased electricity emissions of 5,866 mTons. Vassar also saw minor decreases in campus travel and JYA emissions.

While these reductions were significant, much more work would be needed to reach carbon neutrality no later than 2030. To help outline a path forward, Vassar began to develop an Energy Master Plan and, ultimately, a near-term plan for immediate decarbonization.

The Near-Term Decarbonization Plan

Throughout 2019, Vassar partnered with the energy performance contracting firm Ecosystem to develop several scenarios for infrastructure upgrades toward net-zero carbon emissions. During this process, Ecosystem met with key campus stakeholders and committees, conducted site walkthroughs, reviewed existing reports such as the 2016 version of the Climate Action Plan, and conducted an analysis of existing energy data.

Ecosystem’s final report outlined several long-term scenarios for carbon neutrality at Vassar, with substantial costs and an implementation period of at least 10-15 years. They also provided a near-term plan that is immediately actionable, cost-effective, and a solid foundation for future carbon reduction efforts.

Under this near-term plan, Vassar will convert two central boilers from natural gas as a feedstock to biofuel, for a 4,000 ton per year reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Though still using steam as the primary district energy solution, this conversion, coupled with additional energy-saving measures, allows Vassar to reduce its carbon footprint by approximately 7,755 tons per year relative to its 2018 greenhouse gas emission totals. This project would carry a total estimated capital cost between $10 and $13 million.

As Vassar revisits its utility contracts in 2020, there is an opportunity to purchase exclusively renewable electricity for an immediate and cost-effective reduction in our carbon footprint. Ecosystem did not integrate pricing for this in the scope of its report; however, it will be a top priority as Vassar revisits its utility contracts in the immediate future. Fully decarbonizing the College’s electricity reduces its carbon footprint by an additional 2,555 tons per year compared to 2018 levels.

Combining the measures in the partial decarbonization plan enumerated at the end of this document would reduce Vassar’s total carbon footprint to a combined campus total of approximately 6,850 tons per year, a 77% reduction from the baseline year of 2005.