NYU Environmental Assessment

ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FY2007

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SUSTAINABILITY TASK FORCE

February 2009

Available at: http://www.nyu.edu/sustain0 ability/assessmentreport09

This report has been printed on recycled paper.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Prepared by: Andrew Breck, Researcher, NYU Sustainability Task Force Jeremy Friedman, Coordinator, NYU Sustainability Task Force

This assessment was made possible through the generous contribution of time, labor and technical expertise on the part of dozens of university staff.

The Sustainability Task Force gratefully acknowledges the following NYU administrative divisions and staff for offering data and input vital to the project:

Administrative Services Operational Risk Strategic Assessment, Management Planning and Design (including Purchasing, Asset Management) (incl. Op. Risk Analysis, Lori Mazor Stephen Heller Enviro. Health & Safety) Will Haas John Jagard Alan Yood Mark Gordon Larry Pender Melisa Puglisi Lindsay Robbins Rozan Zack Korenstein Student Affairs Scott Lewis Sunita DeSouza Yvonne Yanes Marc Wais Giselle Graham Human Resources Elizabeth Kuzina

Katherine Casey Kim Yousey Campus Services Tracie Masek Ron Devine (including Dining Services) Sustainability Task Force Bob Kivetz Public Safety

Owen Moore (including Campus Safety, (Data, Communications & Tech. Working Group) Operations Transportation Services) Jules Martin Ken Fauerbach (including Sustainability Fred Barlow Tom Igoe and Energy, Recycling, Max Whitney Landscaping) University Relations and Meenakshi Baker Alison Leary Public Affairs Jill Appel

Cecil Scheib Lynne Brown Dianne Anderson Regina Syquia Drew Sarah Boll Christopher James George Reis

Special thanks for advice and expertise: Warren Liebold (NYC DEP), David Rozan, Emily Allen

Special thanks for drafting and review: Lindsay Robbins Rozan, Ken Fauerbach, Regina Syquia Drew, Katherine Croft, Adam Brock, Cecil Scheib, Michael Sandmel, Katherine Fritz, Stephanie Phillips, Zoë Abram, Amy Dean

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW 1

FY2007 FAST FACTS 6

FY2007 SNAPSHOT

ENERGY 8

WATER 11

WASTE 17

TRANSPORTATION 27

PROCUREMENT AND FOOD 33

CROSS-SECTOR ANALYSIS 44 CLIMATE CHANGE BUILDINGS AND LAND ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT STUDENT ENGAGEMENT

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE ASSESSMENTS 64

CONCLUSION 65

APPENDIX

A. FY2007 DATA LOG AND INDEX OF SOURCES 66 B. METHODOLOGY AND ASSESSMENT PROCESS 68 C. OTHER SUSTAINABILITY METRICS 69 D. BUILDING LIST 70 E. CAMPUS MAP 75 F. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES 76 G. GLOSSARY 77

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INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW

This Environmental Assessment report is the first in what will become a regular, iterative series tracking New York University’s progress towards sustainability. The NYU Environmental Assessment is designed to serve as a resource for university staff, faculty, students, and members of the Sustainability Task Force in developing, implementing and evaluating new programs and initiatives.

Building upon the 2006 Gallatin student pilot research project Greening the Urban Campus: A Sustainability Assessment of New York University, the Sustainability Task Force led the development of a comprehensive and systematic approach to tracking and evaluating the university's environmental impacts.

What is an Environmental Assessment? And Why Is It Important? Environmental assessment refers to the process of collecting, assessing, and making sense of a broad array of data drawn from the span of the University’s operations – from energy use to waste disposal to the purchase of food and other goods – in order to dimensionalize NYU’s impact on the environment.

Without a baseline of our current environmental impact and a standardized set of metrics to track it over time, we have no context for decision-making and no tools for benchmarking our progress. With them, we can see where we are making headway and where we are falling behind. We can better prioritize our response to environmental challenges and we can forecast our trajectory toward achieving greater environmental performance and fostering a campus culture of sustainability.

How was this Assessment Conducted? To complete the assessment, Sustainability Initiative staff and volunteers contacted and worked with dozens of offices and administrators throughout the university to assemble, collate, and analyze data from eve.

This report offers a snapshot of the variety and scope of institutional data available for the baseline 2006-2007 fiscal year (FY2007), as well as a detailed categorical analysis of those data and their implications. Some of this data is useful on a macro scale, as a means of identifying campuswide trends (e.g. an overall increase or decrease in energy use over time), while other, more granular data enables analysis on a more focused micro scale, as a means of targeting specific effective interventions (e.g. the impact of a lighting retrofit project on the energy consumption of an individual building).

Environmental Data, Impacts, and Metrics All of the data included in this report has a direct bearing on the environmental performance of the university. Environmental impacts can take many forms, and the assessment strives to create connections between NYU’s operations on one hand and their ecological consequences on the other.

By creating these connections, statistics about campus operations are turned into indicators of NYU’s relationship with the environment. As part of a larger sustainability assessment framework, indicators can be aggregated, weighted and compared, creating an index of environmental performance.

Put more simply, Environmental Assessment enables us to consider data from the past and present, and compare it to similar information in the future in order to establish a trend or trajectory.

This trend can then itself be held up against a previously-defined target, in order to establish a metric that measures success in meeting that target. For example, by examining the same electricity consumption trend against a consensus standard or best practice for energy efficiency and conservation, it can be established whether NYU is progressing toward green campus goals.

How Is This Report Structured? The heart of this Environmental Assessment Report is the Snapshot: a series of sections organized into five major categories.

1) Energy 2) Water 3) Waste 4) Transportation 5) Procurement and Food

Each category outlines the workings of NYU's physical systems, evaluates their environmental impacts, and highlights noteworthy changes resulting from key sustainability projects implemented since the baseline year. It also discloses known limitations of currently-available data, and includes recommendations for improving future rounds of assessment.

A sixth category evaluates NYU's overall environmental performance, using several comparative assessment frameworks to relate the earlier snapshot sections:

6) Cross-Sector Analysis A) Climate Change B) Buildings and Land C) Ecological Footprint D) Student Engagement

For ease of use, each section follows a similar format:

• Overview: places the data in the context of associated environmental impacts; • Data and Analysis: offers a more detailed examination of the gathered information, with primary-level analysis about the data’s implications and the environmental impacts it suggests; • Progress: reports on recent university initiatives implemented to mitigate these impacts; • Data Limitations: points to where data or analysis is unavailable, incomplete, imprecise, or was not obtained successfully during the Assessment; • Recommendations: proposes policy changes or practices to improve the quality and availability of data for future Environmental Assessments.

Assessment Goals This report aims to:

• Baseline current impacts and benchmark progress toward greater campus environmental performance. • Clearly define environmental problems, in order to facilitate development of specific, targeted projects and interventions that address them. • Enable prioritization among these interventions, given the limited time, energy and resources that can be brought to bear. • Facilitate more efficient use of energy, water and other resources. • Save money, achieving administrative cost savings that can support other needs. • Enable evaluation of the effectiveness of current green initiatives, policies and programs, and revise them if a course-correction is needed. • Observe trends and changes over time.

Assessment Scope and Boundaries Operational and conceptual boundaries were drawn around NYU’s campus to make this project possible by demarcating datasets that are within and outside its scope. Designated boundaries limiting the scope of the Assessment took many forms:

Spatial - Nearly all data included in the Assessment applies exclusively to NYU’s Washington Square campus, also referred to as the core campus. Most segments of the Assessment do not include data from the NYU Langone School of Medicine, which operates semi-autonomously with its own students, staff, buildings, and administrative and financial systems. Datasets which do include the School of Medicine are noted. For similar reasons, no NYU global sites have been included within the scope of this project.

Temporal - Most data and analyses cover a twelve-month period corresponding to the 2006-2007 baseline year (September 1, 2006 to August 31, 2007). In some cases where full FY2007 data was unavailable, newer, older, or partial-year data were used in their place. These circumstances are specifically noted.

Operational – This Assessment includes direct, but not all indirect, impacts associated with NYU’s operational decision-making. As an example, data is included about food eaten by students in dining facilities, but not data about groceries prepared and eaten by students in their residence hall kitchens. Similarly, within the scope is an evaluation of administrative business flights, but not the impacts of flights taken by faculty visiting family for the holidays.

Financial – This Assessment includes direct, but not indirect, impacts associated with NYU’s financial decision-making. It does not include data about impacts associated with NYU’s investment portfolio or endowment.

Ecological Bottom Line - Many sustainability assessment frameworks (such as AASHE'S STARS pilot program) attempt to incorporate ecological, social, and 1 economic considerations together into a Triple Bottom Line0F0F (TPL) evaluation

1 See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_bottom_line

approach. This is in line with the TPL philosophy that underscores many definitions of sustainability, and it is a component of NYU’s definition as well. But due to the challenges that are inherent in making comparisons across these substantively different types of concern, the NYU Environmental Assessment has not sought to account for traditional social or economic factors or impacts, and efforts have focused primarily on the ecological dimensions of sustainability. Future Assessments may attempt to evaluate other dimensions as well.

Depth - The Assessment includes an enormous variety of data, and performs simple, primary analysis on most of it, summarizing its significance. In some cases, additional analysis was performed (e.g., bringing separate datasets together, evaluating the relative priority of associated environmental impacts, comparing NYU to peer schools, etc.). Nonetheless, the Assessment generally takes a broad approach, capturing a picture of NYU's impacts in time without performing deeper secondary or tertiary analysis.

Assessment Limitations and Challenges While the scope of the Environmental Assessment was in some cases deliberately bounded, it was also often true that key data were simply unavailable. The availability, collection, processing, and analysis of data were limited by several factors:

• NYU lacks a consistent set of policies or practices for departmental maintenance of data. In particular, responsibilities for managing administrative units' data systems are not often formally assigned to specific individuals or, in some cases, to any individuals within those units. As a result, gaps in stored data are common, and records are not always passed on.

• Some datasets were not recognized as sufficiently valuable to collect in the first place. For instance, building construction and demolition waste volumes have never been tracked at NYU.

• Other datasets are incomplete or have never been consolidated. For example, available water consumption data is known to represent only a portion of total usage at NYU.

• Substantial redundancy exists in campus data management systems, and many types of information are tracked by many different semi-autonomous and decentralized administrative units.

• Limited standards and resources for harvesting data exist. Information may require collection by hand, may exist only in printed instead of digital form, or may utilize obsolete file formats.

Aside from institutional obstacles, this Assessment was limited by the practical reality of finite resources, time, and expertise with which to effectively gather, refine, frame and fully contextualize all data.

Given these challenges, institutional leadership and support is needed to continue future rounds of the Environmental Assessment.

Current obstacles should continue to shrink, however, as institutional knowledge about the assessment process is passed on, and if NYU invests in better systems for collecting, storing, accessing, managing, and analyzing data.

Following each of the Snapshot sections of this report are recommendations for 2 improving the availability, processing and analysis of data in future Assessments.1F1F

Additional Context and Appendices The information included here is only the distillation of a much larger body of data 3 which is now readily available for use by the Sustainability Task Force and others.2F2F This report is not the first attempt to evaluate NYU’s environmental impacts, but it is 4 the first comprehensive, leadership-sponsored assessment to date.3F3F

A variety of institutions within and beyond the higher education sector have developed sustainability assessment frameworks (SAFs) with wide-ranging 5 approaches to evaluation.4F4F This Assessment will complement other efforts, such as NYU’s participation as a pilot campus in the STARS (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System) initiative from the Association for the Advancement 6 of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE).5F5F

2 See “Recommendations for Future Assessments” for a summary of overarching recommendations about the entire Assessment process, not just the individual Snapshot sections

3 See Appendix A, “FY2007 Data Log and Index of Sources,” for a listing of datasets collected and available as part of the Assessment

4 See Appendix B, “Methodology and Assessment Process,” for information on previous NYU assessment efforts and the development of this project

5 See Appendix C, “Other Sustainability Metrics,” for information on other assessment frameworks and evaluation systems

6 See http://www.aashe.org/stars for more information

FY20076F6F FAST FACTS

Energy

Electricity consumed7F7F , in kWh: 158,247,950

Electricity generated on campus, in kWh: 18,623,975

Fuel oil consumed, in gallons: 5,107,048

Natural gas consumed, in therms: 7,249,520

Total energy use, in MMBTUs: 2,116,074

Water

Average daily flow to a residence hall, in gallons: 11,917

Average daily flow to an academic building, in gallons: 4,424

Total annual water use, in gallons (est.): 323,000,000

Waste

Total waste generated, in tons: 5,245

Percent of total waste that is recycled: 31

Percent of landfilled waste that could be recycled: 28

Percent of landfilled waste that could be composted: 58

7 All statistics refer to the full 2007 fiscal year, except where otherwise noted

8 All “total” or “aggregated” figures and statistics in this report are based on reported datasets or measurements only, and may not accurately represent the full condition of NYU’s environmental impact

For example, it is possible that total energy use could vary substantially from these reported statistics, as a result of one of many potential gaps in coverage in available NYU data and measurement systems

Transportation

Shuttle bus fleet fuel efficiency, in average miles per gallon: 3

Total bicycle parking spaces on core campus: 298

Students per bicycle parking space: 145

Procurement and Food

Percent of office paper expenditures with recycled content: 44

Expenditures on catering, in dollars: 6,000,000

Expenditures on bottled water, in dollars: 216,277

Percent of Hayden Dining Hall baked goods sourced locally: 50

Percent of Hayden meat, poultry and produce that is organic: 14

Cross Sector

Greenhouse gas emissions, in metric tons CO2e: 174,582

Occupied building space, in square feet: 12,729,560

Campus Ecological Footprint8F8F , in square miles (est.): 76

Number of trees on or near the campus: 554

Volume of synthetic fertilizers used on campus grounds: 0

Percent of surveyed students who feel responsible for the future condition of the environment: 96

Percent of students concerned about global warming: 88

9 See “Cross-Sector Analysis” for more information about ecological footprinting as an evaluation tool

FY2007 SNAPSHOT

Energy

NYU’s energy system encompasses the infrastructure that generates and distributes electricity, fossil fuels, and steam to power and heat the university’s 167 residence halls, academic buildings and other facilities.

While other operational systems such as transportation and waste disposal also involve the use of energy, this section addresses the infrastructure and impacts of the electricity, hot water, and climate control systems in NYU buildings.

NYU’s energy is drawn from a combination of on- and off-campus sources. In recent years, NYU has pursued a variety of efficiency and renewable energy initiatives. Nevertheless, the university’s energy system remains fundamentally dependent on nonrenewable and polluting fuel sources.

Energy use accounts for 97% of the greenhouse gas emissions that have been 10 measured and baselined under the Mayoral and ACUPCC reduction agreements9F9F .

NYU’s Cogeneration Facility Data and Analysis NYU purchases electricity and steam from Con Ed Solutions. Hess, Castle, and Stuyvesant all supply NYU with natural gas and heating oils - fossil fuels which are used to heat campus buildings and to drive the campus Central Plant’s generation of heating, cooling and electricity.

In FY2007, 36% of NYU’s total energy consumption took the form of natural gas. Fuel oils #4 and #6 accounted for 24% of university energy consumption, while fuel oil #2 (diesel) provided 13% of the energy mix. Remaining sources of energy include purchased electricity (23%) and purchased steam (4%).

10 See “Cross-Sector Analysis” for NYU’s Greenhouse Gas Inventory and additional climate change data

Table 1.1 Total Electricity and Fuel Consumption, FY2007 Description Energy Unit Electricity generated by Central Plant 27,595,664 kWh Electricity purchased from Con Ed 139,723,112 kWh Oil #2, #4, and #6 to Buildings 1,069,281 Gallons Oil #2, #4, and #6 to Central Plant 4,037,767 Gallons Natural Gas to Buildings 1,793,949 Therms Natural Gas to Central Plant 5,455,571 Therms Steam to Buildings 79,505,000 Pounds

Overall, commodity fuels (oil and natural gas, delivered both to the Central Plant and to buildings) are a larger contributor to global warming and air pollution - as well as total energy costs - than purchased electricity. Converting all energy sources into BTUs, fuel oils account for three times as much energy use as purchased electricity.

Figure 1.A NYU Energy Sources, Percent by MMBTUs, FY2007

Natural Gas 36%

Purchased Electricity 23%

Type 6 Oil 23% Purchased Steam 4%

Type 2 Oil Type 4 Oil 13% 1%

For four decades, NYU has produced energy at the campus Central Plant, which is located underground near Tisch and Warren Weaver Halls. Central Plant energy met approximately 12% of NYU’s total electricity demand in FY2007. The facility utilizes cogeneration (or Combined Heat and Power, CHP) technology, which captures waste heat from electricity generation and reuses it to heat and cool buildings.

The facility includes a set of diesel generators that produce electricity (18,623,975 kWh), boilers to produce hot water and steam, and a refrigeration plant with electric chillers and heat exchangers that use these sources of energy to chill water for air conditioning. In FY2007, the plant supplied electricity to several large NYU buildings, steam and hot water to 35-40 buildings, and chilled water to 20-25 buildings.

Progress In FY2007, NYU became the largest university purchaser of wind energy in the United States (and largest overall purchaser in New York City), buying 118,000,000 kilowatt-hours of Renewable Energy Credits (RECs), and increasing this purchase to 132,000,000 kilowatt-hours of RECs the following year.

In FY2008, NYU launched a major efficiency and conservation campaign to substantially reduce energy use, achieving a 5% reduction in electricity consumption.

A new, expanded cogeneration power plant facility is under construction and will replace the current plant in 2011, supplying heating, cooling and electricity to at least 30 buildings on the Washington Square campus. The new plant will replace diesel- based electricity generation equipment with two cleaner, more efficient 5.5- megawatt natural gas turbines. The expansion of the Plant will be a significant environmental performance upgrade, cutting emissions of greenhouse gases by 38% and regulated pollutants by 83%, and reducing NYU’s overall greenhouse gas 11 emissions substantially.10F10F Local energy generation also reduces the need for long- distance energy transmission infrastructure, saves money, relieves the overburdened and blackout-prone NYC electricity grid, and offers NYU the flexibility to explore alternative fuels or technologies in the future.

Data Limitations Campus energy consumption data are nearly complete; however, some electric and meters capture energy use for several buildings at once. As a result, it is not always possible to conduct accurate building-specific energy analysis. In some cases, energy is tracked in bundles of buildings, as with Silver Towers I and II. This bundling makes it difficult to accurately capture and track building energy efficiency.

In all cases, energy data are only available for buildings for which NYU is responsible for the utility bill. Thus, there may be instances where energy use data for leased buildings is not available.

Recommendations Two recommendations follow from the limitations of the existing energy data. First, in order to facilitate the analysis of building energy efficiency, NYU should investigate the installation of additional submeters in larger buildings occupied by 12 several different schools or departments.11F11F Tracking floor-by-floor energy (and water) consumption will help building occupants understand their own energy usage and allow NYU to target energy efficiency improvements in buildings that are high consumers per unit of building space.

Second, the energy data collection process should continue to move toward greater streamlining and automation in future iterations of this assessment. In order to facilitate consolidation of data from multiple resource systems, it is critical that NYU adopt a standard building naming convention. The Task Force recommends that all university staff utilize the naming convention established in the Columbus database managed by the office of Planning and Design.

11 NYU Central Plant expansion project consultant SourceOne developed energy savings projections for the new facility

12 For additional details about the submetering recommendation, see FY2008 Sustainability Task Force Annual Report: http://www.nyu.edu/sustainability/annualreport08

Water

NYU’s water system serves campus buildings and grounds for both potable and other uses.

New York City’s water supply has a well-deserved reputation for quality and good management, but this does not reduce the importance of water conservation and efficiency. Like the rest of the city, NYU draws its water from the Croton, Catskills, and Delaware water systems, which encompass 1,972 square miles of land in upstate 13 New York and western Connecticut.12F12F Water conservation protection is critical in order to ensure that this limited renewable resource continues to meet future needs.

NYU’s relationship with water is multi-faceted, and even though this report focuses on the issue of domestic water use (and conservation/efficiency as a response), other important issues include water quality and avoidance of contamination; and water runoff in highly urbanized locations like New York, and its impacts on both human infrastructure and surrounding ecosystems.

NYU staff and students are leading a variety of initiatives to reduce water waste. These include projects to reduce consumption of bottled water discussed in the Procurement section of this report, a greywater recycling pilot project in a residence hall; and several metered water conservation initiatives in progress in several NYU buildings and facilities.

Water Bottle Refilling Station at Stern

Data and Analysis During FY2007, the average daily flow (ADF) of water within NYU administrative and academic buildings was 4,424 gallons. During that same period, the ADF of residential buildings amounted to 11,917 gallons per day. Using the available data, 14 total FY2007 NYU water consumption may be estimated at 323 million gallons.13F13F

13 NYC Department of Environmental Protection: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/watershed_protection/html/whereprotect.html

14 Average daily flows were calculated using data from the NYC DEP, culled to include only readings from “120-type” and “J-Normal” (domestic) water meters. Estimate-only readings were referenced for some buildings, including Washington Square Village, since they could not otherwise be included in the

However, since the available dataset is known to be incomplete due to metering limitations and estimated readings, NYU’s total water use is potentially much greater.

A subgroup analysis of Central Plant water meters reveals that FY2007 water consumption at the facility may be estimated at approximately 10.7 million gallons, or 15 31,000 gallons per day, and accounts for approximately 3% of total NYU use.14F14F

In 2008, NYU’s office of Operational Risk Analysis and Compliance (ORAC) performed a valuable analysis of NYU’s water consumption as part of a Drought Risk Analysis Report. In lieu of analyzing the same dataset separately here, the findings from this report are included in full:

“In order to evaluate NYU’s water use [ORAC] requested copies of our past water bills from [Facilities and Construction Management] Client Services. In addition, with the help of the Sustainability office at NYU, historical water data was requested from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). To date, ORAC has received historical water data for 45 buildings which corresponds to approximately two thirds of [NYU’s] water accounts.

In the data analysis, only domestic water use was analyzed... For domestic water use, ORAC made a distinction between Residential buildings and Administrative buildings… In [Residential] buildings the water is mainly for household use such as drinking, cooking, bathing, and cleaning (dishes, clothes etc.). Some of these buildings also have extensive [water] use for dining (i.e. dining halls, cafeterias), cleaning sidewalks and watering plants/gardens/lawns.

ORAC received historical water data from the DEP for the following 19 Residential buildings:

1. 1,2,3,4 Wash. Sq. Village 11. Mews House/Apartments 2. Alcott House/ D'Agostino Hall 12. Palladium 3. Brittany 13. Provincetown Theater/Apts 4. Carlyle Court 14. Rubin Residence Hall 5. Charles Street Apartments 15. Silver Towers Residence Hall 6. D’Agostino Hall 16. Sullivan Street Apartments 7. Eighth Street Apartments 17. Third Avenue North Res. Hall 8. Hayden Hall 18. Wash. Sq. North Apartments 9. La Maison Francaise 19. Weinstein Hall 10. Mercer Street Residence Hall

Our analysis shows that, as expected, the average daily water use from 2004- 2007 in Residential buildings is far greater than in Administrative buildings.

Please note that data from all NYU buildings was not available for this analysis therefore any comparison of total water use between residential and academic buildings cannot be made with accuracy. However, these buildings can be compared to each other on an individual basis.

analysis. The ADF for each water meter was calculated using pivot tables for each time period; these averages were then summed by building.

15 Estimate obtained by summing all known water account data from the two buildings that share water meters with the Central Plant. It is not currently possible to distinguish water usage for the Central Plant from that used directly within these buildings.

To find our per capita water use, ORAC did further analysis on 2 dormitories for which we had data from 2004 onward: Hayden Hall and Weinstein. These dorms were chosen for this analysis because even though individual rooms do not have kitchens, both these dorms have dining halls and laundry facilities.

The average water use per student in Hayden Hall from 2004–2007 was 58 gallons per day and for Weinstein it was 82 gallons per day, which averages to 70 gallons per day per student… Water use by NYU student falls within the range of the national average indoor residential water use per day per person which is 60 – 70 gallons.

In addition to general water use [for] bathrooms, cleaning (internal, external, sidewalks), watering plants/lawns/gardens and any indoor “aesthetic” water use for fountains, waterfalls, ponds, etc., [Administrative buildings] may have specific water uses for research, glassware washing, sterilization, animal care facility, health center, dental center clinics and cafeterias.

ORAC received data from the DEP for these 26 Administrative buildings:

1. 19 University Place 14. Dental Ctr - Schwartz/Weissman 2. 240 Greene Street 15. Education Building 3. 5 Washington Place 16. Fairchild Building 4. 7 Washington Pl., Public Safety 17. FAS‐5 Washington Sq. N. 5. Admissions‐22 Wash. Sq. N. 18. Furman Hall 6. Barney Building 19. Meyer Hall 7. Bobst Library 20. Pless Hall Annex 8. Bronfman Center 21. School of Social Work 9. Cantor Film Center 22. Silver Center 10. Carter Hall - 10 Washington Pl. 23. Skirball & King Juan Carlos Ctr. 11. Casa Italiana 24. Torch Club 12. Chan‐IFA 25. Vanderbilt Hall 13. Dental Center - Basic Science 26. Waverly Building

In general, the average water use in Administrative buildings is low15F15F . Our analysis shows that only 5 Administrative buildings used more than 10,000 gallons per day: 240 Greene Street, Bobst [Library], Schwartz/Weissman Dental Center, Silver Center and Vanderbilt Hall.

The Dental Center, as expected, has the most water use due to the water- heavy activities required in their clinics and research labs. Other buildings with research labs also had increased water use such as the Silver Center... Unfortunately, the data we have does not include the Brown Building, which has the largest concentration of Chemistry and Biology research labs, whose 17

activities often include greater use of water.” 16F16F

16 No specific external standard referenced for relative comparison of low usage. According to the report, no local average statistics are available from the DEP, and they “are unable to compare NYU’s administrative water use to any known benchmark.”

17 NYU ORM. Drought Risk Analysis Report. Desouza, Sunita. December 2008.

Figure 2.A Water Flow Rates for Selected Buildings, FY2007

Figure 2.B Water Flow Rates per Square Foot for Selected Buildings, FY2007

Progress Several water reduction projects are currently underway. Facilities staff recently installed showerhead and faucet aerators at the 7th St. residence hall. This project is expected to reduce consumption by 1 million gallons of water per year. Facilities staff plan to install high-efficiency fixtures in all residence halls.

Multiple Sustainability Task Force-funded Green Grant projects seek to address issues of water conservation, efficiency and quality. These include a FY2007 project to retrofit Chemistry Department labs with high-efficiency water aspirators; and FY2008 projects such as AQUS, a greywater recycling pilot project in Alumni and 3rd North residence halls; the Wagner Water Project to improve access to non-bottled drinking water sources at the Puck Building; and H2O4U, which will measure water use and test for quality on a variety of campus drinking fountains.

Data Limitations Current data on water consumption in buildings is incomplete and does not enable a reliable or precise estimation of total usage.

• Available water consumption data for FY2007 is limited to average daily flow (ADF) for approximately 45 of the 167 NYU buildings. o Analysis of water consumption will be more complete in the future, as Operations began retaining water consumption records in late 2007. o Water consumption records for FY2008 include a larger set of data for 91 NYU buildings.

• Some water meters represent multiple buildings, as at Washington Square Village Towers 1, 2, 3, and 4. In such cases, it is not possible to track or compare individual buildings’ water efficiency or use.

• These limitations prevent accurate calculation of water use per square foot of building space or per occupant.

• Central Plant water consumption was calculated by aggregating the water meter data for meters in Warren Weaver Hall and Tisch Hall. These water meters track water usage for the academic buildings in addition to the central plant. As a result, the estimate for water use at the Central Plant is very much an estimate.

• No data was collected or analysis performed on water quality or contaminants.

• No data was collected or analysis performed on stormwater management, extent of impermeable surfaces, or water runoff.

Recommendations Future assessments would strongly benefit from more robust campus water use data. Sustainability Office staff are coordinating with the NYC DEP to install wireless automated water meters beginning in mid-2009, in a process similar to the “smart” energy meter upgrades performed on most NYU buildings in FY2008. This initiative will allow NYU to develop a comprehensive database of water use. If full water usage data continues to be unavailable, NYU should complete a building-by-building analysis based on the available FY2008 data from 91 buildings, identify buildings with high water use, and more accurately project full campus consumption.

Current water meter data do not allow for any direct calculations of water consumption at the Central Plant. Additional metering, or the identification of the cluster of specific meters that measure Central Plant use, will allow for additional analysis that is critical for the development of metrics and conservation goals.

Collection of a broader range of water-related data besides consumption – such as water quality testing records, and total stormwater runoff from paved campus surfaces – would present a more complete portrait of NYU’s relationship with the environment in terms of its water system, and illustrate potential for innovative conservation and management approaches that could reduce environmental impacts and achieve administrative cost savings.

Waste

Waste from residential, academic and administrative buildings, dining halls, and construction projects constitute a significant university environmental impact. Substantial environmental costs are linked to the long-distance transportation of most NYC trash to landfills in Pennsylvania and Virginia, where waste may cause additional harms through accidental groundwater contamination or the emission of greenhouse gases such as methane. Alternately, NYC waste may be incinerated in New Jersey, resulting in substantial air quality impacts and community health risks.

NYU has one of the oldest institutional recycling programs in New York City, and has been continuously collecting and recycling mixed paper, metal, glass, and plastic since 1990. Recycling Services formed an early nucleus of sustainability-related leadership at NYU which helped launch many initiatives in other areas of the campus.

NYU has a contract with Action Carting, a private hauling firm that collects waste and recycling from all buildings located within the core campus (except for leased residence halls, which are instead serviced by the New York City Department of Sanitation). Academic and administration buildings not located near the core campus (such as those at the Dental School) utilize a separate private hauler.

Sorted bottles and cans at NYU’s Recycling Shop

Data and Analysis In the spring of 2008, NYU Recycling Services conducted a waste characterization study of university-owned buildings.

Solid Waste Collection and Disposal 18 Between May 2007 and April 200817F17F the NYU community contributed, on average, 302 tons of waste per month to landfills. During this period, total landfilled solid waste was 3,622 tons.

The trash compactors at Palladium Hall and Weinstein Hall are collected separately from other buildings’ pick-ups, and total weights are tracked monthly. Since May 2007, weight totals for the other 74 waste pick-up locations have been tracked as an aggregated monthly total.

Recycling Collection

Recycling programs captured and diverted 32% of the total campus waste stream. Between May 2007 and April 2008, NYU recycled 1,120 tons of paper, 135 tons of cans and bottles, and 368 tons of bulk items, consisting mostly of furniture.

19 Figure 3.A Monthly Waste and Recycling Collection18F18F , by Weight, 5/2007 – 4/2008

18 This is the earliest twelve-month period of comprehensive waste collection data available

19 Does not include construction and demolition waste or waste from special order bulk containers

20, 21 Figure 3.B Waste Disposal Methods (by weight), FY2008 19F19F 20F20F

Landfill 67%

Bulk Waste Mixed Paper 7% Recycling 21%

EHS Disposed 2%

Bottle and Can EHS Recycled Recycling 1% 2%

Overall, only a third of NYU’s waste stream is currently diverted from landfills. But much of the landfilled waste stream includes materials that could be composted or recycled through expansion or enhancement of NYU’s existing programs.

22 Table 3.1 Solid Waste Material Types and Destinations21F21F Destination Material Type Compostable Organic Waste Recyclable Glass Metal Paper (Mixed) 23

Plastics22F22F Technoscrap EPA Universal Waste 24

Plastic Film23F23F Textiles Miscellaneous Trash

15 “Bulk” waste includes large discarded items including, but not limited to, major appliances, furniture, and other oversize materials that are generally dismantled into recyclable components

21 “EHS Recycled” and “EHS Disposed” wastes are hazardous or otherwise regulated materials, managed by NYU Environmental Health and Safety

22 Based on data categories from Recycling Services’ Waste Characterization Study, spring 2008.

23 Some plastics are not commercially viable as recyclables, while others are only viable some of the time. As a result, Recycling Services accepts all plastics and NYU’s hauler sorts them post-collection.

24 Since this study was conducted, plastic bag recycling has been implemented on campus. Most other types of plastic film are not yet recyclable at NYU.

25 Figure 3.C Waste Stream Composition by Building Type, FY200824F24F Organics Residence Hall Paper

Residence Hall/ Dining Facility Metal

Glass Academic Plastic #3-7

General Use Plastic Film

Unknown Academic/Admin Plastic Technoscrap 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Textiles

The characterization study confirmed that in spite of NYU’s extensive recycling program, a significant portion of the university’s landfilled waste stream still contains recyclables. Approximately 28% of NYU’s landfilled waste could be recycled. Recycling Services indicates that these materials are recoverable through expansion of existing programs, including bin deployment and outreach/education.

Increasing the recycling diversion rate from the current landfilled waste stream could reduce NYU’s landfill contribution by an additional 1,000 tons.

Characteristics of the landfilled waste stream The following results from the waste characterization study depict the composition of material that is disposed of and landfilled from the Washington Square campus. This information does not include the metal, glass, plastics, textiles, mixed paper, and Technoscrap (electronic waste) materials that are successfully diverted from the waste stream under NYU’s existing recycling programs.

25 Bulk and containerized wastes are hauled separately and are not included in these material categories

Figure 3.D Composition of Landfilled Waste Stream (% by weight), FY2008

Paper (mixed) 13%

Compostables 58%

Metal, Glass, Plastic #1&2 14%

Plastic #3-7 1% Plastic film 5% Unknown Plastic Universal Waste 6% 0% Trash Technoscrap 1% Textiles 1% 1%

Compostable material (e.g., food scraps, paper towels, tissues, paper cups, yard waste, packaging, etc.) comprises 58% of NYU’s currently-landfilled waste stream. The dining hall compost collection and hauling program that began in September 2008 now captures a large portion of this element of the waste stream. Compostable material represents a larger portion of a building’s landfilled waste for buildings with dining facilities than for buildings without them.

Waste transport Using data about the average number of trips per week that NYU’s waste hauler travels from the core campus to their standard waste transfer station in Brooklyn, it is possible to estimate the number of miles NYU’s waste traveled during FY2007. During this period, and excluding trips for bulk waste, NYU sent an estimated 448 garbage trucks to the Brooklyn transfer station, for a cumulative distance traveled of 2,500 miles. NYU’s mixed paper, metal, glass and plastic recycling was hauled to recycling transfer stations in New Jersey in 260 trips for an estimated cumulative 26 distance of 1,400 miles.25F25F

26 Significantly, these estimates only account for the miles traveled by NYU’s waste while it is still under operational control by the university. From transfer stations, New York City’s waste travels hundreds of miles further to reach landfills in other states, transported by the NYC Dept. of Sanitation. These larger impacts are accounted for in the City’s greenhouse gas inventory, and are not “owned” by NYU.

Hazardous waste Hazardous waste are ignitable, reactive, corrosive, toxic, or otherwise dangerous substances, including both materials that are and are not regulated by local, state and federal agencies. Hazardous wastes are separated from the regular waste stream and disposed of in accordance with government regulations. EPA-regulated wastes are generated by a variety of NYU areas including laboratories, facilities operations, and art studios.

The production, transportation, and disposal of these materials is costly, and can pose a significant risk to human and environmental health. The Sustainability Task Force supports policies that will minimize hazardous waste, and when it is unavoidable, ensure its proper management and disposal.

The Department of Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) within the Office of Operational Risk Management (ORM) provided data on annual tonnages and costs associated with wastes that require special disposal.

EHS tracked waste in the following categories:

• Incinerated - wastes burned in an EPA-certified incineration facility 27 • Recycled - material recycled for parts, precious metals, fuel, or blending26F26F • Treated – wastes processed, neutralized (as with alkaline or corrosive materials) or stabilized • Land Disposal - material landfilled into an EPA-certified Title C (“other than household waste”) landfill 28 • Acute P-Listed27F - material classified by the EPA as “acutely hazardous” • CRTs – computer monitors and electronics that are recycled for parts and precious metals, but handled as hazardous waste due to their heavy metal content (primarily lead and mercury) 29 • Universal Waste27F28F - fluorescent bulbs, mercury switches, thermostats and thermometers (recycled for mercury) • Non-hazardous - materials that do not carry a code, but are managed rather than disposed of in a conventional manner – these materials may be landfilled or incinerated

27 This does not overlap with the standard municipal recycling data tracked by Recycling Services

28 No “Acute P-listed” and close to no “Land Disposal” wastes were reported generated in FY2007

29 Federally designated “universal waste” includes batteries, pesticides, bulbs (lamps), etc. Recycling Services anticipates that recycled computers will be counted in this category in the future

Figure 3.E EHS Hazardous Waste Materials (by weight, in tons), FY2007

Reused and Donated Goods NYU’s Asset Management office manages the disposal and redistribution of surplus equipment. In FY2007, Asset Management coordinated the reuse of over 1,900 university hardware and office furniture items.

Reuse is an environmentally preferable approach to landfill disposal of waste because it avoids the need for pollution-generating transport and disposal of solid waste through landfills or incineration.

NYU also donated a variety of electronic hardware and office furniture that would otherwise be discarded to 24 local charitable organizations. During FY2007, Asset Management donated 623 surplus items, including 132 computers and 47 monitors, to local community organizations.

The number of recycled and donated items handled by Asset Management varies significantly from year to year, and has ranged from 1,420 items in FY2003 to as high as 3,193 in FY2004.

Currently, thousands of potentially reusable furniture and office equipment items are discarded annually, in spite of the strong efforts of the Asset Management Department to recover and transfer these items to another NYU office in need. Discarding these goods may result in hundreds of thousands of dollars of avoidable procurement annually. A primary factor driving this waste is a lack of available storage space for Asset Management to retain items prior to redistribution.

Progress NYU Recycling Services underwent significant changes during FY2008, and these are expected to result in significantly higher waste diversion rates: • Additional staff were hired to manage waste and recycling programs

• Staff performed NYU’s first Waste Characterization Study to estimate campus waste streams and develop plans to increase recycling

• This study was utilized in updating the Solid Waste Collection Services Agreement in spring 2008

• A new contract was awarded to a carting company that can handle recyclables and trash in new and innovative ways, including composting hundreds of tons of dining hall and landscaping wastes.

• The recycling program’s coverage on campus also expanded, with an increase in recycling containers throughout buildings.

• Plastic bag recycling stations were established at three campus 30 locations six months earlier than required under NYC ordinance.28F29F

Other university departments are helping to improve NYU’s waste infrastructure: • Facilities and Construction Management (FCM) secured a new hauling contract that includes innovative collection processes that are increasing NYU’s recycling diversion rate, including organic waste composting and post-trash-collection sorting of some recyclables.

• Dining Services is training employees in recycling and composting practices at food preparation stations in dining halls.

• The Sustainability Task Force awarded three Green Grants to projects that will decrease NYU’s waste stream: o The Green Apple Move Out, which collects used items from students moving out of residence halls at the end of the spring term and donates them to local nonprofits; o The Housing Composting Initiative, a pilot initiative for organic waste collection from residence halls; o The Technoscrap Recycling Program expansion, facilitating collection of CDs, cell phones, batteries, and other “e-wastes”

Asset Management used a temporary large space for redistribution and storage of used office goods through FY2008, but this space is no longer available, and the department has transitioned to a virtual web-based exchange system as of FY2009. The new system allows university staff to view digital photos of available surplus items and then submit an on-line surplus request. The new system requires a more rapid hand-off of goods between disposing and receiving departments, and requires 31 a fee for delivery of goods by Asset Management.29F30F

30 Introductory Number 640-A, passed by the New York City Council and signed by Mayor Bloomberg in January 2008.

31 See http://blogs.nyu.edu/asset/surplus

Composting 32 Approximately three-fifths of NYU’s landfilled waste is compostable.30F31F Collecting and composting organic materials represents a significant opportunity to increase diversion rates, keeping waste out of landfills and reducing both ecological and budget impacts.

In September 2008, NYU launched an organic waste collection and composting program for all campus dining halls.

Student Green Grant recipients are also implementing two residence hall pilot composting projects.

Law students at D’Agostino Hall can now deposit food waste in bins centrally located on each floor of the building.

Undergraduates living in the 7th Street “Green House” aim to use in-room worm (vermicomposting) bins, and to contribute compost to a central in-vessel composting “digester” unit in the building’s lounge.

Recycling Services is coordinating with Green Grant recipients to conduct on-going analysis of these projects.

Data Limitations Historical data was not consistently collected or recorded for waste and recycling disposal at NYU prior to May 2007. Partial records of waste and recycling tonnages and rates exist from 1990-2005, but these data sets are incomplete, frequently estimated, and lack accompanying documentation. Changes in waste volumes over time cannot readily be evaluated using this data.

Recycling Services’ FY2008 Waste Characterization Study offers the first comprehensive insight into the composition and makeup of the NYU waste stream. This study included only a small sample of the full waste stream; due to logistical constraints a full-scale waste audit was not performed. The study provides a snapshot of five days of waste volumes and composition from a variety of campus buildings, extrapolated to reflect the entire campus. The study offers useful data within these potential margins of error.

Greater detail and clarity about the types, character, and toxicity of various hazardous wastes tracked by EHS would improve efforts to reduce environmental impacts in this area.

32 Compostable material includes food waste and food soiled paper and napkins, paper towels. It does not include recyclable paper fibers

No data exists on the value or total weight of potentially-reusable bulk items discarded for recycling or as part of the municipal waste stream. Data only includes items that are redistributed and recycled by Asset Management, not items that are marked as “authorized for disposal” and thrown away, nor those that are not successfully redistributed and are subsequently discarded.

Recommendations The Sustainability Task Force recommends that Recycling Services conduct regular waste characterization studies in order to track diversion rates of recyclables and compostables in the landfilled waste stream.

Asset Management data on the number and type of university surplus items that are donated and redistributed is currently only available in HTML format from the department website. In order to improve data analysis and collection for future iterations of the Environmental Assessment it is the recommendation of the Sustainability Task Force that the Asset Management department digitize data into a standardized spreadsheet.

NYU does not currently track data from the construction and demolition (C&D) waste stream. A significant portion of the waste generated by the university derives from construction and renovation projects. However, centralized data on this waste stream does not exist, in part because it is handled, as part of each construction project, separately from the rest of NYU’s waste.

In order to be able to evaluate how to reduce, reuse or recycle this waste stream, information will be needed about the weight and composition of future projects’ C&D waste. Contractors handling the disposal of C&D waste should be contractually required to provide this information. It is recommended that a review of current C&D waste management practices be carried out, and a policy developed to ensure that the volume and composition of C&D waste is tracked in the future.

Transportation

NYU’s central location in New York City offers access to one of the most comprehensive public transportation systems in the world. The small university- owned vehicle fleet and contracted shuttle bus fleet supplement this extensive public infrastructure.

New York City’s density and the proximity of most student and faculty housing to the Washington Square campus core both ensure that a large portion of the NYU community lives within walking distance of their work and studies.

The NYU transportation and student bus fleet consists primarily of vehicles powered by fossil fuels such as diesel and gasoline. Fossil fuel-burning vehicles emit greenhouse gases and other pollutants including carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide, and sulfate aerosols. Departments such as Facilities and Public Safety also operate nine small, electric, zero-emission GEM Car vehicles.

Fossil fuel use by NYU vehicles in FY2007 resulted in overall emissions of at least 187 metric tons of carbon equivalents (MTCE) – a relatively small but significant portion 33 of NYU’s total contribution to global climate change.31F32F

Data and Analysis Campus Vehicle Fleet In FY2007 the NYU campus fleet included a total of 83 vehicles. Of these, the 52 university-owned vehicles had a range of uses, including transportation to off- campus athletic and academic events, ensuring public safety, and conducting university maintenance.

Another 31 vehicles were contracted through private firm CoachUSA, including eight Saferide vans and 23 campus trolleys and shuttle buses used for transporting students between residence halls and the core campus.

Of these 83 total vehicles, the 31 CoachUSA vehicles consumed diesel fuel, while 43 university-owned vehicles consumed gasoline and nine were golf-cart-sized electric “GEM cars.”

These vehicles ranged in fuel efficiency from about 1.5 miles per gallon (mpg) for campus shuttle buses to 21 mpg for a Public Safety Department sedan.

These vehicles’ total annual miles traveled also varied substantially, from less than 1,000 miles per year for a Housing Facilities truck, to nearly 19,000 miles per year for each campus shuttle bus.

33 Approximately 1% of NYU’s greenhouse gas emissions inventory – see “Cross-Sector Analysis” for more information on climate change

Saferide Saferide is a shared-ride van service which is available for transportation to and from NYU facilities. During the 2007 calendar year the NYU Saferide program used eight CoachUSA-owned vans, two of which were decommissioned in May 2007. Saferide vehicles logged 143,478 miles using 10,182 gallons of diesel fuel. The average fuel efficiency for the Saferide fleet was 14 miles per gallon.

Shuttle Buses The NYU shuttle bus fleet is comprised of 23 vehicles, with an average fuel efficiency of 3 mpg. The shuttles are operated under contract by CoachUSA; the current contract expires in August 2011.

Shuttles operate along 5 routes in lower Manhattan, and are used primarily for transporting students between the core campus, the NYU Medical Center, and several off-campus residence halls.

In FY2007, the routes were:

• Route A – Core campus to Water St. Residence Hall • Route B – Core campus to Lafayette and Broome Street Residence Halls • Route C – Core campus to Stuyvesant Town apartments • Route D – Core campus to 13th Street and Greenwich Residence Halls • Route E – Core campus to Gramercy Green Residence Hall and NYU Medical Center

Though data on ridership for each route is unavailable, Transportation Services reports that Routes A and E have the highest passenger counts, followed by routes B, C and then D, with a very wide spread between most- and least-ridden routes.

Ridership also varies substantially by season, time of day, school session, and most significantly, weather, rendering the provision of effective and efficient service a challenge.

Since 2005, all of the shuttles have been fueled by ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) fuel, a requirement under EPA regulations effective September 2006. Although ULSD can offer substantial reductions in emissions of particulate matter and hydrocarbons when used with additional particle filtration systems, to date none of these systems have been installed in Coach USA buses.

In the 2007 calendar year, campus shuttles used a total of 87,787 gallons of diesel fuel and traveled over 269,000 miles. This resulted in emissions of roughly 1,029 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents (MTCE), approximately 0.6% of NYU’s total greenhouse emissions for the year.

34 Student Commuting32F33F The campus shuttle fleet provides service to only a fraction of the campus community. According to a survey administered by the NYU Student Affairs Office of Program Evaluation, 72% of students never utilize the shuttle bus system. Most of NYU’s 40,000+ students (as well as faculty and staff) use alternate means to get to and from campus.

• Respondents to the Sustainability Student Survey cite walking as the most common means of transit around the city. 99% of respondents reported walking to campus at least once per week, and 69% of respondents reported walking to their destination 10+ times per week.

• New York City public transit, and especially the subway system, was the second-most-cited means of student transportation to campus. Approximately 7% of respondents described never using the subway, while 65% of respondents used the subway at least 4 times per week for travel to their destination.

• The use of private automobiles, carpools, and car-sharing services was rare among student survey respondents - 90%, 89%, 98% of students reported never using these types of transit, respectively.

• Only a small portion of the NYU students surveyed mentioned using a bicycle as transport to and from campus – 93% of students reported never using a bicycle.

• A majority of surveyed students (52%) responded that they would prefer a scenario in which the university bus fleet was scaled back or eliminated and students instead received a subsidized MTA MetroCard.

Commuter Mass Transit Benefit Program NYU provides full-time employees the option of participating in a commuter benefit program which enables the use of pre-tax income to pay for mass transit or parking expenses. On average, employees save $429 on taxes to help offset the cost of using public transportation to commute to and from work at NYU.

In 2007, about 27% (2,072) of eligible staff participated in the mass transit election, increasing to about 33% (2,576) in 2008. This 7% increase is believed to have resulted from increased communications about the availability and benefits of the program.

34 Data on faculty and staff commuting not yet available. In February 2009, NYU performed a university- wide transportation survey, and the results will be available soon after publication of this report

Alternative Transportation

Bicycling The student-led FY2007 Green Grant project “Bike to School” carried out an extensive study of bicycle transportation infrastructure and options at NYU. The final 35 report, Bicycling at New York University33F34F , provides the substance of this section’s analysis.

According to the report, NYU offers a total of 298 bicycle parking spots - only 1 spot for every 145 students. More than three quarters of these spots are in just two locations – behind Tisch Hall near West 3rd St., and at the Coles Sports Center on Mercer St.

Eight NYU buildings are outfitted with secure indoor bike parking facilities, accounting for 117 of these parking spots, nearly all of them at the Palladium residence hall.

The extremely limited amount of space and finite breadth of overall coverage may be significant factors preventing NYU students and others from using bicycles as an environmentally-preferable means of transportation to, from and around campus.

The report identifies an additional 28 NYU building locations that could qualify for new outdoor bicycle racks as part of the NYC CityRacks Program.

NYU’s core campus is near to twelve streets with bike lanes. However, few bike lanes actually intersect with NYU - the 5th Avenue lane is the only one within the core campus area. Less than 1/3 of the streets on or adjacent to the campus have lanes.

The report also includes results from a survey of 167 members of the NYU community, most of them cyclists. Nearly 40% of NYU cyclists reported being victims of theft on the Washington Square Campus. About half of that group reported multiple separate incidents of theft.

More than 30% of NYU cyclists have been involved in accidents on or en route to or from campus; 65% of these were collisions with cars caused by “driver inattention.”

35 Bicycling at New York University. Emily Allen. September 2008. See http://www.nyu.edu/sustainability/pdf/bicyclingreport.pdf

Progress Wage Works is the new NYU service provider for the mass transit benefit, replacing CERA beginning on January 1, 2009. WageWorks offers employees the opportunity to receive their transit passes directly by mail and pay for them using both pre-tax and payroll contributions. A special enrollment period for participation in the WageWorks plan was held in November 2008. 2,097 employees enrolled, or about 27% of eligible employees. WageWorks anticipates an increase of participation to between 40% and 50% of eligible employees. The Human Resources Department’s Benefits Office will continue to promote this benefit to increase enrollment.

In FY2008, Public Safety purchased the university’s first hybrid vehicle, and also replaced a van with an equivalent diesel vehicle for potential future exploration of biodiesel retrofits.

Green Grants have supported two student-led transportation projects. The previously-cited FY2007 Bike to School project carried out a bicycle recycling and safety training initiative, in addition to the analysis of biking infrastructure at NYU. The FY2008 Bike Share pilot project will allow members of the NYU community to use their IDs to check out free bikes that they reserve online. Bikes will be available at two locations – the 7th Street Residence Hall and in the secure bike parking area behind Tisch Hall on West 4th Street. The program is expected to launch during the spring semester 2009.

Data Limitations Based on shuttle bus fleet total mileage and fuel consumption data, it is possible to calculate the fleet’s fuel efficiency in miles per gallon. However, fuel efficiency and miles traveled are only part of the picture. Because the student bus fleet is comprised of vehicles that are capable of moving many more passengers than passenger cars such as taxis or personal vehicles, it is important to calculate mileage in terms of capacity and ridership, and capacity/ridership data has not been provided.

Only a partial sample of gasoline consumption for NYU-owned vehicles was collected. This data was derived from a November 2007 gasoline purchase billing report generated by Exxon Mobil, the gas station used for refueling all NYU-owned vehicles. Calculations of annual gasoline use and corresponding greenhouse gas emissions assume that the month’s consumption is representative of average consumption throughout the year. This assumption should be evaluated, or more complete data should be collected in the future.

Recommendations The estimated annual volume of gasoline consumption used by the university fleet included in this analysis is based on the assumption that the usage from November 2007 is reliable indicator of average monthly fuel usage. NYU should begin centrally tracking university fleet gasoline consumption on a monthly basis. These data should be collected in an automated and centralized database and shared with the Sustainability Task Force.

It is recommended that for future analysis Transportation Services track and share data on a fiscal/academic calendar basis, to correspond with datasets from other university departments referenced in this report.

Transportation Services previously contracted with CoachUSA to install card-swipe systems on the leased shuttle buses in order to track bus fleet ridership. After many months, this system continues to function poorly, generating verifiably inaccurate data about passengers onboard buses, and data derived from the system is not considered valid. It is recommended that an effective automated ridership data collection system be implemented, and that this data be shared for future assessments.

It is likely that these and other changes to NYU's data-gathering practices can be addressed via the shuttle bus service contract renegotiation/renewal process in 2011.

Procurement and Food

NYU’s procurement system encompasses the range of goods and services purchased by administrative and academic units throughout the university in order to carry out their everyday operational or intellectual missions.

At each stage of a purchased item’s lifecycle – production, transportation, use and 36 disposal - significant environmental impacts are generated.34F35F These issues range from depletion of natural resources, to emission of pollution and greenhouse gases, to human health risks resulting from exposure to hazardous materials.

Most of these purchases are tracked by NYU Purchasing Services or Accounts Payable. When goods are procured primarily through a single vendor that has a relationship with the university, additional data is available through a report from that vendor. These reports have more detail about the type, expenditure, and environmental impacts of the products in question.

In FY2007, Purchasing Services recorded more than $500 million in expenditures – 25% of NYU’s annual operating budget. The magnitude of this area of activity suggests substantial environmental impacts and the need for proactive policies and programs to reduce waste and to procure goods that are produced, transported, used and/or disposed of in an environmentally effective manner.

The Sustainability Task Force is in the process of releasing a draft Environmental Purchasing Policy to realign NYU purchasers’ decisions with sustainability goals and influence more than $100 million of procurement annually.

Data and Analysis Purchasing assigns all expenditures commodity and subcommodity category codes. These categories range widely in type and scope, from $13 million spent on furniture in FY2007, to $197,000 for administrative coffee service, to $8,400 for locks.

This system encompasses data about NYU’s expenditures well beyond procurement of specific physical goods. Electricity purchases, payments for water bills, real estate management, professional service fees, and other expenses represent the bulk of the $500 million total figure (nearly ¼ of NYU’s annual operating budget). Many of the impacts associated with these areas are evaluated elsewhere in this assessment.

The chart below shows the Purchasing Services tracked commodity categories with the largest FY2007 annual expenditure. Of the ten largest categories, only “Computer Software” and “Furniture” represent tangible physical goods which NYU might attempt to influence via an Environmental Purchasing Policy.

36 It is the first half of the lifecycle of NYU’s purchasing system that is being evaluated here. Some impacts resulting from the use of purchased goods are captured through the energy and water consumption sections of this assessment, while disposal of goods is addressed in the section on waste.

Table 5.1 Top Ten Commodity Categories (by expenditure), FY2007

% Total Commodity Expenditure Expenditure Office of Construction Management (Contractors) $87,053,725 17.2% Real Estate $83,174,495 16.5% Janitorial Services $32,649,756 6.5% Professional Services $31,140,920 6.2% Scientific $28,162,499 5.6% Medical $16,039,811 3.2% 37

Consort/Subcontracts35F36F $15,234,890 3.0% Furniture $13,184,713 2.6% Computer Software $11,997,186 2.4% Office of Construction Management $11,866,545 2.3% Subtotal $330,504,541 65.4%

Many of the most obvious or easiest-to-influence items and traditional priorities for environmental procurement – paper, electronics, food, etc. – do not appear in Table 5.1, because these represent a relatively small portion of NYU’s total expenditures.

NYU’s draft Environmental Purchasing Policy instead identifies a subset of the full list of commodity categories that includes only those goods or services that have well- understood direct environmental impacts and for which environmentally preferable alternatives are available. These areas represented about $100 million dollars of expenditures in FY2007.

37 The “Consort/Subcontracts” commodity field represents grant-related research and study agreements with other universities awarded by the NYU Office of Sponsored Research

The following table includes the commodity categories in the draft Environmental Purchasing Policy that generated the highest annual expenditures in FY2007.

Table 5.2 Largest Commodity Categories Included in the Draft NYU Environmental Purchasing Policy (by expenditure), FY2007

% Total Commodity Expenditure Expenditure Janitorial [Services] $32,649,756 6.46% Furniture $9,558,198 1.89% Printing [Services] $9,408,112 1.86% Catering [Services] $8,588,251 1.70% Advertisement $7,649,333 1.51% Bus Charter $6,085,595 1.20% Scholar Travel $3,578,014 0.71% Copiers $2,869,080 0.57% Moving Services $2,563,468 0.51% Subtotal $82,949,807 16.41%

The chart below illustrates a selection of additional key commodity categories which may be influenced through the Environmental Purchasing Policy.

Figure 5.A, Expenditures on selected Commodity Categories, FY2007

Office supplies

Bottled Water

Flooring

Signage

HVAC

Paint/Painting

Carpeting

Multimedia equipment

Copiers

Computer Hardware

Catering

Printing

Furniture

$0 $2 $4 $6 $8 $1 $12 $1 0 4 FY07 Expenditures (Millions)

This Assessment has drawn upon Purchasing data and individual vendors’ reports in order to assess several specific product groups in greater detail. These include NYU’s purchases of office paper, other paper office supplies, printer cartridges and toner, 38 commercial printing services, bottled water, and catered food services.36F37F

Paper Purchasing recommends that administrative and academic departments procure office paper from Staples through the i-Buy online marketplace. Purchasers choose among virgin, 30% post-consumer recycled content, and 100% post-consumer recycled content office paper. The market price of paper is volatile, but generally there has been approximately a 7% price differential between virgin and 30% recycled paper, and a 40% price differential between virgin and 100% recycled paper.

Purchasing Services tracks expenditures for paper purchased from Staples. However, these data do not include the volume or number of reams purchased, nor do they include paper purchased through other vendors. In FY2007, NYU spent a total of $1,128,154 on copy paper from Staples, of which 44% ($499,159) was spent on recycled content paper. Based on per-ream prices for virgin and 30% recycled paper from I-Buy and Purchasing, NYU purchased an estimated 178,692 reams of virgin 39 paper and between 105,753 and 141,806 reams of recycled paper in FY2007.37F38F

Figure 5.B Recycled Copy Paper Procurement, FY2004-2008

$1,000,000 Virgin $900,000 Recycled*

$800,000

$700,000

$600,000

$500,000 $400,000

Paper Purchased $300,000

$200,000

$100,000

$0 FY2004 FY2005 FY2006 FY2007 FY2008 (est.)

* most recycled paper purchased by NYU is 30% post-consumer recycled content

The data indicate that recycled paper purchases have actually declined annually four years in a row, in spite of a 2003 University Senate resolution and 2006 memo from Executive Vice President Michael Alfano supporting the use of recycled paper. No immediate reason for the shift away from recycled is forthcoming. The silver lining is that the data show an overall decrease in total paper use.

38 For additional analysis about vehicles purchased by NYU, see the Transportation section

39 Estimate assumes the current price for a single ream of paper from Stapleslink: $3.25 for virgin paper, $3.54 for 30% recycled content, and $4.72 for 100% recycled content paper

Paper Office Supplies Via the Stapleslink website, NYU purchasers have access to a range of office supply products containing recycled content. According to the FY2007 Staples Annual Business Report, the recycled content of all products purchased that year by NYU totaled 226,907 pounds – 30% of total purchasing by volume.

The top five non-copy paper recycled products purchased by NYU are listed below. Each of these items include a minimum of 10% post-consumer content and are flagged on the Stapleslink website for NYU as eco-friendly and preferred products.

Table 5.3 Top Non-Copy Paper Recycled Products Purchased, FY2007 Product Annual Percentage of total volume that Expenditure is post-consumer recycled Top Tab Folders $71,195 17% Hanging Folders $48,964 18% Fastener/Classification Folders $26,750 N/A File Pockets $25,098 15% Break Room/Janitorial Paper $19,445 37%

The FY2007 Staples Business Report estimated the environmental benefits attributable to NYU’s purchases of recycled content products: • Total post consumer content: 226,907 pounds • Greenhouse gas emissions avoided: 119 tons • Trees saved: 2,723 • Equivalent electricity saved: 549,177 kWh

Ink and Toner Cartridges Purchasing Services and Staples have provided the Sustainability Task Force with a list of university ink and toner cartridge purchases during the month of December 2008. During this one-month period, NYU ordered 2,004 ink and toner cartridges at an expense of $163,539.

Staples offers remanufactured ink and toner cartridge options compatible with most of the printers in use at NYU. Remanufactured ink and toner cartridges have fewer environmental impacts than new OEM cartridges because of reductions in the waste stream due to the reuse of spent cartridges, and have been evaluated by Purchasing Services in order to ensure quality and performance equal to new cartridges. And from a cost-savings perspective, the average price of remanufactured ink and toner cartridges is 25 percent lower than that of new cartridges.

Purchasing Services has worked with Staples to highlight remanufactured cartridge options on the StaplesLink website. Nevertheless, in December 2008, only 8% of purchased printer cartridges were remanufactured.

Purchasing Services and Staples also track the number of ink and toner cartridges that NYU recycles. Staples reimburses NYU $3 for every ink or toner cartridge that is recycled. During December 2008, the month for which ink and toner cartridge purchasing data is available, NYU recycled 230 printer cartridges. If representative, this indicates a recycling diversion rate of just 11%, and suggests room for improvement.

Printing Services In FY2007, NYU departments contracted with 188 vendors that provide commercial printing and reprographic services, for total expenditures of over $8.5 million (excluding the School of Medicine). Individual project costs ranged from $400 to nearly $1.5 million.

Some of these commercial printers are Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Certified for their environmentally preferable sources and materials, and some practice recycling, energy-savings, and materials reduction practices, while most do not. In the future, additional evaluation of individual commercial printing vendors will enable NYU to make stronger environmental purchasing decisions.

Bottled Water Many NYU departments purchase bottled water for central office water coolers and for individual use through a purchasing contract with Nestle Waters International. According to a report provided by Nestle, NYU spent $216,277 on five-gallon water bottles during FY2007, and consumed 47,633 five-gallon bottles, at an average cost of $0.91 per gallon. Since the cost of high-quality municipal tap water in NYC is only 40 $.003 per gallon,38F39F switching from 5-gallon jug water coolers to tap water filter- dispensers could represent considerable cost- and resource-savings.

NYU spent an additional $25,765 on 8-ounce and half-liter disposable water bottles during FY2007. About 16,000 gallons of water were purchased during this period in the form of disposable water bottles, costing NYU an average of $1.59 per gallon.

Purchasing Services data indicate that overall FY2007 water cooler and disposable bottled water purchases totaled $416,077 from four vendors.

The discrepancy between the Purchasing and Nestle totals may be accounted for by the fact that Purchasing records do not include small department purchases made with the Purchasing Card or with petty cash, while Nestle’s report does not include purchases from three other secondary bottled water vendors.

Given environmental impacts ranging from groundwater depletion, to oceanic plastic contamination, to greenhouse gas emissions from long-distance shipping, bottled water carries a steep ecological price tag, along with its direct costs.

Catering According to Purchasing Services data, in FY2007 NYU contracted with 231 catering vendors for a total expenditure of at least $6 million (excluding the School of Medicine). Individual catering orders ranged in cost from $120 to over $550,000. Seven caterers receive over two-thirds ($4.8 million) of NYU’s business.

The available catering data includes purchase orders by budget year, school, department, catering vendor, and total cost. The data does not include the purchase order date, nor specific line items that would enable analysis of the environmental impact of individual items purchased. The Sustainability Task Force’s draft Environmental Purchasing Policy includes environmentally-preferable catering guidelines for vendors and for NYU departments.

40 New York City Water Board. See http://www.nyc.gov/html/nycwaterboard/html/rate_schedule/index.shtml

Progress Purchasing Services leads many efforts to encourage environmental procurement. In addition to disseminating an “Environmental Philosophy and Practices” document 41 through the University Purchasing Manual,39F40F the department has strongly endorsed environmentally preferable goods such as Energy Star-certified copiers, recycled office paper, and fuel-efficient vehicles. Purchasing seeks to secure contracts with environmentally conscientious suppliers.

The Sustainability Task Force’s forthcoming Environmental Purchasing Policy will include a set of effective procurement standards and guidelines to improve NYU’s environmental performance. The policy addresses procurement for many different goods and services, including paper products, bottled water, catering, commercial printing, vehicle procurement, computers, electronic equipment, and more.

Staples, NYU’s preferred vendor for office supplies, features the expanded “EcoEasy” line of products on the Stapleslink website. NYU Purchasing is working with Staples to ensure that products featured as “EcoEasy” meet NYU’s environmental standards.

Data Limitations While NYU continues the process of centralizing its procurement systems through Purchasing Services and the NYU I-Buy website, there are several key limitations to available procurement data.

Many purchasing mechanisms available to NYU staff are not easily tracked or evaluated, including departmental Purchasing Cards, direct payments to individuals 42 or businesses, and direct employee reimbursements.40F41F In each of these cases, readily-accessible, aggregated records of the category or type of payment are not available, and environmental impact analysis cannot be performed. For instance, overall P-card purchase volume totaled approximately 19 million dollars in FY2007. It is estimated that these untracked aggregate purchases represent a small but substantial portion of overall NYU procurement.

Many of the largest expenditures tracked by Purchasing (and included in the overall $500 million figure) are for consultant or contracted services (e.g. architectural, janitorial, security, etc.), and not physical goods. Most of these services have been excluded from analysis. Where included (e.g. janitorial, commercial printing, catering, etc.), the scope and environmental impacts of the service are relatively well-defined and understood.

Analysis is limited to those procured goods or services for which directly influential environmental impacts have been identified, and in which readily-available environmentally preferable alternatives exist. Highly specialized purchases (e.g. $28 million in scientific equipment and $16 million for medical supplies) have generally been excluded from analysis.

Some NYU expenditures tracked through Purchasing are coded into commodity and subcommodity categories that are not clearly defined. As a result, some items (i.e.

41 See http://www.nyu.edu/purchasing.services/pdf/policy_Summer_07.pdf

42 Purchasing Services estimates that FY2007 P-card purchase volume (including the School of Medicine) totaled about $19 million.

bottled water) appear in several commodity or subcommodity classifications and were grouped for the purposes of this analysis.

Some discrepancies exist between records from Purchasing Services and reports from specific vendors.

Recommendations The Task Force recommends that Purchasing Services begin tracking the quantity of recycled and virgin paper purchased on a monthly basis. More-frequent tracking (or increased interval data, even if made available only annually) would allow evaluation of the effectiveness of the proposed Environmental Purchasing Policy.

It is also recommended that Purchasing Services begin requesting and evaluating companies’ environmental records and self-reported green initiatives, prior to establishing formal partnerships with them as major suppliers or before signing contracts. Purchasing Services should request information on “environmental qualifications, claims, reports, projects, and product offerings” from all vendors on its “key suppliers list,” and share the results of this information-gathering request in a publication or a future iteration of this Environmental Assessment.

Additionally, for certain areas of special interest, a detailed analysis of the full set of professional service vendors available to NYU should be undertaken. These areas include commercial printing services, catering services, and design and construction professional services.

Dining Halls and Food NYU Dining Services manages the operation of nine cafeterias and three other retail food service locations through a contract with Aramark Higher Education.

Providing more than 10,000 student-meals per day and serving hundreds of tons of food annually, these dining halls are a key part of the university’s food system. Catered food purchases (discussed above) represent another important element.

It is worth remembering, however, that much of the food consumed on campus is purchased by individuals who neither participate in a meal plan nor eat food paid for or prepared by NYU. Though such purchases fall outside of the scope of this report, future assessments should contend with their impacts and with our potential responsibility to address sustainability in this part of the food system as well.

As with all goods, the production, transportation, preparation and disposal of food 43 each generate significant environmental impacts.41F42F Foods grown organically and produced locally are environmentally preferable to their conventional counterparts.

Dining Services has begun to offer more organic and local products in campus dining locations. All cafeterias serve 100% Fair Trade Certified brewed coffee, including Java City Eco-Grounds located in Weinstein Hall.

Since September 2007, the Hayden Dining Hall has been the pilot location for new sustainable dining initiatives. Projects have included:

• Increased sourcing of local and certified organic ingredients • Batch preparation to reduce pre-consumer food waste • More recycling and pre- and post-consumer composting of waste • Packaging reduction and use of biodegradable packaging • Use of non-toxic green cleaning products

43 It is the first half of the lifecycle impacts of NYU’s food system that is being evaluated here. Food preparation impacts are captured through the energy and water consumption sections of this assessment, while food disposal is addressed in the section on waste.

Sustainable food sourcing efforts at the Hayden Dining Hall have varied by ingredient type, cost, and availability. Progress has been considerable in some areas and modest in others. In fall 2007, sustainability efforts at Hayden included procurement of:

• 50% locally produced baked goods • 40% seafood from sources approved by MBA Seafood Watch • 39% local dairy products • 34% local produce • 15% organic meat and poultry • 14% organic produce • 8% organic dairy products • 5% organic baked goods • 100% biodegradable “Meals 2 Go” containers • Antibiotic-free cheese and meats, meats produced without cereal fillers • Salad bar and vegan station emphasizing low-impact, locally grown produce

Dining Services plans to conduct a cost analysis of these initial projects and will explore opportunities for expanding programs to other dining facilities.

Progress Since the introduction of the sustainability dining program at Hayden Hall, student accounts there have increased 90% over the previous year. Based on the data provided, it is unclear whether this increase may be attributed specifically to the new sustainability-themed menu, or to the newly-renovated space itself. Nevertheless, in response to the popularity of this program, NYU Dining Services is continuing the green dining program at Hayden and may expand elements of it to other locations.

As of January 2009, Dining Services staff are exploring options to accomplish greater local sourcing of food and increase the availability of sustainable food choices at the dining halls by collaborating with NYC’s Greenmarket program. Dining Services also plans to introduce measures to discourage disposable bottled water use.

Data Limitations Data from Dining Services only includes an overview of sustainable food procurement at a single dining facility (Hayden) during a single semester (Fall 2007), and does not include information about food volume or sourcing, nor about food cost, volume, or sourcing at a conventional dining facility for comparison.

Without overall campuswide information about food procurement in terms of meal plan participation, costs, volume, and sourcing, it is not possible to draw conclusions about the environmental performance of NYU’s entire food system, or to quantify related macro scale impacts (greenhouse gas emissions, ecological footprint, etc.).

No specific verification has been completed of referenced food certification terms (local, organic, etc.) for Hayden. Additionally, we have not been able to confirm whether referenced percentages are isolated or cumulative (i.e. are some products double-counted under % local and % organic, or is there no overlap?).

Dining Services did not provide survey data on student satisfaction or preferences regarding sustainable food sourcing and green dining projects.

Recommendations More extensive data from Aramark and Dining Services would enable full analysis of the environmental impacts of the campus dining system. Future Environmental Assessments would benefit from access to campuswide data including meal plan participation, food costs, food volume, food sourcing, and student survey results.

As with other NYU administrative data systems, the Sustainability Task Force recommends that Dining Services develop a system to automate and digitize the data collection process, in order to facilitate future analysis and assessment efforts.

Cross-Sector Analysis

CLIMATE

NYU's operations, including its transportation, waste, electricity, and heating and cooling activities, all emit a substantial volume of harmful greenhouse gas pollution, the primary driver of anthropogenic global warming.

Global warming (also known as global climate change) is among the greatest environmental challenges human civilization has ever faced, and it represents an unprecedented threat to the survival of many forms of life on Earth. Evidence indicates that the threat has grown into a crisis that will test our collective ability to shift many of the fundamental structures of society and achieve scientific consensus- supported emissions reductions of at least 80% by 2050.

NYU committed to meeting Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s PlaNYC Climate Challenge goal to reduce its direct greenhouse gas emissions 30% below current levels by 2017, and to set a target date for the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) goal of a long-term plan for net zero climate emissions.

From among the many greenhouse gas emissions inventory methodologies and calculators in common use, NYU utilized a set of region-specific emissions factors developed by NYC Mayor Bloomberg’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability (OLTPS) for New York City’s own greenhouse gas inventory. These factors and the energy, waste and other data included in the Environmental Assessment were entered into the "Clean Air and Climate Protection" (CACP) software from the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI).

NYU will use this methodology to track emissions for future assessments and for 44 required regular reporting as part of both commitments.42F43F

Data and Analysis

Greenhouse Gas Inventory ICLEI's CACP software reports NYU's greenhouse gas inventory in metric tons of 45 carbon equivalent (MTCE) emissions.43F44F

In FY2006 (the baseline year for the Mayoral Challenge), NYU's inventory includes approximately 183,700 MTCE emissions.

In FY2007, measured emissions declined about 4%, to approximately 176,400 MTCE.

44 To review ACUPCC annual reports from NYU and other universities, see http://acupcc.aashe.org

45 A carbon equivalent (or CO2e) is a unit that facilitates comparison of various greenhouse gases (e.g. methane, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, etc.) by weighing each according to its global warming potential - the extent to which it causes climate change

Table 6.1 NYU Greenhouse Gas Inventory (by emissions source), FY2006 - FY2007

FY2006 FY2007 Emissions MTCE Percent MTCE Percent Buildings (Energy) 177,548 96.6 170,403 96.6 Transportation 2,782 1.5 2,774 1.6 Waste 3,401 1.9 3,263 1.8 Total 183,744 100 176,439 100

The vast majority of NYU's direct greenhouse gas emissions are generated through the heating, cooling, and powering of its buildings, through the on-site combustion of fossil fuels, the production of energy in its Central Plant cogeneration facility, and the purchase of electricity and steam from utilities. The landfilling or incineration of NYU's waste, followed by the operation of NYU's transportation and shuttle bus fleets, make up the remainder of direct emissions.

A variety of indirect greenhouse gas emissions result from operational activities discussed elsewhere in this assessment, such as university-sponsored air travel, employee commuting, food production, or procurement of goods and services. Emissions from these sources have not yet been evaluated and may substantially expand the scope and volume of NYU's measured inventory. These emissions will not alter the FY2006 baseline set by the Mayoral Challenge, but air travel and employee commuting emissions are requested as part of the ACUPCC, and should be included in future assessments.

ICLEI’s CACP software reports greenhouse gas emissions by fuel source. In FY2007, NYU’s largest source of emissions was purchased electricity, followed by the natural gas and heavy fuel oil supplied to buildings and the Central Plant.

Table 6.2 NYU Greenhouse Gas Inventory (by fuel source), FY2006 - FY2007

FY2006 FY2007 2006-2007 Emissions MTCE Percent MTCE Percent Percent Change Diesel 2,596 1.4 2,588 1.5 -.31% Food Waste 2470 1.3 2,354 1.3 -4.7% Gasoline 186 .1 186 0.1 NA NYC Grid Electricity 69,215 37.7 66,760 37.8 -3.55% Light Fuel Oil 20,599 11.2 19,268 10.9 -6.46% Natural Gas 32,769 11.2 40,576 23.0 23.82% Heavy Fuel Oil 52,105 28.4 41,032 23.3 -21.25% NYC Steam 2,860 1.6 2,767 1.6 -3.25% Paper Products 929 .5 885 0.5 -4.74% Wood/Textiles 2 0 16 0.0 NA Controlled Incineration 14 0 7 0 NA Total 183,744 100 176,439 100 -3.98%

Figure 6.A NYU Greenhouse Gas Inventory (by fuel source), FY2006 - FY2007

70 FY2006 FY2007 60

20 Metric Tons Carbon Equivalent Tons Carbon Metric Annual emissions, Thousands of Thousands emissions, Annual 10

0 l n e e el s o n cts t s m Oi a ti li u s l Oil ra o el l G e Die Stea u a n F Fue ci Gas Prod C t y n r h atur I e Food Wa NY ig N av ap L e Wood/Textiles P H trolled NYC Grid Electricity Con Emissions Source In 2008, NYU submitted a required greenhouse gas inventory report to the ACUPCC that described its baseline FY2007 emissions and included additional supporting details about the inventory's process, scope and characterization. In lieu of analyzing the same dataset separately here, relevant portions of this report are included in full:

ACUPCC Reporting System - GHG Inventory Report for New York 46

University44F45F

Emissions Inventory Methodology and Boundaries Start date of the 12-month period covered in this report: September 1, 2006 (Fiscal Year 2007)

Consolidation methodology used to determine organizational boundaries: "Equity share approach"

Organizational boundaries: Near-complete campus energy use data is available for all owned and leased buildings, representing approximately 12,214,000 square feet of building space.

The following exceptions apply: 1) The NYU Langone Medical School is a largely autonomous entity which does not fall within the organizational boundary established by this inventory; neither their emissions nor their buildings' square footages are included.

46 See http://acupcc.aashe.org/ghg-report.php?id=457

2) This inventory extends only to NYU's buildings and infrastructure within New York City, and not to any NYU-affiliated sites or campuses in other countries.

Our standard has been to assume ownership of emissions for all buildings which we control and for which we pay utility bills.

Emissions calculation tool used: ICLEI's Clean Air and Climate Protection Software, version 1.1.

As a signatory of New York City's PlaNYC 2030 Climate Challenge, we are required to submit an emissions inventory to the Mayor's office using ICLEI Clean Air and Climate Protection Software (CACP). For internal consistency, NYU will use ICLEI's software for all climate emissions inventory calculations. ICLEI's CACP Software includes emissions coefficients embedded in the software package… which are based on the list of global warming potentials 47

included in the IPCC Second Assessment Report).45F46F

In coordination with New York City's own inventory and our participation in the Mayoral Challenge, we modified the emissions coefficients for electricity, steam and heavy fuel oil to correspond to the localized custom coefficients used by the City.

Inventory Process: Utility, transportation, waste and other data were assembled as part of NYU's comprehensive annual Environmental Assessment process. Data collection, refinement and verification continued through the end of the summer 2008. Emissions calculations using the ICLEI CA-CP Software began in September 2008, and were verified by staff in Facilities' office of Sustainability, Engineering and Technical Services. ICLEI staff provided support and advice throughout the process.

Emissions Data (metric tons of carbon equivalents):

Per Full-Time Per 1000 Total Enrollment Square Feet Gross emissions 173,178 MTCE 5 MTCE 14.2 MTCE (Scopes 1 + 2) Gross emissions 176,439 MTCE 5.1 MTCE 14.4 MTCE (Scopes 1 + 2 + 3) Net emissions 176,439 MTCE 5.1 MTCE 14.4 MTCE

Scope 1 Emissions Stationary Combustion 100,876 MTCE Mobile Combustion 2,774 MTCE Process Emissions 0 MTCE Fugitive Emissions 0 MTCE Total Scope 1 emissions 103,650 MTCE

Scope 2 Emissions Purchased Electricity 66,760 MTCE

47 See http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/assessments-reports.htm

Purchased Heating 0 MTCE Purchased Cooling 0 MTCE Purchased Steam 2,767 MTCE Total Scope 2 emissions 69,527 MTCE

Scope 3 Emissions Commuting [Unknown] Air Travel [Unknown] Solid Waste 3,263 MTCE Total Scope 3 emissions 3,262 MTCE

Mitigation Data Carbon Offsets and Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) Carbon offsets purchased None Total RECs purchased 118,000,000 kWh % total electricity consumption 75% mitigated through REC purchase Emissions reductions due to None the purchase of RECs REC verification program(s) Green-e Description of RECs purchased: 100% green-e certified wind RECs, 90% national, 10% local.

Renewable Energy Credits Although NYU bought renewable energy credits (RECs) equal 100% of total projected purchased electricity consumption for both the FY2006 and FY2007 years, and though CACP software calculates an offset benefit for the use of “green electricity,” RECs do not necessarily or dependably reduce the university’s carbon outputs.

NYU’s emissions inventory for FY2007 would be 38% smaller if calculated counting a quantity of electricity equivalent to the RECs as “green electricity” rather than “NYC grid electricity.” But given ongoing debate over whether RECs are a valid source of carbon emissions offsets, our inventory will treat NYU’s electricity consumption as standard NYC grid electricity, without discounting emissions as a result of NYU’s purchase of wind energy credits.

48 The ACUPCC Voluntary Carbon Offset Protocol46F47F describes this issue in greater depth, and similarly does not recommend the application of RECs as offsets within a greenhouse gas inventory.

48 See http://www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org/offsetprotocol.php

Refrigerants Refrigeration systems use gases that contribute to global warming and depletion of the ozone layer. Leaks in refrigeration units and the use of CFC-based aerosols can result in the release of R-22, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), and hydrochloro- fluorocarbons (HCFCs). R-22 is a greenhouse gas, the production of which results in a by-product (HFC-23) that contributes to global warming. The 1987 Montreal Protocol agreement and a 1992 amendment have established schedules for the 49 gradual complete phase-out of CFCs and HCFCs.47F48F

EPA regulation of refrigerants mandates that NYU track refrigerant use, refrigeration equipment repair, and refrigerant reclamation. Three refrigerant vendors and NYU HVAC Shop staff manually recorded and tracked includes unit location, type of 50 refrigerating unit, date of service, and type/volume of refrigerants added.48F49F

Facilities staff are working with refrigerant vendors to digitize and automate the data collection for FY2010. The software company, ESS, offers an online data tracking system that will allow university staff and contractors to enter and maintain refrigerant data in an online database.

In FY2007, Facilities reported five instances of R-22 refrigerant use for leaks or repairs in four NYU buildings. The sum of R-22 refrigerants in equipment installation and repair was 441.5 pounds. This figure represents the volume of R-22 used to repair lost refrigerants, presumably from system leaks.

The university is continuing the process of minimizing or phasing out Freon-12 refrigeration systems, in accordance with Section 604 of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. Remaining Freon-12 systems are limited to walk-in cold storage and chemical/medical deep freeze systems. Facilities staff involvement with these systems is limited to reconditioning, reclaiming and disposing of refrigerants. There was no reported leakage of Freon-12 in FY2007.

Progress Because it is linked to a FY2006 baseline, the Mayoral Challenge commitment is one toward which NYU has already made significant progress by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The university generated slightly smaller volumes of carbon dioxide in both 2007 and 2008. All measured discussed in the energy section apply here as well – NYU’s cogeneration facility and energy reduction strategy are key components of the strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

NYU’s Sustainability Task Force is developing a comprehensive Climate Action Plan which will build on this Snapshot Inventory and address the process of achieving both the Mayoral and ACUPCC goals for climate change reduction. The Climate Action Plan is expected to be completed in early summer 2009.

49 See http://www.epa.gov/ozone/title6/phaseout/accfact.html

50 For the purposes of this report, it is assumed that any refrigerants recorded as having been added to a unit in which a leak was found, are equivalent to the amount of refrigerants that were leaked in the first place. As a result, we are using recorded data on refrigerant additions in lieu of data on actual leaks (which are not recorded).

Data Limitations Many of the limitations of data used to calculate NYU’s emissions inventory have been listed elsewhere in this assessment.

Significant limitations are discussed in detail within NYU's report to the ACUPCC:

Data limitations: 1) NYU tracks the volumes of R-22 refrigerants used in the installation and repair of campus cooling systems. However, the ICLEI CACP software does not include an entry field for R-22s. HFC-23s, which are calculated in the ICLEI CACP Software, are a byproduct of R-22 production, but we have not uncovered direct information about the relationship between usage (or leaks) of R-22s, and global climate change.

2) The inventory emissions totals for our university-owned vehicle fleet (53 vehicles) are based on the projection of gasoline purchases from a single month onto the entire year. We are making the assumption that the purchases in this single month (November 2007) are representative of gasoline consumption for the given year. Note that the larger volume of emissions from the contracted third-party student shuttle fleets are based on actual total annual gasoline consumption, not one month of gasoline bills.

3) University-related air travel emissions are listed as a required field in this report. However, NYU does not currently centrally track student, faculty or staff air travel. These purchasing decisions are made either on a department- specific or on a private basis (and reimbursed); purchasing records do not include number of flights, flight distances, or destinations. We will seek to develop methods of evaluating this gap in our data in future inventories. It is likely that future inclusion of university-related air travel will substantively enlarge NYU's total emissions inventory.

4) Faculty, staff, and student commuting emissions are listed as a required field in this report (Field 21). However, NYU does not currently centrally track student, faculty or staff commuting. We have access to data on approximate distances from campus that students, faculty and staff live, but no reliable information about commuting methods. A recent professionally-administered survey evaluated students' commuting habits, estimating that only 5% of NYU students ever drive a personal vehicle to campus. We plan to carry out similar user surveys to estimate faculty/staff transportation habits. In the meantime, we are not able to credibly estimate these emissions as part of our inventory.

In future inventories, we intend to utilize an in-development customized food/procurement greenhouse gas emissions estimations calculator which will enable us to quantify and include this element of our climate impact.

Other limitations include: • Absence of complete fiscal year data for several key emissions sources, including elements of the transportation and waste systems

• Approximation of FY2007 waste and recycling streams, and vehicle fleet gasoline usage, based on available FY2008 data

• Estimation of gasoline consumed by the NYU vehicle fleet by extrapolating annual usage from a single monthly billing period (November 2007)

• Refrigerant leakage data is tracked among the use of all refrigerants. The current reporting methods are not always clear as to when new refrigerant use results from a leak or from controlled reclamation of spent refrigerants. For purposes of analyzing environmental impacts, only the volume of refrigerant leaks is desired.

• Emissions inventory estimations do not include any emissions associated with university related air travel or employee commuting. NYU currently lacks the infrastructure to track these data. Additionally, the ICLEI CACP software does not include coefficients for these emissions sources.

Recommendations This analysis of NYU’s environmental impacts on the atmosphere and on climate has not evaluated the university’s regulated air pollutant emissions, nor its impact on the ozone layer. Future iterations of the Environmental Assessment should inventory the university’s regulated air pollutant emissions.

BUILDINGS AND LAND

Data and Analysis Energy Intensity Excluding the School of Medicine, NYU is comprised of over 167 leased and owned 51 properties with a combined area of more than twelve million square feet.49F50F NYU's building stock can be considered in the context of total energy consumption, by evaluating buildings' relative efficiency per square foot, or energy intensity.

Converting the mix of fuel sources used in each building into MMBTUs provides a means of comparison. BTU data cited in the following analysis include electricity, gas, steam, and oil.

Table 6.3 Ten Largest Consumers of Electricity (KWh, by building), FY2007 % Total NYU Electricity Building Total kWh Consumption Bobst Library - 70 Washington Sq. So. 9,233,200 5.9% Palladium Hall - 110 East 14th Street 8,007,738 5.1% Courant/Warren Weaver - 251 Mercer St. 7,093,686 4.5% Third Avenue North - 75 3rd Avenue 7,014,908 4.5% 715-725 Broadway 6,423,828 4.1% Silver Center - 100 Wash. Sq. East 6,253,731 4.0% Meyer Hall - 4 Washington Place 5,696,562 3.7% Schwartz Hall (Dental) - 345 E 24th St 5,666,700 3.6% Water St Residence Hall - 200 Water St 5,652,000 3.6% Waverly/Brown - 24 Waverly Place 5,011,966 3.2%

Table 6.4 Ten Largest Consumers of Energy (MMBTUs, by building), FY200 Total % Total NYU Energy Building MMBTUs Consumption 52

NYU Central Plant50F51F (incl. 25-35 bldgs’ heating/cooling, 5-7 bldgs’ electricity) 1,132,087 54.5% 2 Washington Square Village 65,896 3.2% Schwartz Hall (Dental) - 345 E 24th St. 60,180 2.9% Water St Residence Hall - 200 Water St 47,044 2.3% Palladium Hall - 110 East 14th Street 46,510 2.2% Third Avenue North - 75 3rd Avenue 40,400 1.9% 3 Washington Square Village 39,130 1.9% Bobst Library - 70 Washington Sq. South 31,504 1.5% Courant/Warren Weaver - 251 Mercer St. 24,205 1.2% 715-725 Broadway 21,918 1.1%

51 See Appendix D, “Building List,” for a complete inventory of buildings, addresses, and other attributes

52 See “Energy” section for more information on the Central Plant and the buildings it heats and powers

Figure 6.B Total Energy Consumption for Selected Buildings, FY2007

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Energy intensity can be tracked in terms of energy expended per square foot. Overall, NYU uses about 13 kilowatt-hours and 169,969 BTUs per square foot. NYU’s largest buildings (which are all residential buildings, with the exception of Bobst Library) are the largest consumers of electricity and of total energy, but are nonetheless more energy-efficient than smaller buildings.

Table 6.5 Ten Least Electricity-Efficient Buildings (by kWh per square foot), FY2007

ELECTRIC TOTAL Building kwh/sqft Courant Institute/Warren Weaver 45 Carter Hall - 10 Washington Place 32 Shimkin Hall - 50 West 4th Street 31 19 University Place 29 Schwartz Hall (Dental) 29 Waverly/Brown Building 27 726 Broadway / 418 Lafayette Street 25 Silver Center - 100 Wash. Square East 24 113 University Place 23 Meyer Hall - 4 Washington Place 22

Table 6.6 Ten Least Energy-Efficient Buildings (by MMBTUs per square foot), FY2007

Building Address MMBTUs/ft2 Schwartz Hall (Dental) 0.305 Apartments - 18-20 East 8th Street 0.263 2 Washington Square Village 0.215 Bronfman Center - 7 East 10th Street 0.159 Courant Institute/Warren Weaver 0.152 Provincetown Theatre/Apartments 0.125 Rubin Hall - 35 5th Avenue 0.123 Third Avenue North - 75 3rd Avenue 0.122 3 Washington Square Village 0.121 Apartments 7-13 Washington Square North 0.116

Indoor Air Quality NYU Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) staff receive and respond to indoor air quality complaints. Reported indoor air quality complaints vary significantly in scope, ranging from issues developing from mold and moisture, to dust, odors, and ambient indoor temperature. Complaints regarding indoor air quality are important to track both for tracking potential regular problem building locations and also for human health and safety concerns.

During the FY2007 academic period, EHS staff responded to 40 indoor air quality complaints – no more than one complaint was filed for any single location during this period. In addition to the date and building location, the information on each of these complaints is limited to qualitative descriptions of the nature of the complaint, the action taken by EH&S staff in response to the complaint, and the case resolution.

Green Building The US Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standard is a tool that can improve environmental performance while still providing the flexibility to make intelligent design decisions for a wide array of building projects. LEED also offers a means of documenting each project, supporting NYU’s commitment to tracking progress towards sustainability goals.

An NYU Wagner Capstone team of graduate students conducted an analysis of existing NYU buildings according to LEED-EB (the certification standard for Existing 53 Buildings, as opposed to new construction or renovation).51F52F The team’s report presents an analysis of present conditions in twelve NYU buildings and their viability for LEED-EB certification.

The point thresholds for certification are as follows:

LEED-EB • Certified: 34-42 points • Silver: 43-50 points • Gold: 51-67 points • Platinum: 68-92 points

53 “A Sustainability Analysis of NYU’s Existing Building Utilizing LEED Guidelines.” Brust, Lauren; Dahlberg, Erik; Espinoza, Arturo; Ostrander, Harry; and Simon, Danit. NYU Wagner School of Public Service prepared for NYU’s Office of Strategic Assessment, Planning, and Design. May 2008.

54 Table 6.7 NYU Building LEED Point Inventory Analysis52F53F LEED-EB Certification with Points Easy to Easy to Achieve Building Name Building Function Achieved Achieve Improvements Brown Building Academic 11 24 Certified Education Building Academic 11 25 Certified Fairchild Building Administrative 13 30 Silver 19 West 4th Street Administrative 22 22 Silver 1 Washington Sq. North Administrative 13 30 Silver 1 Wash. Sq. Village Faculty Housing 22 17 Certified 29 Washington Sq. West Faculty Housing 13 30 Silver Bobst Library Special Use 21 27 Silver Kimmel Center Special Use 22 25 Silver Hayden Hall Student Housing 25 20 Silver Brittany Hall Student Housing 22 17 Silver Palladium Mixed Use 20 23 Silver

The authors of the report determined that no NYU buildings currently qualified as- designed/operated for LEED-EB certification, but that there are a number of buildings within range of certification if NYU implements building improvements that are relatively limited in scope. The report identifies characteristics of each building that present opportunities for NYU to achieve additional LEED-EB points. Among the twelve buildings considered, nine would be eligible for LEED-EB Silver certification and three for basic Certification after implementation of what the team found to be minor repairs or changes to building operational practices.

The forthcoming Design Standards and Guidelines, to be released by NYU’s Strategic Assessment, Planning and Design (SAPD) office in 2009, will recommend the adoption of the USGBC’s LEED standard to raise the environmental performance of all university construction and renovation projects.

Specifically, SAPD’s draft Design Standards and Guidelines recommend that: • All new construction and major renovation projects achieve LEED Silver • All partial renovation projects achieve LEED Certification • All minor alteration and system upgrade projects conform to the SAPD Design Standards and Guidelines

Progress In 2008, the Gallatin School of Individualized Study completed a renovation of the school’s building at 715-719 Broadway. This project was the first at NYU to apply for LEED certification, with official results of the project expected to be reported in the spring 2009. Several additional projects led by the School of Law and central university administration are expected to apply for LEED in 2009.

54 “A Sustainability Analysis of NYU’s Existing Building Utilizing LEED Guidelines.” Brust, Lauren; Dahlberg, Erik; Espinoza, Arturo; Ostrander, Harry; and Simon, Danit. NYU Wagner School of Public Service prepared for NYU’s Office of Strategic Assessment, Planning, and Design. May 2008.

Recommendations Though there may remain questions and concerns about the costs and benefits of LEED certification, and though the system is by no means perfect, there are specific environmental performance benefits which result from undergoing a thoughtful design process with LEED certification in mind. Furthermore, LEED offers a strong assessment framework for gauging a host of challenging cross-sectoral environmental impacts – one of the reasons it has emerged as a prominent national standard, and why it is included in this report.

To address lingering questions, NYU should adopt a firm LEED design and certification policy for all new construction and renovation for a three-year period, while conducting a thorough cost-benefit study of the policy as it is implemented. By using actual, practical data, at the end of the trial period the university can reexamine the issue and decide, based on the results of the study, whether or not to permanently adopt a LEED certification policy.

Green Space As a university “in and of the city” there is only limited opportunity for development of open and green space on campus.

Located in the heart of Greenwich Village in Manhattan, the core of NYU’s campus surrounds Washington Square Park. This 9.75-acre park is a public space, and is not included in NYU’s open space inventory. Nevertheless, the NYU community undoubtedly benefits from Washington Square Park for its greenery and role as a public forum.

The NYU Landscaping Department assessment of accessible campus space in April 2008 determined that NYU has approximately 6 acres of open space (nearly 269,000 square feet), not including Washington Square Park. NYU’s inventory of open space includes more than 50 sites, with a variety of garden and park amenities. Projects range from a newly-proposed living wall at 22 Washington Square North, to the inner courtyard at Washington Square Village – which is the largest unpaved open space on campus, at 44,000 square feet.

During winter in FY2007, NYU Landscaping completed an inventory of trees planted on NYU grounds, identifying approximately 550 deciduous and 4 coniferous trees located in 25 campus areas. 57 of these trees are planted in above-ground planters, 89 trees are planted on sidewalks in the campus region, and the remaining 407 trees are planted in gardens or landscaped campus grounds. Trees offer an important contribution to NYU’s urban campus, providing an aesthetic break from the dense built environment, while absorbing carbon dioxide and air pollution. Landscaping staff are working to identify campus areas where additional trees may be planted.

Given NYU’s dense Manhattan locale, there are limited opportunities to expand its inventory of open space, but some expansion and renovation projects are planned. One is the renovation of the planted areas of Schwartz Plaza – the pedestrian block that connects Washington Square South and West 3rd Street between Bobst Library and Shimkin Hall. Also, the renovation and expansion of the Central Plant cogeneration facility includes plans for a larger green space along Mercer Street than was on the site previously.

NYU Landscaping has emphasized a commitment to sustainable gardening and grounds management. The department has implemented the following practices:

• Eliminating chemical fertilizers • Integrated pest management • Introduction of native species • Water conservation • Reduction of lawn areas • Sustainable soil management with double digging, composting, mulching • Eliminating gasoline-powered maintenance tools

Rooftop Analysis One possible option for creating new campus green spaces would be the creation of green roofs on NYU buildings.

In February 2008, the Olin Partnership conducted a preliminary rooftop analysis of NYU buildings to determine which roofs may lend themselves to development of accessible or inaccessible green roofs. The findings of the analysis suggest that many roofs, including those of the Stern KMEC building, Broadway Block, and Bobst Library could be suitable green roof sites.

The analysis factored in a variety of considerations, including existing roof use, potential accessibility, sun and wind exposure, views from the roof, safety issues, location of building utilities, existing drainage conditions, surface materials, etc. However, it was preliminary in scope and did not account for many contextual factors which will necessarily affect development of any campus green roof projects.

Olin’s rooftop analysis identified: • Best General Green Roof Opportunities o Stern School of Business, KMEC o Warren Weaver Hall o Bobst Library

• Best Green Roof Opportunities for School-Specific Projects o Stern School of Business, KMEC o Steinhardt School of Education, Pless Hall o School of Law, Mercer Street o Gallatin School of Individualized Study, 715-719 Broadway o Tisch School of the Arts, 725 Broadway

• Best Housing Green Roof Opportunities o Hayden Hall o Goddard Hall o Mercer Street Hall o 14 and 15 Washington Place o 29 Washington Square West o Silver Tower 1

ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT ANALYSIS

An ecological footprint is a calculation of the equivalent areas of land and water required to produce the natural resources consumed and absorb the waste created by a community or population.

Ecological footprint analysis (EFA) picks up where a sector-by sector examination of environmental impacts leaves off, and can be an even more robust comparison tool than a GHG inventory. Carbon is only an effective "common denominator" for comparing the impact of campus transportation, energy, waste, and other systems insofar as these affect global warming specifically. Carbon analysis cannot directly evaluate other environmental problems which have nothing to do with climate. In contrast, EFA uses acreage of land, not tons of carbon, as its common denominator, tying together the diversity of environmental issues linked to the land - from energy use, to natural resource depletion, to biodiversity loss, to resource access and equity.

Ecological footprinting uses an easily-understood measure to readily identify the degree to which the NYU community is over-consuming resources relative to what is sustainable. However, a substantial obstacle is that current methodologies for calculating entities’ ecological footprints are imprecise and still evolving, with substantial disagreement remaining about the best means of quantification.

Data and Analysis Few universities have attempted to carry out campus ecological footprint analyses, and limited information is available about the methodologies and results underlying those that have. The NYU Sustainability Task Force conducted a review of existing EFA models and opted to use a modified version of the tool developed by the University of Redlands for an analysis published in 2001. This ecological footprinting model includes calculations that measure waste, water, and energy footprints.

55 The Washington Square core of the NYU campus encompasses 31 acres of land.53F54F The Task Force's analysis of NYU's FY2007 ecological footprint finds a total campus footprint of 76 square miles, or more than 1500 times its physical footprint.

Data Limitations The calculation of NYU’s ecological footprint included here is based on methodologies that are almost certainly obsolete. But even with these limitations, EFA offers a frame of reference for the magnitude of the difference between our physical footprint and the unsustainable level of resource consumption and waste production on which NYU currently subsides.

55 This figure was determined by summing the building footprint for all buildings included in the Columbus database and the green space acreage compiled by NYU Landscaping in 2008.

Figure 6.D NYU Estimated FY2007 Ecological Footprint

Some of NYU’s environmental impacts are not included in this ecological footprint analysis. For example, the Task Force was unable to develop or identify existing land conversion factors for the electricity sourced from oil and from nuclear power. Additionally, this analysis did not include a coefficient for fuel oil, and excludes the significant ecological footprint associated with fuel oil use at the Central Plant or in university buildings. Lastly, this EFA has a conversion factor but still does not include the footprint associated with university related air travel, because the university does not currently track this information.

Any interpretation of the ecological footprint should take into consideration the fact that the data included in the calculation represents only the consumption occurring through the operation of the campus. The cumulative footprint of the entire NYU community would be substantially larger.

STUDENT ENGAGEMENT

The Student Affairs Office of Research and Assessment distributed NYU’s first student sustainability survey in November 2007. This survey was designed to measure students' "knowledge, attitudes and behaviors" (KAB) regarding sustainability, to capture the level of student support for existing campus environmental initiatives, and to identify and target areas for education and engagement efforts to encourage future change.

The 2007 survey was distributed via direct email to a random sample of 4,000 undergraduate and 4,000 graduate NYU students – 1,295 completed surveys were returned, for a 16% response rate.

Data and Analysis The survey evaluated a range of issues, from general concern for the environment, to common student conservation practices, and perceived barriers to environmentally friendly behaviors such as bicycle riding to, from and around campus. Self-reported student engagement with environmental issues varied widely across topic areas.

Highlights from the survey report include the following statistics:

• 93% of respondents feel responsible for the future condition of the environment

• 88% of respondents indicated that they are personally concerned about environmental problems such as global warming a fair amount or a great deal.

Figure 6.E Student Attitudes on Environmental Sustainability, November 2007

"How Concerned are You Personally About Environmental Problems?"

Not at all 1% Not very much 11%

A great deal 39%

A fair amount 49%

• 96% of respondents indicated that they support and will to at least some degree participate in conservation and sustainable practices at NYU. Of these respondents, a majority (48%) are willing to make “an extra effort” to prioritize conservation and sustainable practices - the strongest support option provided.

• 85% of undergraduate respondents indicated an interest in living in a green or sustainability-themed residence hall. The building’s location and the cost of living in the building were the two most important factors for students to consider.

• Respondents overall were not aware of most of NYU’s environmental or sustainability-related groups, projects and programs. Only 22% were aware of NYU’s purchase of wind power, and only 35% were familiar with the NYU Sustainability Task Force.

• Students reported relatively low levels of engagement with sustainability practices and efforts at NYU. Approximately 15% of respondents have been involved in clubs or organizations focusing on environmental issues, and 19% had attended on-campus programs or events related to sustainability. 29% of students reported having had conversations in class with faculty about sustainability and/or other environmental issues.

Figure 6.F Student Awareness of NYU Sustainability Efforts, November 2007

The majority of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with these statements:

• “I would consider making adjustments to my lifestyle if convenient options were presented” (98%)

• “I am concerned about environmental risks that may affect the long-term health of society today” (94%)

• “I am willing to make adjustments to my lifestyle by incorporating more environmentally-friendly choices and practices” (94%)

Most students (71%) agreed or strongly agreed that social justice was an integral part of sustainability, and students seemed to consistently correlate justice and green issues, suggesting the value of evaluating broader social and economic justice factors in future assessments, beyond the ecological ones included in this report

Data Limitations Randomization is effective in creating a representative sample that produces unbiased and generalizable findings only if there is no attrition from the sample.

Due to possible self-selection bias among the 16% of survey respondents, the results of the survey may not be an accurate reflection of the beliefs of the entire campus community. Despite this concern, highlights from the survey results are presented as a reflection of student attitudes towards sustainability, because they remain the best information currently available.

Recommendations This sustainability student survey is a useful tool for gauging student engagement on environmental issues. It is recommended that NYU conduct a more refined version of the Sustainability Student Survey on an annual or semester-by-semester basis. Additionally, it is recommended that NYU initiate faculty and staff sustainability “knowledge, attitudes and behavior” (KAB) surveys in order to observe and track engagement and needs among these constituencies as well.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE ASSESSMENTS

SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS

For future iterations of the Environmental Assessment, NYU should:

• Formalize a regular process of data collection, contextualization and analysis, as well as of the publication of an updated annual or biennial Environmental Assessment Report

• Call on university leadership to support sustainability goals by instituting system-wide policies mandating data collection, maintenance and sharing

• Embed the Environmental Assessment in the fabric of NYU’s administration and cultivate operational accountability by assigning responsibility for various data streams to specific positions (not individuals) within departments throughout the university

• Incorporate a requirement into all contracts negotiated with private vendors, such that these vendors must collect and provide the data necessary for calculating the environmental impacts of their goods and services

• Create a central, dynamic database for permanent data storage and accessibility

• Streamline the data acquisition process by establishing an automated system for retaining, requesting, and collecting data, utilizing web forms and other convenient methods to solicit data, analysis and responses from departments

• Devise a framework of dynamic data templates for logging, contextualizing and graphically characterizing annual University data.

• Develop a robust set of metrics for establishing long- and short-term environmental goals and evaluating University progress toward sustainability.

• Establish the Environmental Assessment Working Group to shepherd this evolving process, advise the rest of the Sustainability Task Force on an ongoing basis about the evolution of metrics and manage the annual or biennial Assessment cycle.

CONCLUSION

NYU faces a number of integrated but distinct challenges in pursuit of a regular, comprehensive, contextual, and effective Environmental Assessment. To adequately measure and evaluate the university’s environmental performance, NYU will need reliable policies and mechanisms for streamlining data collection, as well as administrative support for this still-developing process. In the long term, campus sustainability can only be achieved through administrative action and community responsiveness to aggressive university environmental performance goals.

A robust Environmental Assessment can be, as this report aims to demonstrate, a valuable resource for solving the environmental challenges we face. By tracking and evaluating operational environmental impacts, establishing baseline figures for benchmarking future progress, and enabling prioritization of new programs and initiatives, it can help anchor sustainability efforts by supplying unambiguous goals and defining their achievement.

Alongside its use as a tool to meet NYU's challenges, environmental assessment carries additional inherent value as a mechanism for teaching, learning and research. As a highly visible institution of education and knowledge generation, NYU can continue to lead systemic change by fostering a genuine community understanding of its own environmental impacts.

This report has only just begun to scratch the surface of what there is to be known about NYU's complex relationship with the natural environment. By drawing upon our administrative commitment, student energy and academic expertise, NYU will deepen understanding of our environmental impacts and strengthen efforts to address them in the future.

APPENDIX A: FY2007 DATA LOG AND INDEX OF SOURCES

Available information collected and referenced in this report:

Dates Category Title Description 56 Division Dept. (FY)54F55F Complete campus energy Sustainability, Fuel Oil, Natural Gas, consumption data, by building Energy 2004-2007 Operations Energy & Tech. Steam & Electricity Use (by meter), in gallons/therms/ Services pounds/kilowatt-hours Total procurement of Sustainability, Renewable Energy Credit Energy Renewable Energy Credits, in 2007-2008 Operations Energy & Tech. Purchases kilowatt-hours Services Partial campus water Operational Risk consumption data, by building Operational Risk Water Water Use 2004-2007 Analysis & (by meter), in hundreds of Management Compliance cubic feet of average daily flow Total administrative assets Redistributed and Donated Administrative Waste redistributed and donated, by 2003-2007 Asset Management Goods Services item type Total volumes and disposal costs of hazardous wastes, by 2002-2007 type (universal; hazardous; (waste vols.) Operational Risk Environmental Waste Hazardous Wastes regulated medical; computer & Management Health & Safety electronic; silver; lead; mercury 2007 amalgam), as well as asbestos; (disp. costs) in pounds and dollars Total volumes of mixed paper, Municipal Waste and April 2007- Waste cans and bottles, bulk waste, Operations Recycling Recycling May 2008 municipal waste, in pounds Sampled proportions of Waste Characterization recyclable, non-recyclable, and Waste 2008 Operations Recycling Study organic wastes in municipal waste stream Listing of all owned vehicles, age, make, model, MPG, fuel Administrative Transportation Campus Owned Vehicles 2007-2008 Purchasing type, use, and estimate of Services miles driven/year Mass Transit Benefit Total NYU employees utilizing Human Transportation 2007-2008 - Accounts MBTAs Resources Student responses to survey Student Commuting Habits Institutional Transportation q’s, disaggregated by school, 2007 Student Affairs Survey Research class, residence hall, etc. Total indoor and outdoor bicycle parking spaces; map of Bicycling Infrastructure & Transportation existing bike lanes; inventory of 2008 Sustainability Green Grant Potential Expansion Sites potential sites for additional spaces and lanes Transportation Bicycling Survey Responses to survey questions 2008 Sustainability Green Grant

56 Dates referenced here refer to data stored as part of this Assessment, but all listed data sets continue to be recorded beyond these time periods into the present

Purchasing Commodity & Listing of Purchasing Administrative Procurement 2007-2008 Purchasing Sub-Commodity Inventory Department commodity codes Services Purchase Order Breakdown of procured goods Administrative Procurement 2005-2006 Purchasing Commodity Expense Chart and services, in dollars Services Purchase Order Breakdown of procured goods 2005-2006 Administrative Procurement Purchasing Regional Distribution Chart and services, by region Services Total dollars spent and number Purchasing Commodity of orders for procured goods Administrative Procurement 2006-2007 Purchasing Summary Report and services, by Purchasing Services Department commodity code Total goods and expenditures on catering, bottled water, Administrative Procurement Specific Commodity Reports commercial printing, gasoline, 2007-2008 Purchasing Services office supplies, etc., with additional statistics and details Total food cost and volume; percent expenditures on Hayden Sustainable Dining Fall 2006, Campus Food organic/local/fair trade food Dining Services Report Fall 2007 Services items; student attendance; for Hayden dining facility Total greenhouse gas Sustainability, Climate Greenhouse Gas Inventory emissions, by generator group 2005-2006 Operations Energy & Tech. and fuel source, in MTCE Services Listing of indoor air quality Indoor Air Quality Operational Risk Environmental Buildings complaints and response 2007 Complaints Management Health & Safety measures Likely current LEED-EB points Strategic LEED-EB Assessment of achieved and potential points Assessment, Buildings 2008 Wagner Capstone Campus Buildings achievable, 12-building Planning and representative sample Design Directory of all NYU properties Strategic and each building’s age, Assessment, Buildings Building List last/next renovation, square 2008 Columbus Database Planning and footage, use, number of Design occupants, and other data Strategic Analysis of suitable buildings Assessment, Olin Partnership, Buildings Roof Analysis for inaccessible and accessible 2008 Planning and NYU Plans 2031 projects such as green roofs Design Consultant report which Sustainability, compares and tracks NYU’s Buildings Sightlines Report 2007 Operations Energy & Tech. performance against Svcs. anonymized peer institutions Total accessible green and Campus Accessible Green & Land open space, in acres; listing 2008 Operations Landscaping Planted Spaces Database and description of spaces Total trees in planted on core Land Campus Tree Census 2008 Operations Landscaping campus Estimated ecological footprint Ecological Campus Ecological Footprint of NYU’s energy, waste, and 2007 Sustainability - Footprint water systems, in square miles Student responses to survey Student Student Sustainability Institutional q’s, disaggregated by school, 2008 Student Affairs Engagement Survey Research class, residence hall, etc.

APPENDIX B: METHODOLOGY AND ASSESSMENT PROCESS

Development During fall 2007 the Sustainability Task Force developed preliminary listings of key datasets for collection and administrative units likely to have access to the data. The Task Force also identified relevant environmental performance issues associated with each type of information.

Implementation Process and Timeline In December 2007, Lynne Brown (Senior Vice President for University Relations and Public Affairs) and Alison Leary (Senior Vice President for Operations) distributed a memo to NYU leadership and staff announcing and launching the Environmental Assessment process.

From January to May 2008, Sustainability Office staff and members of the Task Force held a series of meetings with representatives of nearly a dozen NYU administrative departments. Discussion in each meeting covered the availability of various information, data formats, their departments’ needs and interests in the data, and their advice about what else to include in the Assessment.

Following these meetings, the Task Force submitted precise data requests to each administrative unit, along with a set of questions for analysis of the requested data. By August, more than 75% of this data had been compiled, though additional information became available throughout the remainder of the Assessment process.

Analysis and evaluation of Snapshot findings began in April 2008, with some preliminary recommendations regarding the Environmental Assessment process included in the Sustainability Task Force Annual Report released during the summer. During the fall and winter 2008, analysis of data and drafting of report content proceeded, with completion of an initial draft of the Snapshot sections by December.

In January 2009, all report content and other analysis from the Fast Facts and Snapshot sections were submitted for review by the administrative units that had provided the original data. The revised report was reviewed by the Sustainability Task Force prior to full release in February 2009.

APPENDIX C: OTHER SUSTAINABILITY METRICS

This report enables NYU to not only baseline current environmental impacts, but to benchmark future environmental performance and evaluate relative trends and changes over time. In the future, the Task Force aims to develop a set of metrics, or a weighted index of individual indicators, that facilitate comparison of the university’s progress in implementing recommendations and meeting sustainability goals.

The development of these metrics will enhance this assessment’s two functions – macro-level evaluation of direction and progress, and micro-level targeting of specific interventions for maximum effectiveness.

There are many existing sustainability assessment frameworks that this assessment has drawn upon, with particular credit due to AASHE’s STARS pilot rating system. These other systems are invaluable for the innovative ways that they conceptualize and compare data.

Selected Existing Sustainability Commitments and Assessment Frameworks 57 • American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC)55F56F • In April 2007, NYU President John Sexton signed this agreement, pledging to develop a long-term climate action plan with a target date for 100% greenhouse gas emissions reductions and net climate neutrality.

58 • PlaNYC 2030 - Mayoral Challenge56F57F • In June 2007, NYU became a “PlaNYC Mayoral Challenge Partner,” agreeing to reduce emissions by 30% by 2017 and leading New York City in achieving a similar citywide reduction by 2030.

59 • Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS)57F58F • Developed by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), STARS is the first comprehensive, open- source, point-based rating system that evaluates the overall sustainability of colleges and universities. In 2008, NYU participated as a pilot campus, testing STARS and issuing detailed feedback that will help to shape the system for use by hundreds of campuses throughout the US.

60 • Sustainable Endowments Institute (SEI) - Green College Report Card58F59F • A rating system which heavily weights endowment-related sustainability issues, but which has achieved a high response rate among US colleges and universities, and is therefore useful for comparison purposes.

57 See http://www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org

58 See http://www.nyu.edu/public.affairs/releases/detail/1646

59 See http://www.aashe.org/stars

60 See http://www.endowmentinstitute.org/sustainability/CollegeSustainabilityReportCard2008.pdf

APPENDIX D: BUILDING LIST

61 NYU Building List59F60F

Square Building Address Building Name Feet 1 East 2nd Street 1 East 2nd Street 83,552 1 East 78th Street Duke Mansion 66,331 1 Washington Sq Village WSV GARAGE 120,200 1 Washington Square 1WSV 306,665 Village 10 Astor Place 10 Astor Place 61,853 10 E. 8th Street 10 E. 8th Street 12,916 10 Washington Mews 10 Washington Mews 2,576 10 Washington Place Carter Hall 30,993 100 Bleecker Street Silver Tower2 227,439 100 Bleecker Street Silver Tower Garage 62,351 100 Trinity Place Nicholas Hall 101,657 100 Washington Square Silver Main 258,152 East 107-113 2nd Avenue Central Plaza 55,131 11 Washington Mews 11 Washington Mews 2,183 11 West 42nd Street Midtown Center 89,378 110 5th Avenue 110 Fifth Avenue 26,966 110 Bleecker Street Silver Tower1 227,457 110 East 14th Street University Hall 212,743 110 West 3rd Street D Agostino Hall 144,269 113 University Place 113 University Place 5,229 12 Washington Mews 12 Washington Mews 3,319 1-2 Washington Mews Ireland House 5,186 120 West 15th Street Armory apartments 100,200 12-14 East 8th Street 12-14 East 8th Street 13,055 12-16 Waverly Place 12-16 Waverly Place 88,410 129 Third Avenue Coral Towers 93,367 1-3 Wash. Sq. North School of Social Work 38,817 130-132 MacDougal Alcott House 4,966 Street 13-19 University Place 19 University Place 69,021 133-137 MacDougal Provincetown Theater 4,657 Street 135 MacDougal Street 135 MacDougal Street 20,021 137 MacDougal Street Law School Cellar 5,395 Offices

61 Generated using NYU's Columbus building database, August 2008

14 East 4th Street Silk Building 14,613 14 East 78th Street Chan House 18,885 14 University Place 14 University Place 3,577

Square Building Address Building Name Feet 14 Washington Mews 14 Washington Mews 4,660 14 Washington Place 14 Washington Place 134,387 140 East 14th Street Palladium Hall 466,370 145 4th Avenue 145 4th Avenue 13,595 14A Washington Mews 14A Washington Mews 11,624 15 Washington Mews 15 Washington Mews 2,911 15 Washington Place 15 Washington Place 73,733 16 East 8th Street 16 East 8th Street 13,475 16 Washington Mews La Maison Francaise 2,604 161 Ave Of Americas Butterick Building 37,227 18 Waverly Place 18 Waverly Place 22,804 181 Mercer Street Coles Center 177,109 18-20 East 8th Street 18-20 East 8th Street 13,639 19 Washington Square 19 Washington Sq. 13,752 North North 19 West 4th Street 19 West 4th Street 128,676 194 Mercer 194 Mercer Street 58,287 2 Washington Square 2 Washington Sq. 305,589 Village Village 20 Cooper Square 20 Cooper Square 136,314 20 East 16th Street Carlyle I 66,002 20-21 East 15th & 16th Carlyle Garage 12,772 St. 21 East 15th Street Carlyle II 65,601 21 Washington Square 21 Washington Sq. 10,429 North North 22 Washington Square Admissions 16,413 North 22-26 East 8th Street 22-26 East 8th Street 21,929 230 Sullivan Street 230 Sullivan Street 4,624 233 Broadway Woolworth Building 54,800 239 Greene Street East Building 103,684 24 West 12th Street Casa Italiana 13,135 240 Greene Street 240 Greene Street 12,871 240 Mercer Street Law School Residence 298,336 Hall 242 West 12th Street 242 West 12th Street 4,495 24-26 Waverly Place Waverly 60,325 244 Greene Street 244 Greene Street 24,714 245 Sullivan Street Furman Hall 168,565 246 Greene Street Kimball Hall 45,658

25 Union Square West Carlyle III 83,610 25 Waverly Place Smith 39,383 25 West 4th Street 25 West 4th Street 73,912 251 Mercer Street Warren Weaver Hall 158,591 2-6 Washington Place Meyer 258,684 26-28 Washington Place Pless Annex 22,496 28 Bethune Street 28 Bethune Street 4,840 Square Building Address Building Name Feet 285 Mercer Street 285 Mercer Street 24,086 29 Washington Place Brown 124,522 29 Washington Square 29 Washington Sq. 140,803 West West 295 Lafayette Street Puck Building 68,224 3 East 78th Street 3 East 78th Street 4,641 Condos 3 Washington Mews 3 Washington Mews 2,676 3 Washington Square 3 Washington Sq. 322,362 Village Village 32 Avenue of Americas 32 Avenue of Americas 26,172 32-36 Washington Place Pless Hall 49,673 33 Third Avenue Alumni Hall 147,034 33 Washington Square Hayden Hall 182,714 West 330 East 25th Street University Court 55,170 331 East 29th Street Medical Dental 3,006 Bookstore 334 East 26th Street 26th Street Residence 142,474 Hall 335-347 East 24th Schwartz Hall 197,043 Street 339 East 25th Street Guggenheim 13,544 34 Stuyvesant Street Barney Building 68,044 342 East 26th Street Basic Science 83,521 35 Fifth Avenue Rubin Hall 155,198 3-5 Washington Place 3-5 Washington Place 42,576 35 West 4th Street Education Building 146,598 36-42 East 8th Street Cantor Hall 28,850 37 Washington Square 37 Washington Sq. 119,096 West West 380 Second Avenue 380 Second Avenue 16,925 383 Lafayette Street 383 Lafayette Street 48,827 38-44 East 7th Street Central Plaza Annex 33,248 38-50 Cooper Square Cooper Square 39,524 4 Washington Square 4 Washington Sq. 322,565 Village Village 4 Washington Square 4 Washington Sq. 12,930 North North

40 Washington Square Vanderbilt Hall 257,260 South 40 West 4th Street Tisch Hall 195,067 400 Broome Street Broome St. Residence 137,966 Hall 409-411 Lafayette 411 Lafayette 11,406 Street 42 Washington Mews Deutsches House 4,258 421 First Avenue Weissman Hall 114,916 423 E 23rd Street VA – Dental Space 18,109 44 Washington Mews 44 Washington Mews 1,641 44 West 4th Street Stern KMEC 213,422 4-4A Washington Mews 4-4A Washington Mews 2,732 46 Washington Mews 46 Washington Mews 1,613 47 West 13th Street 47 West 13th Street 56,101 48 Washington Mews 48 Washington Mews 2,433 Square Building Address Building Name Feet 5 Washington Square 5 Washington Sq. 11,064 North North 50 Washington Square Kevorkian Center 11,961 South 50 Washington Mews 50 Washington Mews 1,552 50 West 4th Street Shimkin 89,951 509 LaGuardia Pl Morton Williams 29,005 Assoc. 5-11 University Place Weinstein Hall 168,834 51-54 Washington Sq. King Juan Carlos 61,309 South 52 Washington Mews 52 Washington Mews 2,270 528-530 LaGuardia Place Professional 8,002 Bookstore 535-555 LaGuardia Place Retail Stores 34,045 54 Washington Mews 54 Washington Mews 2,416 547 LaGuardia Place NYU Mail Services 7,149 55 East 10th Street Brittany 147,657 5-5A Washington Mews 5-5A Washington Mews 2,738 56 Washington Mews 56 Washington Mews 2,449 58 Washington Mews 58 Washington Mews 1,578 58 West 10th Street Lillian Vernon Center 8,532 6 Washington Mews 6 Washington Mews 2,676 6 Washington Square 6 Washington Sq. 12,378 North North 60 Wash Sq South Kimmel Center 247,638 60 Washington Mews 60 Washington Mews 2,420 62 Washington Mews 62 Washington Mews 2,365 63 Charles Street 63 Charles Street 4,970 636 Greenwich 636 Greenwich 81,589 Street/Hotel St./Hotel

65 Charles Street 65 Charles Street 5,107 6-8 East 8th Street 6-8 East 8th Street 13,496 7 East 10th Street Bronfman Center 9,902 7 East 12th Street Fairchild 125,145 7 Washington Place Public Safety 15,526 Building 70 Washington Square Bobst Library 506,251 South 7-13 Washington Square 7-13 Washington Sq. 95,257 North North 715 Broadway 715 Broadway 99,837 719 Broadway 719 Broadway 93,744 721 Broadway 721 Broadway 115,742 725 Broadway 725 Broadway 146,997 726 Broadway 726 Broadway 182,585 740 Broadway 740 Broadway 2,980 75 Third Avenue Third Ave. North Res. 330,857 Hall 7-7A Washington Mews 7-7A Washington Mews 2,742 79 Washington Square Paulette Goddard Hall 76,963 East 8 Washington Mews 8 Washington Mews 2,738 8 Washington Mews 9 Washington Mews 2,738 Square Building Address Building Name Feet 80 Lafayette Street 80 Lafayette Street 314,724 836-838 Broadway 838 Broadway 39,287 890 Broadway 890 Broadway 3,553 90 Trinity Place Merrill Hall 94,133 95 University Place 95 University Place 17,176 665 Broadway 24,407 TOTAL SQUARE FEET 12,729,560

APPENDIX E: CAMPUS MAP

APPENDIX F: ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

NYU Departmental Websites: • Administrative Services (incl. Purchasing Services, Asset Management)

o http://www.nyu.edu/admi1H1H nistrative.services

• Campus Services (incl. Dining Services)

o http://www.nyu.edu/housing/dining.html2H2H

• Human Resources

o http://www.nyu.edu/hr3H3H

• Facilities and Construction Management

o http://www.nyu.edu/fcm4H4H

• Landscaping

o http://www.nyu.edu/fcm/gardenshop.htm5H5H

• Operational Risk Management

o http://www.nyu.edu/operational.risk.management6H6H

• Public Safety (incl. Campus Safety, Transportation Services)

o http://www.nyu.edu/public.safety7H7H

• Recycling

o http://www.nyu.edu/fcm/recycling/index.htm8H8H

• Student Affairs

o http://www.nyu.edu/student.affairs9H9H

• Strategic Assessment, Planning and Design

o http://www.nyu.edu/sapd10H10H

• Sustainability Task Force

o http://www.nyu.edu/sustainability11H11H

• University Relations and Public Affairs

o http://www.nyu.edu/public.affairs12H12H

APPENDIX G: GLOSSARY

American College and University President’s Climate Commitment: An agreement among US university and college presidents, committing their institutions to taking specific actions and pursuing a long-term plan for climate neutrality. NYU President John Sexton signed onto the commitment in March 2007.

Average Daily Flow (ADF): The standard metric used by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP) to measure water usage in buildings. It is often displayed in HCF, or Hundreds of Cubic Feet.

Biodegradable: Describes materials which will naturally break down into simple, non- hazardous compounds that can re-enter the natural resource cycles of ecosystems.

Biodiesel: Non-petroleum-based diesel fuel, often produced from vegetable oils.

British Thermal Unit (BTU): A standard unit of measurement for energy, equal to 1,055.06 62

joules or 0.00029308 kilowatt-hours60F61F

Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e): A measure of greenhouse gas emissions which weighs gases according to their capacity to warm the Earth’s atmosphere. For example, methane has 21 times more global warming potential than CO2; therefore 1 ton of methane has a CO2e of 21 63

tons.61F62F

Cogeneration (or Combined Heat and Power, CHP): Describes a facility with technology that enables the use of a single fuel source to generate both heat and electricity simultaneously, avoiding the loss of heat wasted by conventional electricity generation. .

Columbus: Name of the computer system maintained by the NYU Office of Strategic Assessment, Planning and Design (SAPD) to consolidate facility-related information into a 64

single database accessible to authorized university staff.62F63F

Compost: A waste management system wherein organic materials are separated from inorganic waste and are processed and broken down for eventual reuse as fertile soil.

Conservation, Energy: Avoiding unnecessary or wasteful energy use (as contrasted with Efficiency – see below).

Diversion Rate: Percentage of an overall waste stream that is not ultimately landfilled or incinerated, but is instead diverted through recycling, reuse, composting, etc.

Efficiency, Energy: The degree to which a process can achieve the same output using less energy (as contrasted with Conservation – see above)

Energy Star: Developed by the US Environmental Protection Agency, this program certifies the energy efficiency of consumer appliances and other products.

62 See http://www.energyvortex.com/energydictionary/british_thermal_unit_(btu)__mbtu__mmbtu.html

63 See http://www.soe-townsville.org/sml_windows/co2e.html

64 See http://www.nyu.edu/sapd/space.planning/columbus.html

Fossil Fuels: Energy sources such as coal, natural gas, and oil, which are composed of hydrocarbons found in the earth’s crust. Fossil fuels are nonrenewable, and the Earth’s finite supply will eventually run out. The burning of fossil fuels is the primary source of anthropogenic (human-caused) global climate change, and is responsible for a range of other environmental impacts, from air pollution to land degradation.

Fuel oils #2, #4, and #6: Oils that are distilled from petroleum and burned for power and heat. #2 is diesel fuel, #4 and #6 are light and heavy residual fuels.

Green Grants: Program administered through the NYU Sustainability Task Force, which funds projects student-, faculty- and staff-led projects to improve NYU’s environmental performance and foster a campus culture of sustainability.

Green Roofs: Roof spaces that are partly or completely covered by vegetation in order to improve a building’s environmental performance by raising the roof’s albedo (reflectivity) to save energy, absorbing stormwater to avoid combined sewage overflows, and other benefits.

Greenhouse Gases: Gases (including but not limited to CO2, CH4, CFCs, and H2O), released through combustion, respiration, and other processes, which absorb and reflect infrared radiation and blanket the Earth’s atmosphere, trapping heat on the surface.

Greywater: Water which is recycled or reused after having been used for one purpose without being heavily contaminated. One application is the capture and reuse of water from sinks to flush toilets.

Integrated pest management (IPM): A farming and gardening technique that uses specific knowledge of pest behavior and a variety of organic interventions to minimize artificial 65

pesticide use while still maximizing yield.63F64F

Kilowatt Hour (KWh): A unit of energy equivalent to one watt of work per second for one hour.

Local: In reference to NYU’s procurement of food and other goods, local is being used to describe items sourced from the states of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, or Pennsylvania.

Mass Transit Benefit Program: Program, such as that provided to NYU through WageWorks, allowing employees to save money by paying for eligible commuter expenses using pretax salary dollars.

Nonrenewable: Describes resources such as petroleum and other fossil fuels, which are finite and can’t be regenerated through natural processes on a human timescale.

I-Buy website: NYU’s online procurement system that allows university staff to buy directly from preferred vendors.

Organic: Describes food, clothing and other goods certified by the USDA or NOFA as relying on ecologically-based practices such as cultural and biological pest management, excluding the use of most synthetic chemicals in crop production, and prohibiting the use of antibiotics 66

and hormones in livestock production.64F65F

65 See http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/factsheets/ipm.htm

66 See http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/Organic/

PlaNYC Climate Challenge: On Earth Day 2007, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg released PlaNYC, a comprehensive long-term strategic and sustainability plan. PlaNYC includes a strategy to reduce New York’s greenhouse gas footprint, while also accommodating population growth of nearly one million, and improving infrastructure and environmental performance. NYU agreed to be a “PlaNYC Mayoral Challenge Partner” and lead by reducing 67

climate emissions on an accelerated timetable.65F66F

Recycling: Reprocessing of used or discarded materials to create useful new goods.

Renewable: Describes resources that can or do regenerate on a human time scale. Solar energy is renewable, while timber from forests and fish from oceans are potentially renewable resources, with proper management.

Renewable Energy Credits (RECs): Also known as Renewable Energy Certificates. RECs represent the technology and environmental attributes of electricity generated from renewable sources. RECs are usually sold in 1 megawatt-hour (MWh) units. A certificate can be sold separately from the MWh of generic electricity with which it is associated. This flexibility enables buyers to offset portions of their annual electricity use with certificates generated elsewhere. NYU was the largest university purchaser of RECs from clean, 68

renewable wind energy in 2007 and 2008.66F67F

Social Justice: As used in NYU’s Student Sustainability Survey, social justice describes a broad category of ideals pertaining to the work of building a more free, fair, and egalitarian society.

Technoscrap: High-tech waste such as cell phones and computers which contain valuable materials such as copper that can be reused, as well as potentially hazardous materials such as heavy metals that must be managed or disposed of properly. NYU recycles Technoscrap and other e-wastes.

Therm: A unit of heat equal to 100,000 British thermal units (1.054 × 108 joules). Natural gas is often measured in therms.

Transfer Station: A staging area for municipal wastes after they are collected from buildings and before they are sent on to a landfill or recycling facility.

Ultra-Low Sulfur Diesel Fuel (ULSD): Diesel fuel with substantially lower sulfur content, which results in reduced emissions of airborne sulfur compounds that contribute to air pollution and acid rain. Though use of ULSD is now required by the US EPA, the environmental performance benefits of ULSD are only achievable in conjunction with installation of particulate filters in vehicles burning the fuel. NYU’s contracted shuttle bus fleet does not yet use these filters.

Universal Waste: EPA designation for household hazardous wastes such as batteries and pesticides that undergo streamlined management but are still managed and disposed of separately from standard municipal wastes.

Vermicomposting: Process utilizing worms to digest organic wastes such as food scraps and yard clippings in order to produce fertile compost soil.

67 See http://www.nyc.gov/html/planyc2030/html/home/home.shtml

68 See http://www.epa.gov/greeningepa/glossary.htm#recerts