It’s Not Easy Being Green Assessments and Strategies for Sustainable Institutions Department of Engineering and Public Policy Department of Social and Decision Sciences H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA 15213 May 2008 DRAFT – Do not cite or quote Disclaimer and Explanatory Note Please do not cite or quote this report, or any portion thereof, as an official Carnegie Mellon University report or document. As a student project, it has not been subjected to the required level of critical review. This report presents the results of a one-semester university project involving students from the Department of Engineering and Public Policy, the Department of Social and Decision Sciences, and H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University and the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. In completing this project, students contribute skills from their individual disciplines and gain experience in solving problems that require interdisciplinary cooperation. The project is managed by graduate students and monitored by faculty advisors. An advisory panel of academic and industry experts provides suggestions, information, and expertise. 2 DRAFT – Do not cite or quote Project Participants This project is jointly conducted by students of the Department of Engineering and Public Policy (EPP), the Department of Social and Decision Sciences (SDS), and the H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management (PPM) at Carnegie Mellon University. Students Social Sciences Engineering and Public Policy Social and Decision Sciences Chemical Engineering Yoonseong Choe Chisom Amaechi Irene Choi Catherine Dorsi Julia Ende Michaelangelo Tabone Alexander Kalke Taha Udyawar Yongwoo Kim Jee Sun Lee Keith Menchin Civil and Environmental Engineering Jennifer Park Mary Ashe Asa Wattan Dan Cox Adam Young Maria Pantelaros Ayu Yu Corey Tucker Public Policy and Management Electrical and Computer Engineering Ryan Menefee Alvin Tan Matthew Schneider Doug Robl Mechanical Engineering John Bistline Julie Cone Michael Cushman Takahiro Matsuura Sarat Mikkilineni Mike Ricci Project Managers Inês Lima Azevedo Engineering and Public Policy Adam Newcomer Engineering and Public Policy Faculty Paul Fischbeck Engineering and Public Policy, Social and Decision Sciences [email protected] H. Scott Matthews Civil and Environmental Engineering, Engineering and Public Policy [email protected] 3 DRAFT – Do not cite or quote Project Review Panel The participants of this project would like to thank the review panel for their help, for their efforts as resources and contacts, for their ongoing feedback on the direction of this project, and for their valuable time. Marty Altschul – University Engineer, Carnegie Mellon University Rosemary Capo – Associate Professor, Department of Geology and Planetary Sciences, University of Pittsburgh Caren Glotfelty – Director of Environment Program, The Heinz Endowments Stan Kabala – Adjunct Research Professor, Bayer School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Duquesne University Mark Kamlet – Provost, Carnegie Mellon University Barbara Kviz – Environmental Coordinator, Facilities Management, Carnegie Mellon University Francis McMichael – Walter J. Blenko, Sr. Professor of Environmental Engineering; Professor, Engineering and Public Policy and Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University Indira Nair – Vice Provost for Education, Professor, Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University Allison Robinson – Director of Environmental Initiatives, UPMC 4 DRAFT – Do not cite or quote Table of Contents Executive Summary.................................................................................... 17 1. Introduction ............................................................................................ 19 1.1. Motivations ..........................................................................................................................19 1.1.1. Sustainability ...............................................................................................................20 1.1.3. Other Ecological Considerations.................................................................................20 1.1.4. Recent University Attention ........................................................................................20 1.1.5. Commitments and Petitions.........................................................................................21 1.2. Organization of Report.........................................................................................................23 2. Carbon Footprint and Calculator Assessment .................................... 25 2.1. Introduction..........................................................................................................................25 2.2. Review of Existing Calculators and Inventories..................................................................26 2.3. Baseline Carnegie Mellon Inputs.........................................................................................28 2.3.1. Energy Consumption Inputs ........................................................................................29 2.3.2. Total Building Space ...................................................................................................30 2.3.3. Campus Population Data .............................................................................................30 2.3.4. Faculty and Staff Air Miles .........................................................................................30 2.3.5. Student Air Miles.........................................................................................................31 2.3.6. Faculty and Staff Commuting......................................................................................32 2.3.7. Student Commuting.....................................................................................................33 2.3.8. Waste ...........................................................................................................................33 2.4. Comparison of Calculator Outputs ......................................................................................34 2.5. Differences across Calculators.............................................................................................37 2.5.1. Total Emissions and Category Contributions across Calculators................................37 2.5.2. Implications .................................................................................................................38 2.6. Estimation of Carnegie Mellon’s Carbon Footprint ............................................................38 2.6.1. Emissions by Category ................................................................................................38 2.6.2. Demographic Emissions Summary .............................................................................40 2.6.3. Sensitivity Analysis .....................................................................................................40 2.6.4. Athletic Department Comparison................................................................................40 2.7. Designing an Improved Emissions Estimator......................................................................43 2.7.1. Motivation ...................................................................................................................43 2.7.2. Design..........................................................................................................................43 2.8. Conclusions and Recommendations ....................................................................................45 2.8.1 Conclusions ..................................................................................................................45 2.8.2 Recommendations ........................................................................................................45 3. Beyond Carbon: Ecological Footprint.................................................. 48 3.1. Introduction..........................................................................................................................48 3.1.1. Ecological Sustainability Summary.............................................................................48 3.2. Ecological Footprint Overview............................................................................................49 3.2.1. Scope ...........................................................................................................................49 3.2.4. Assumptions ................................................................................................................49 3.3. Ecological Calculator...........................................................................................................50 3.3.1. Search Method and Results .........................................................................................50 3.3.2. Description and Applicability of All Calculators........................................................50 3.3.2. Chosen Calculator........................................................................................................52 5 DRAFT – Do not cite or quote 3.4. Ecological Footprint Calculation .........................................................................................54 3.5. Ecological Footprint Results................................................................................................56