Research and Solutions: Effects of Climate and Institution Size on Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Colleges and Universities in the United States

Abstract

Emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) associated with buildings may constitute as much as 40 percent of total emissions by the United States. Data on GHG emissions for 238 institutions, including doctorate-granting universities, master's institutions, and baccalaureate colleges, were acquired from the American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). A regression model that included gross building area, July mean temperature, and January mean low temperature was used to predict GHG emissions (R² = 0.911). A similar model was developed for emissions as a function of full-time equivalent (FTE) students, but the fit was poorer (R² = 0.693). The percentage of coal in the energy source for electric power generation was also a factor, with higher percentages resulting in higher emissions. Institutions with high percentages of coal as their electricity source also experienced low January temperatures, making it difficult to distinguish the effects of energy source from winter climate. For doctorate-granting universities, emissions scaled with gross building area with an exponent of ∼1.1, indicating that emissions per unit building area increased with institution size. For master's and baccalaureate institutions, GHG emissions increased as a linear function of institution size.