University of Montana Releases Report On Campus Greenhouse Gas

In response to growing concerns about the impacts of climate change, The University of Montana has completed its first-ever campus greenhouse gas inventory.

The 38-page report, available online at http://www.umt.edu/urelations/greenhouse.html, is an effort to detail and understand the carbon footprint of UM’s central campus and College of Technology.

In February 2007, UM President George Dennison became a charter signatory of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment. By signing the agreement, Dennison pledged to make UM more sustainable, with the ultimate goal of neutralizing greenhouse gas emissions on campus.

The UM inventory is an initial step toward achieving that goal and will lead to a campus action plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The report was submitted to the ACUPCC’s online greenhouse gas reporting system on Sept. 15.

“In my view, this report illustrates quite well the campuswide commitment to sustainability and bodes well for the future of the University,” Dennison said. “We have filed the report with the ACUPCC and have begun to develop plans to reduce the emissions footprint.”

The inventory studied the years 2000 to 2007. During that span, UM emissions increased 16.4 percent. There are many reasons for the increase, such as a growing student population and more campus buildings.

The report outlines how total campus emissions come from three main sources: on-campus steam production (36.1 percent), transportation (31.6 percent) and purchased electricity (30.8 percent). Solid waste contributed 1.3 percent of emissions, and fertilizer application added .2 percent.

The inventory found UM emitted 42,690 metric tons of carbon dioxide at its two Missoula campuses in 2007. The average full-time UM student contributed about 3.8 metric tons in 2007.

The inventory resulted from a campuswide cooperative effort directed by Jessie Davie, the Associated Students of UM sustainability coordinator and a full-time graduate student. She worked with four interns: Kendra Kallevig, J.J. Vandette, Erika Fredrickson and Sky Orndoff. This group was advised by Phil Condon, an environmental studies associate professor and member of UM’s Sustainable Campus Committee.

Davie and her partners started working on the report in October 2007. They used Clean Air-Cool Planet Campus Climate Calculator software to conduct the inventory. It’s an Excel workbook designed to help educational institutions measure their greenhouse gas emissions.

Davie said the inventory contains the best available information about UM’s emissions, but it by no means should be taken as a wholly accurate accounting system. It doesn’t take into account “upstream emissions” – things such as student travel to and from their hometowns or off-campus impacts such as faculty housing. The report also doesn’t include emission information from Grizzly athletics because of the overwhelming task of collecting and tracking that data.

“We hope this inventory will serve as the foundation to help shape future inventories,” Davie said, “allowing UM to more efficiently and accurately track its total greenhouse gas footprint in the future.”

Dennison said, “I want to express my appreciation to Jessie Davie, the Campus Sustainability Committee, Facilities Services, Vice President Bob Duringer and all those who have joined together to move this commitment forward."

Contact: Jessie Davie, ASUM sustainability coordinator, 406-243-4856, [email protected] e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ; Phil Condon, UM environmental studies associate professor and Sustainable Campus Committee member, 406-243-2904, [email protected]

http://news.umt.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4763&Itemid=9