SCOPE

What does the Inventory Measure?

HGCI maintains a Harvard-specific GHG calculator, in an effort to comply with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, developed by the World Resources Institute and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. This protocol divides emissions into three categories, or "scopes."

  1. Scope 1: Direct emissions from on-campus combustion in sources owned by the University (steam plant, boilers, fleet)
  2. Scope 2 : Indirect emissions that are a consequence of the operations of the University, but occur at sources that are owned or operated by another company (purchased electricity, steam, or chilled water)
  3. Scope 3 : Other indirect emissions, such as commuting; decomposition of Harvard's solid waste, which releases CH4, a greenhouse gas; air travel.

Conversion Factors

To assess the University's contribution to global climate change, the greenhouse gas inventory converts energy used on campus into greenhouse gas using a set of conversion factors that are either Harvard-specific (for steam and chilled water) or are standardized by the Climate Registry (for natural gas, fuel oils, and electricity). Please download the full GHG Inventory Report for more information.

Years Included

HGCI completed the first Inventory in 2001; however, we have retroactively calculated emissions back to the early 1990s in order to develop a solid baseline for comparison.

  • Cambridge and Allston campuses: FY90 - FY07
  • Longwood Medical Area campus: FY92 - FY06 (no records available for FY90, FY91, or FY07)

Geographical Scope

Harvard's main campuses are located in Cambridge/Allston and Longwood; however, Harvard also has properties in Jamaica Plain, Watertown, Washington DC and even Italy. The University's total square footage is over 22 million square feet. In FY07, the GHG Inventory focused only on the Cambridge/Allston campus and Harvard real estate holdings, including the Watertown Arsenal. The Longwood Inventory was not included because data from the Longwood Energy Plant was not available. For more information on the scope of the Inventory, download the full GHG Inventory Report.