Class Project Report Sustainable Air Quality, EECE 449/549, Spring 2008 Washington University, St. Louis, MO The Carbon Footprint of Danforth Campus and its Causality Drivers Instructors: Professor Rudolf B. Husar, Erin M. Robinson For more details see the class wikiclass wiki Students: Devki Desai Martin Groenewegen Tyler Nading Kate Nelson Matt Sculnick Alyssa Smith Varun Yadav

Class Project: Carbon Footprint of Danforth Campus Specific Objectives: 1.Develop and apply carbon emission estimation model 2.Estimate the carbon footprint of Danforth Campus 3.Establish the key causality drivers for the emissions 4.Compare the WU carbon emissions to other Universities

Main Components of WU Carbon Emissions: On Campus Energy Use in Buildings and Transportation The impact on carbon arises from on-campus energy use and from transportation On Campus Energy Use Carbon Impact Students Heating Cooling Appliances Faculty/Staff Transportation Carbon Impact Commuting Air Travel University Fleet

Trend ( ) of Hilltop Campus Building Area 60% increase During the period, the building area on the Danforth Campus has increased by about 60 percent. The 2006 Map of Danforth Campus The new buildings since 1990 are shaded black. Some of the new buildings have replaced old once.

Linear Causality Model for Campus Carbon Emissions The carbon impact of on-campus energy is due to direct fuel consumption and indirectly from electricity use The overall carbon impact for on campus energy consumption has increased 50% from Electricity use contributed about 80 percent to the on-campus carbon impact Population Students Activities $ Expend./yr Buildings Sq. Ft Fuel Cons. BTU/yr C Emission Ton C/yr Fuel Cons. BTU/yr C Emission Ton C/yr Electr. Cons Kw-Hr/yr $/StudentSq. Ft./$BTU/Sq.Ft. Kw-hr/Sq.Ft. BTU/Kw-hr Carbon/BTU

Hilltop Campus Medical Campus Total CO2 Emissions +50% -6% +24%

Total Emission Comparison between Universities In the class project, the published carbon emissions of 14 Universities were analyzed Evidently, the carbon emissions are roughly proportional to the campus building square footage. This class project data indicate that WU emissions/area are comparable to the other schools

Local Transportation Emission Comparison between Universities The transportation portion of carbon emissions indicate rough proportionality to school population Evidently, the WU transportation carbon emissions are also in line with other colleges. However, the WU estimates are uncertain and given as a range based on two calculation methods

Sustainable Development – Causality Loop Economic Development with Due Care of the Environment The system approach links human activities and their consequences in closed loop It is the minimum set of linked components – if any missing, the system is crippled Each component depends on its causal upstream driver – and external environment The causal loop is a useful organizing principle for sustainability analysis/ science.

Causality Drivers for Carbon Emission Change – Hilltop Campus The student population increased only by 10% since 1990 However, the expenditures/student have increased by 60 percent Hence, the key driver for the 60% carbon emission growth were the increased expenditures (prosperity) and the associated growth in the physical campus expansion.

Sustainable Development – Causality Loop What is the role of Sciences in Campus Carbon Emissions? Social Work – ? Political Science - ? Law - ? Economics - ? Biology - ? Engineering - ? Earth Science - ? Information Science - ?

Sustainability Transition for U.S. Sulfur Emissions