Go Green

Fitchburg State University is working with Sightlines, Inc. to assess and report on our GHG emissions through a project called Go Green. The University completed its first official inventory as part of the ACUPCC requirement during Summer 2008. The inventory includes several prior years for benchmarking purposes. Each year the University updates its inventory to document performance regarding emissions on the Fitchburg State Campus.

GHG Summary

Bar graph of GHG Summary by Scope from 2004 to 2012

This summary shows our progress toward reducing GHG emissions during the past nine years.

GHG emissions are broken into three distinct areas or scopes:

  • Scope 1: Direct GHG emissions occurring from sources that are owned or controlled by the institution, including:
    • On-campus stationary combustion of fossil fuels
    • Mobile combustion of fossil fuels by institution owned/controlled vehicles
    • "Fugitive" emissions
  • Scope 2: Indirect emissions generated in the production of electricity consumed by the institution.
  • Scope 3: All other indirect emissions that are a consequence of the activities of the institution, including:
    • Commuting and travel
    • Solid waste and water consumption

GHS Emissions

These charts show our performance over the last nine years in each of these areas.
Bar chart showing GHG Emissions Scope 1 Utilities from 2012

Scope 1

Scope 1: Primarily fossil fuel combustion for heat and hot water.
Bar chart of GHG Emissions - Scope 2 Utilities

Scope 2

Scope 2
Bar chart of GHG Emissions - Commuting

Scope 3: Indirect Emissions

Scope 3: Primarily caused by university faculty, staff, and student commuting.
Pie chart of GHG Emissions by Function in 2012

GHG Emissions by Function

Fitchburg State's profile indicates that the biggest sources of our emissions are scopes 1 and 3. The campus is developing and evaluating strategies to reduce emissions from each of these scopes.