Carbon Footprinting in Schools –
Technical Overview
Chrispal Anand & Emma Fieldhouse
Estates & Facilities Management Division
www.le.ac.uk/environment
Overview
• What is carbon management?
• Explore and define Scopes 1, 2 and 3 carbon
emissions
• What drives carbon management?
• Explore ways of producing a school’s carbon
footprint
Learning objectives for today
• Challenge and explore definitions of carbon
management
• Gain an overview of the three different ‘scopes’ of
carbon
• Understand and apply the principles of creating a
carbon footprint for a school
What are the six main greenhouse gases?
Terminology – Greenhouse gases
• There are six main greenhouse gases (or groups of
gases):
• Carbon Dioxide
• Methane
• Nitrous Oxide
• Sulphur hexafluoride
• Hydroflurocarbons
• Perfluorocarbons
CO2
CH4
N2O
SF6
HFCs
PFCs
CO2e – Carbon Equivalence
• CO2e is used to describe how much global warming a
given type and amount of greenhouse gas may
cause, using the functionally equivalent amount or
concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) as the
reference
• CO2e is expressed as parts per million by volume
(PPMV)
Exploring Carbon Emissions in Schools
What are the carbon impacts of a school?
Shout them out…
Creating a school’s Carbon Footprint
• Which of the items on your list MUST be included
when calculating the carbon footprint of a school?
Discuss each item with your group
• Note down items that should be included (mark as
‘yes’) and those which should not (mark as ‘no’)
• You must also be able to justify your choices – why
has ‘x’ been included and ‘y’ excluded?
• You have 15 minutes to discuss this and then report
back to the group
Scope 1, 2 and 3 carbon emissions
Scope 1, 2 and 3 carbon emissions
• Scope 1: DIRECT EMISSIONS: Gas burnt in engines or
boilers
• Scope 2: INDIRECT EMISSIONS: Electricity
• Scope 3: INDIRECT EMISSIONS:
– Those ‘outside our direct control’
• Waste
• Water
• Travel
• Procurement
Carbon Footprint of the University
- 31,167 tonnes (04/05)
What must any organisation legally cover
in it’s carbon footprint?
• Only Scope 1 (Direct) and Scope 2 (Indirect –
electricity use) emissions are regulated and make up
an organisation’s ‘legal’ footprint
What drives carbon management?
• Legislation
– UK/EU Law
• Economic drivers
– Cost savings
• Reputation
– CRC league table
• Environmental benefits
– Lowered carbon
emissions and thus
climate change
impacts
– Helping to reduce
local air quality
problems
Climate Change - UK Legislation
• UK Climate Change Act (2008) is a world-leading
piece of legislation
• 80% cut in carbon emissions by 2050 (originally 60% but
pushed up to 80% by campaigners and a recommendation
from Climate Change Committee)
• CRCEES – Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy
Efficiency Scheme
• Tax of the largest producers of carbon in the country – the
University of Leicester is on the list (there are 2,100
organisations on the list)
Legislation
• EU - Energy Performance of Buildings Directive
(2007) - key legislation governing the energy
performance of publically-accessible buildings across
Europe
• It incorporates two key legal requirements:
– Display Energy Certificates
– Energy Performance Certificates
Legislation
• Display Energy Certificates ensure that all public
buildings (originally over
1,000 m3 but now over
250m3) display an annual
energy performance
certificate in foyer of the
building
• Based on 365 days of actual
data
Legislation
• Energy Performance
Certificates - all public
buildings due for rental,
sales or purchase to
have an energy
performance certificate
produced
• Based on models of
energy performance
What are the costs of carbon (UoL)?
Cost Element
Detail
Costs (2010/2011)
Utilities
Electricity
£2,770,681
Gas
£1,542,928
Oil
£76,752
Steam
£234,288
Other (Biofuel)
TOTAL
Legislation
£8399
£4,633,048
CRCEES
£317,814
EU ETS
£8,085
Air Conditioning
£4,035
DECs
£4,806
EPCs
£2,256
TOTAL
£336,996
Carbon footprint process
Step 5. Verify the
results (optional)
Step 4. Apply
emissions factor
Step 3. Collate the
data
Step 1. Decide on
the method to be
followed
Step 2. Define
organisational and
operational
boundaries
Step 6. Verify that
you have taken
action to reduce
your emissions
(optional)
Carbon footprint – Step 1
• Choose a method to calculate carbon footprint.
• Green House Gases (GHG) protocol / International
Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14064 /
Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs
(DEFRA)
• Be consistent in the methodology
• You will use the DEFRA guidelines which are based
on the GHG protocol
Carbon footprint – Step 2
• Define organisation boundary – are there community
activities in the school?
• Define operational scope
– Identify all emissions related to the activities
• All scope 1 and 2 emissions MUST be included in the footprint
• You may choose what to include in scope 3 footprint
• Confirm with the school/college what your defined
boundaries and scopes will be
Carbon footprint – Step 3
• Collate consumption data for all the emissions
associated with the identified activities.
• Examples of data and units
– Gas and electricity – kilowatt hours (kWh)
– Diesel, petrol, water, etc. – litres
– Oil – litres/tonnes/kWh
• What if we can’t find any standard data?
– Mileage, fuel economy assumptions, apportion,
etc.
Carbon footprint – Step 4
• Carbon footprint is measured in tonnes of CO2
equivalent (tCO2e)
• Use “Emission Factors” to arrive at tonnes of CO2
equivalent
–
–
–
–
http://www.defra.gov.uk/publications/2012/05/30/pb13773-2012-ghg-conversion/
http://www.carbontrust.com/media/18223/ctl153_conversion_factors.pdf
http://www.hefce.ac.uk/media/hefce/content/pubs/2012/201201/12_01.pdf
http://www.hefce.ac.uk/media/hefce/content/pubs/2012/201202/12_02.pdf
• Please use the DEFRA conversion factors
Carbon footprint – Step 4
Using Emissions Factors – University Example
During 2011, the University of Leicester used:
• 400 tonnes of gas oil to heat 5 buildings
• 240 tonnes of wood pellets to heat 2 buildings
• 21,822,507 kWh of gas to heat 10 buildings
• Generated 30,653 kWh of electricity via Photovoltaic in David
Wilson Library and Engineering Concrete Lab
• Used 89,885 litres of water
• Consumed 31,513,067 kWh of electricity.
Carbon footprint – Step 5 & 6
• Verification
– Mandatory and voluntary verification
– It’s good practice to verify results
• Internal audit
• Independent third party audit
Here are the groups you will be
working in
Group
Name
Technical
Teaching/Both
Teaching/Both
A
Quezia Keller Toe
Hoi Yan Yip (Jeanie)
Oluwamodupe Ayeni (Dupsy)
B
Lucky Kabo Sebereko
Zhuang Yanghong (Jane)
Alexandria Lyon
C
Abira Karunananthan
Yin Ting Li (Tracy)
Cherish Nicholson
D
Alexandra Thornber
Li Xiaomei
Shreyansh Patel
E
Madia Mahmood
Weizhuang Liu (Leo)
Mirembe Susan Musisi (Mem)
F
Hannah Swinbourne
Andra Paun
G
Ramkumar SP
Helene Abekhzer
Linnéa Theodora van der Aarde
Kelsyn Rhiannon Delaney
(Teddy)
Carbon footprint for Avenue Primary
School
Return to today’s learning objectives – did
we achieve them?
• Challenge and explore definitions of carbon
management
• Gain an overview of the three different scopes of
carbon
• Understand and apply the principles of creating a
carbon footprint for a school
Email carbon@le.ac.uk with any
further queries
www.le.ac.uk/environment