GHG Protocol

This protocol outlines the process for inventorying Scope 1 and Scope 2 Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions for Indiana University. Completion of this process is overseen annually by IU Sustainability, with support and data provided by numerous campus partners, and executed as follows:

1. IU Sustainability will complete inventories for the following campuses: IU Bloomington, IU East, IU Kokomo, IU Northwest, IU South Bend, IU Southeast, and IU Indianapolis (which includes IU Columbus and IU Fort Wayne).
2. Completing this process for each campus requires collaborative support from Capital Planning and Facilities (CPF) Utilities. Relevant stakeholders shall be consulted, such as the facilities operations directors and Vice Chancellors for Finance and Administration for each campus. Other important collaborators for all campuses are noted throughout this document.

Rationale & Objective

This protocol, building on the guidelines from the GHG Protocol, was established in 2020 to standardize the GHG Inventory process for all IU Campuses and allow for consistency over time. This Protocol shall be followed to track emissions for the Climate Action Plan, approved in 2023.

1. This Protocol outlines the process for conducting the Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG Inventories for IU Owned facilities.

Calculating Emissions

Unless specified along with the results, IU utilizes the following:

1. Platform: Indiana University shall use the Sustainability Indicator Management and Analysis Platform (SIMAP) to inventory emissions.
2. Emissions from Purchased Utilities: Indiana University shall use the location-based reporting when reporting a single emissions number, that number shall represent location-based emissions. Market based emissions shall be reported following the dual-reporting framework outlined in the GHG Protocol. Market-based emissions (or usage) shall not be added to location-based emissions (or usage) as this results in double-counting emissions.

Institutional Boundaries

Indiana University uses a combined fiscal and operational boundary. That is, Indiana University must own (fiscal responsibility) and operate (operational responsibility) the facility for it to be included in the GHG Inventory.

1. Because of Indiana University’s complex property ownership structure, a process has been defined to annually determine which properties to include within and exclude from the inventory. IU Sustainability is responsible for this component, with collaborative support from a variety of stakeholders. Examples of buildings that are excluded from the inventory are:
   1. Spaces Leased to IU – these emissions are Scope 3 Category 8 Upstream Leased Assets.
   2. Spaces IU owns but leases out – these emissions are Scope 3 Category 13 Downstream Leased Assets.
   3. Spaces Owned by the IU Foundation – the IU Foundation is a separate, legal entity from Indiana University. Where a building is owned by the Foundation and leased to IU, these emissions are Scope 3 Category 8 Upstream Leased Assets. Where the building is Owned by the IU Foundation and not occupied by IU, these emissions are not included in IU’s inventory.
2. Square footage is utilized for the purposes of normalization. Where raw numbers are reported, square footage is not utilized.

Data Collection

The annual collection of the data inputted into SIMAP shall include the following:

1. Centrally Tracked Purchased Fuels:
   1. IU Sustainability shall collaborate with CPF Utilities personnel to pull reports on fuels purchased from EnergyCap. Theses fuels include:
      1. Electricity
      2. Natural Gas
      3. Steam
      4. Chilled Water
      5. Propane
      6. Gasoline
      7. Diesel
      8. Backup fuels for the Central Heating Plant (Bloomington only)
   2. IU Sustainability shall collaborate with IU Fleet Services to collect quantities and types of fuels used by vehicles tracked by IU Fleet Services.
      
      
2. Non-Centrally Tracked Purchased Fuels: For fuels not tracked in EnergyCap, IU Sustainability will contact appropriate personnel to retrieve an accounting of this fuel. Examples include:
   1. Liquid and gas fuels (diesel, propane, gasoline) used in non-Bloomington-based equipment and vehicles (lawncare equipment, golf carts, etc.)
   2. Departmental road vehicles not centrally tracked
   3. Fuel from the Campus Bus (Bloomington)
   4. On-campus renewable energy generators – these are considered purchased in that they displace a purchased utility.
      
      
3. Non-Fuel contributors:
   1. Fertilization usage at each campus
   2. Refrigerant replacements
   3. Animals

Inventory Quality Assurance

The following will occur to support GHG inventory accuracy:

1. The Real Estate team will be asked to verify the buildings included and excluded from the inventory based on the boundary described above. The list of included buildings shall be reviewed year-over-year in side-by-side comparisons. Where there are discrepancies (e.g., large increases or decreases), IU Sustainability shall work with the Real Estate office to troubleshoot data or investigate drivers of the change.
2. The CPF Utilities team will be asked to review information pulled from EnergyCap prior to being entered into SIMAP to confirm accuracy.
3. Emissions inventories and fuel usages shall be reviewed year-over-year in side-by-side comparisons. Where there are discrepancies (e.g., large increases or decreases), IU Sustainability shall work with the reporting partner to troubleshoot data or investigate drivers of the change.
4. At any time, IU Sustainability may request internal or external data reviews.

Pre-Publication

Prior to publication of the GHG Inventory, IU Sustainability shall have relevant stakeholders review the emissions inventory. This may occur concurrently to the Inventory Quality Assurance component or after.

Publication of Results

Results shall be published annually for each campus. Public results can be found:

1. On the IU GHG Dashboards website.
2. In the most recent STARS report for the campus published and hosted by AASHE.