Ohio University’s greenhouse gas emissions and energy intensity have dropped, but it still has a long way to go.
The institution released its second sustainability report this month, which showed progress toward some of its campus-wide goals, but it’s still far from meeting many of its stated benchmarks.
OU’s progress has been made toward meeting its 35 benchmarks, which were approved by OU in the Sustainability Plan it adopted in June 2011, and the Climate Action Plan, adopted in November 2012.
Sustainability has been a focus for OU for years, but it only recently started articulating its goals in such detail, said Annie Laurie Cadmus, OU’s director of sustainability.
Highlights of the report included the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by two percent in fiscal year 2012 compared to 2011; a goal of reducing overall emissions 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2030; and a goal to be carbon neutral by 2075.
The university also reduced its energy intensity by 9.7 percent in fiscal year 2012 compared to 2004 levels. The university’s stated goal is to reduce energy intensity 20 percent by the end of this year below 2004 levels.
In the first sustainability report, released in October 2012, “progress bars” were included that provided information as to how close OU was to meeting each benchmark. Such reporting tools have been removed in the second report, because they “were both difficult to interpret and lacked scientific verification of the assessment,” according to the October 2013 report.
The university is continuing work on its guaranteed energy performance contract, an effort to limit OU’s energy and water use to save OU $38 million, according to an OU Compass report.
“It’s a great opportunity for the university,” Cadmus said. “I think one of the most exciting things the university is doing right now is the energy performance contract.”
The contract, announced in September 2012, is projected to conserve 9 million gallons of water and avoid creating 50,145 metric tons of carbon dioxide during the contract’s 15-year period, according to the Compass report.
Such work has been going on at OU since 2000, said Harry Wyatt, associate vice president for Facilities.
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