Expand & Publicize Data Collection of Campus Greenhouse Gas Emission Sources

This initiative proposes to regularly quantify water, energy, waste, and greenhouse gas emissions data to enhance monitoring and evaluation of the Sustainability & Climate Action Plan. Implementing this initiative will lead to an established centralized inventory of collected data and clear data reporting guidelines. By institutionalizing top-down and bottom-up data collection and making it accessible to the community, the university aims to foster awareness, promote citizen science engagement, and create research opportunities, thereby advancing its sustainability goals. Actionable items include:

• Create a master inventory of existing data, detailing types, collectors, temporal and geographic granularity, and storage locations. Establish clear reporting guidelines and a central repository for Action Plan related data.
• Use bottom-up and top-down data collection methods to ensure diverse data categories and a robust master inventory.
• Collect key sustainability and greenhouse gas emissions data (including carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and industrial gases like HFCs, PFCs, SF6, NF3) as well as water, electricity, and waste at finer geographic and temporal frequency to the extent possible.
• Prioritize support for areas and departments with the greatest impact and those with fewer resources to make changes and collect data.