2008-10-25: MAEECE Presentation Danforth Campus Carbon Footprint

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Washington University, following the trend of many other academic institutions, performed a University-wide carbon emission footprint during the Spring of 2008 for 1990-2007. The carbon footprint was a collaborative effort between university facilities, an outside consultant and Prof. Husar, teaching EECE 449, Sustainable Air Quality. The Sustainable Air Quality class narrowed the scope to the Danforth Campus and focused on three main objectives: (1) develop a carbon footprint causality model; (2) estimate the carbon footprint and (3) compare our estimates to other universities carbon emission estimates. The Danforth campus saw a 50% increase in carbon emission from 1990 with 80% of that due to electricity usage. The class also found that the estimate for carbon emission on the Danforth campus was comparable to other universities that had performed similar footprint analysis. Future work will include using the carbon footprint causality model to explore various methods for carbon emission reduction.