Carbon Footprint

Brandeis Greenhouse Gas Inventory

Brandeis reports its greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory publicly online. Below is a brief snapshot of our GHG emissions over time. For more detailed reports on our annual emissions by source and category, please refer to our public reporting page in SIMAP.

Brandeis University measures the following emissions as part of its greenhouse gas inventory:

Scope 1

  • Stationary combustion: use of natural gas and oil in onsite equipment such as the central heating plant, residential heating, boilers, water heaters, etc.
  • Direct transportation: Fuel used by university-owned vehicles.
  • Refrigerants: Refrigerants used in the operation of on-campus refrigeration equipment.

Scope 2

  • Purchased electricity.

Scope 3

  • Faculty, staff and student commuting.
  • University-funded air travel booked via the university’s travel agencies (to the extent that data is available).
  • Electricity transmission and distribution losses.
  • Food purchases via the Cool Food Calculator. See more information on our Dining page.
  • Trash, recycling and compost.
  • Anything else under Brandeis' operational control that is not included in scopes 1 and 2.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions as Proportion of Total

Scope 1 and 2
Fiscal year 2022
Source of emissions Percentage of Total
Natural gas & oil 58.9%
Electricity 39.5%
Campus vehicles 1.3%
Refrigerants 0.4%

CO2e Emissions and goals

Scope 1 and 2
(FY 2015-FY 2021)

Year Scope 1 + 2 Emissions (in metric tonnes) Change over prior year Goals/ change over baseline
FY 2015 28,363 Baseline figure
FY 2016 25,179 -11.2%
FY 2017 25,474 +1.2%
FY 2018 24,122 -5.3% FY 18 goal: -10%; actual: -14.9%
FY 2019 25,771 +6.8%
FY 2020 23,888 -7.3% FY 20 goal: -15%; actual: -15.8%
FY 2021 23,081 -3.4%
FY22 24,473 +6%