Determining the greenhouse gas impact of university sponsored air travel

Abstract

The American College and University President's Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) has been signed by over 600 campus presidents in all 50 states, committing their campuses to move toward a climate-neutral footprint. In order to achieve this goal, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions must be monitored to ensure compliance and to verify reductions. While some of the GHG data categories may be relatively easy to document, monitoring individual air travel events in the required detail is impractical on a campus wide basis. The method described in this paper blends published statistical data with available campus information to determine campus GHG emissions due to air travel. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2009.