Agnes Scott is planning and implementing a number of activities to reduce our energy use. 与行业最佳实践保持一致, we have first focused on behavior change and increasing energy efficiency by prioritizing equipment replacement and building envelope improvement projects. These energy and water 保护 projects have been funded through the college’s nationally recognized 环保循环基金. In conjunction with energy efficiency and water 保护 efforts, the college was the first non-profit in the state of Georgia to install solar arrays on their campus in 2014.
Our energy reduction efforts stem from our commitment to the American College & 大学校长气候承诺. Agnes Scott signed the Climate Commitment in September 2007, as one of the charter signatories. We submitted our baseline greenhouse gas emissions inventory on September 15, 2008. Our first Climate Action Plan (CAP) was completed during the summer of 2009 and submitted to the ACUPCC on September 15, 2009. 正如我们在2009年CAP中所述, the college is committed to achieving carbon neutrality of Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2037.
Since 2024, the college has reduced its carbon footprint by over 50% for Scope 1 and 2 emissions.
You can track our progress on the Second Nature website here.
A climate action plan (CAP) is a roadmap for how an institution will reduce its net carbon emissions to zero over a certain period of time. Universities and colleges generate carbon emissions from their infrastructure, 特别是通过购买化石燃料能源, 使用排放温室气体的制冷剂, 还有“间接”来源, 喜欢出国留学旅行和日常通勤.
Our CAP strategy is to reduce our energy usage by installing higher-efficiency equipment and promoting energy-保护 behaviors, 同时增加我们的可再生能源. 最后, 学院将以社区为中心, local carbon offsets to cover the emissions that are impossible to avoid or replace.
这些行动的顺序是至关重要的. 第一个, we reduce our total energy demand by energy 保护 (education) and energy efficiency (equipment upgrades). Then, we purchase renewable energy to transition our energy consumption to clean sources. 最后, 我们购买以社区为中心的产品, local carbon credits to offset the portion of our footprint we cannot avoid with efficiency, 保护, 或可再生能源.
2007年，前总统奥巴马. 伊丽莎白·基斯签署了美国学院 & University Presidents' Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), 因此, ambitiously committing 正规博彩十大网站排名学院 to carbon neutrality by 2037.
的承诺, 从那时起, has evolved into the Climate Leadership Commitment facilitated by the non-profit organization Second Nature. The transformation, however, did not only come in the form of a name change. We have also committed ourselves to setting a resilience strategy for our community, 与迪凯特市合作. 尽管面临着校园社区发展等挑战, and lack of innovative and robust renewable energy programs in Georgia, we have made significant progress toward our goal to reduce our net campus carbon footprint to zero.
此外, the 可持续发展中心 staff has revisioned the trajectory of our journey to carbon neutrality and gained further insight on solutions that fit our unique context.
Agnes Scott’s Sustainability Steering Committee (SSC) requested that the energy efficiency and alternative energy subcommittee that guided the GHG emissions inventory also guide the CAP.
This subcommittee has been led by three co-chairs: our director of facilities, 化学教授, and an alumna who served as a member of Georgia’s Public Service Commission. 联合主席和其他小组委员会成员 met several times in the fall of 2008 to discuss what information was needed in order to decide on potential carbon emissions reduction goals. The same student intern who conducted the GHG emissions inventory collected the necessary information as a work-study student in 2008-2009. 与学院的可持续发展工作人员一起, 她还审查了气候行动计划和报告, along with case-studies from other colleges and universities.
2009年春天, the subcommittee looked at potential reduction goals and agreed to report on several reduction scenarios to the full SSC and the Board of Trustees. The reduction estimates were based on specific research, such as:
- Conservation: estimates based on available information about past reductions at Agnes Scott due to 保护 messaging. Also based on research about reductions achieved at other colleges and universities.
- Efficiency: estimates based on a three-phase mechanical retrofitting plan combined with energy saving projects from the deferred maintenance plan.
- Renewable energy: estimates based on a professional assessment of potential roof-top solar capacity.
- The SSC and Trustees responded with support for the scenarios, asking the subcommittee to return with refined reduction options.
