Session Recap >> A New Approach to Offsetting at the...
Presenter: Maxwell Cunningham
William & Mary is a suburban campus in Virginia. About 5,800 undergrads. A public university. Sustainability at W&M is an emerging field. Student Environmental Action Coalition has existed for many years, but committee on sustainability emerged more recently.
Presenter's focus is on improving sustainability in transportion: carpooling, public transit usage, and maybe offsetting. They had never found a offset program that matched their needs in the past.
On a basic level, an offset is compensation for activities that can't be avoided -- to make up for it, we look for a project that is reducing emissions, and we help that project along.
Most offset providers (e.g. Native Energy, Renewable Choice Energy) cater to large scale entities or corporations with large scale carbon reducing projects. W&M does not kind of money needed to make the big $$ donations that these companies generally broker. The broker's are sometimes for-profit companies that don't disclose all information about where the money is going when you pay them for offsets.
For individuals, these brokers may not be entirely suitable partners. W&M decided to launch their own offset program with 100% of the money going to campus project to reduce GHG emissions. Members of W&M community could offset their own activities by contributing to this fund.
For example, a student might offset one metric ton of GHG emissions associated with a round-trip flight to Asia by paying $114 into the fund.
Right now, the program is still in an experimental phase. It was launched last May during exam time. Now they are promoting the program to the wider community.
The audience that they will reach: the "core" who are the students enrolled and faculty and staff who cater directly to those students. Study Abroad department, for example, is a great target. Also, commuters who would be interested in offsetting emissions associated with their travel.
Another group worth marketing to: alumni. People who have also had trouble finding an opportunity that is appropriate to their scale and their needs and provide transparency in use of funds. Conference participants at W&M might also choose to buy these local offsets.
What this program has to offer:
- Putting offsetting on a local level
- Involving people in campus-based sustainability initiative driving toward carbon neutrality
- Education of participants
Additional Information from the Q&A
There is an online calculator for emissions. The website for the program is http://offset.wm.edu. There you can find a list of activities that an individual might be interested in offsetting. The online calculator will help users determine how much to donate.
The website interface was designed internally at W&M.
In response to concerns about additionality, W&M chooses projects to fund with this program that would not be implemented otherwise. There is no 3rd party verifying the offsets, however.
The program right now is open to any contributor, inside or outside the university. An audience member suggested that there needs to be attention paid to who is claiming which offsets to avoid double-dip accounting.
Specific projects that have been proposed for implementation through this fund: Replacing HVAC systems in old buildings. These are projects that were not slated to be completed otherwise, but have significant energy savings associated with them.
Marketing: They are struggling with that right now. Including flyers in the study abroad packet. May send out info to conference attendees.
Carbon emissions are estimated using Terrapass method. Carbon reductions on projects were estimated by the campus energy manager. Planning on charging about $114 per metric ton.
Offsets are not currently registered through any third party.
W&M has not yet considered a revolving loan fund to finance the projects in question. But this offset program may have its own merits beyond financing the projects.
Posted: October 10, 2011, 4:20 PM