Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory
Following guidelines established by the American College and University President's Climate Commitment, Green Mountain College conducts a semi-annual Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory using the Clean Air-Cool Planet Campus Carbon Calculator. This data was used to create the GMC Climate Action Plan and will continue to shape assessment and implementation of the plan. To read more about methods and results, download the 2011, 2009 and 2007 inventories.
Green Mountain College (GMC) completed its third Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Inventory in July of 2011. This study assessed emissions from Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 (July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2011) and compared that data with results from the prior two inventories, taken FY 2009 and FY 2007. Between the years 2007 and 2011, GMC reduced its total emissions by 1,706 metric tons of carbon equivalent. In FY 2011, GMC achieved climate neutrality by significantly reducing Scope 1 and 3 emissions, and purchasing verified carbon offsets from a local farm methane project, registered and retired on the Chicago Climate Exchange. In doing so, GMC became the second college in the country to achieve climate neutrality, and the first to do so through a holistic approach leading to significant emissions reductions followed by the purchase of local, high-quality carbon offsets.