Environmental Conservation
Connecting from Iwate University to the World

Environmental Report2023

Digest Edition

Environmental
Report2023

Iwate University Environmental Policy<Basic Principles>

Iwate University considers environmental conservation and revitalization to be one of the most important challenges of the 21stcentury. Our university is working proactively on environmental
conservation and revitalization education and research, and making contributions toward the achievement of a sustainable society
in light of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) . As part ofthese efforts, members of our university and its affiliated schools
as well as resident university-related parties are working together
to be environmentally friendly in all activities taking place at theuniversity, making efforts to reduce our environmental footprint,
prevent pollution, and improve our campus environment as thesocial responsibility of the university.

<Basic Policies>

Iwate University actively engages in the following activities basedon a medium-term plan under Iwate University Vision 2030 inorder to achieve its basic principles.
1. Enthusiastically expand on education and research related toenvironmental conservation and revitalization, and develop
the environmentally-conscious human resources that societyrequires.

2. Engage in education, awareness, and outreach, and other suchactivities geared toward all types of people, including thosein local communities, based on the findings of education andresearch related to the environment.
3. Collaborate with community NPOs, government, and othersuch entities, to be proactively involved in initiatives for environmental conservation and revitalization, and the preservation of biodiversity in the community.
4. Seek continuous improvements to the on-campus environment
through environmental management systems, while complying with environmental laws and environmental requirements
which Iwate University agrees to.
5. Set annual targets based on the goals of these policies,
and work diligently on initiatives such as saving energy andresources, reducing waste, recycling, and green purchasing.
6. Make environmental policies known to all members of theuniversity, and while carrying out these policies also widely
publish their results to the general public in writing and on
the internet.
Enacted January 26, 2006
Last Revised : March 25, 2022
Dr.OGAWA, Satoshi, President of Iwate University

Iwate University’s Environmental Activities

Promote purchasing in accordance with“Act on Promoting Green Prochrement”

Iwate Univ Coop : Collecting containers for“Bento”, cafeteria lunchboxes

Research on the potential for reducing food waste
in Morioka city

Iwate Univ Coop : sales on used appliances for newcomers

Important Issues in Environmental Management (AY 2022)
The Office of Environmental Management isworking to establish, implement, and maintainenvironmental management system as part ofthe environment-conscious activities of Iwate
University.
The Office of Environmental Management
conducts activities with five working groups that
help execute specialized operations. Among theworking groups, members of the Environmental
Management Student Committee actively participate in Environmental Impact Assessment,Environmental Education, Energy and Resource
Conservation, and Trash and Waste Reduction
working groups.

1. Environmental Impact Assessment WG・Assessing the results of monitoring and measuring environmental objectives, targets, andactivities plans・Operational management of environmental
objectives, targets, and activities plans
・Base energy studies through separate calculations of energy and water usage, and CO2
emissions, in each department.

3. Energy and Resource Conservation WG

・Monitoring and measurements for initiatives toconserve energy and resources
・Working on implementation plans, and monitoring and measuring energy and resources
usage amounts etc.

4. Trash and Waste Reduction WG

・Following up to ensure separation and collection of trash, Standardizing garbage separation
posters throughout the university
・Investigations on the processing and management of waste(Collaborative efforts with theEnvironmental Management Student Committee and sharing information about efforts
within each unit)
・Working on reducing trash etc.

5. Laws and Regulations Assessment WG・Review evaluation methods for environment-related rules and regulations at Iwate
University etc.

2. Environmental Education WG

・Editing environmental report
・Formulating environmental education training
plans and checking the results・Studies to facilitate effective environmental
education and training (including ensuring thatstudents/trainees watch the environmental
education video) etc.

A congress at the Office of Environmental
Management

Initiatives to Reduce Environmental Footprint
Total Energy Inputs / Efforts to reduce heat energy use
Purposes/Objective

purposes: Achieve over 1% reduction in energy use andCO2 emissions compared to the previous year
Objective: Reduce energy use and review the baseline of annual usage by energy source.

Initiatives

1 Recorded monthly usage of seven energy sources(electricity, fuel oil A, kerosene, gasoline, diesel,city gas, and LPG), compared the results with theprevious month or the same quarter in the previous year and reported at the congress of theOffice of Environmental Management. The electricity consumption was also calculated for eachdepartmental unit.
2 Examined the change in monthly usage over thepast 10 years by energy source.
3 Cleaned the air conditioner and regulated theroom temperature during heating and cooling
periods.

OutcomeReduced the consumption of all types of energy inthe academic year (AY) 2022 compared to AY2021:
fuel oil A by 16.9%, kerosene by 12.8%, diesel by
11.1%, city gas by 8.0%, gasoline by 3.2%, LPG by
2.9%, and electricity by 1.4%. This amounted to a
3.5% reduction on a calorie basis, as the total energy
consumption decreased from 172,652 GJ in AY2021
to 166,680 GJ in AY2022.

Total Energy Inputs (converted to heat units)
Target level for AY 2022 (Target value)＊Over the last 5 academic years

Heat units (GJ)
200,000

171,008

171,327

174,165

172,652（ 170,925）
166,680

150,000

100,000

50,0004 Lighting equipment was properly maintained bycleaning and making replacements when necessary.

0

AY2018AY2019AY2020

AY2021

AY2022Emissions of Greenhouse Gases, etc. / Efforts to reduce CO2 emissions
Purposes/Objective

purposes: Achieve over 1% reduction in energy use andCO2 emissions compared to the previous year
Objective: Reduce energy use and review the baseline of annual usage by energy source.

Initiatives1 Calculated the CO2 emissions based on themonthly usage of seven energy sources (electricity, fuel oil A, kerosene, city gas, gasoline, diesel,and LPG), compared the results with the previous
month or the same quarter in the previous year
and reported the results at the congress of theOffice of Environmental Management.
2 Calculated the CO2 emissions based on the electric power consumption for each unit every month.
The results obtained were compared to the sametime period of the previous year and the previousmonth.
3 Room temperature was kept around 28 degrees
Celsius in the summer and 20 degrees Celsius
in the winter when air conditioners were used.
Rooms were ventilated at regular intervals as well.

OutcomeCO2 emissions decreased by 231t-CO2 in AY2022:
fuel oil A by 16.9%, kerosene by 12.8%, diesel by
11.1%, city gas by 8.0%, gasoline by 3.2%, LPG by
2.9%, and electricity by 1.4%. While electricity consumption decreased by 1.4%, the emission factor for
AY2022 was higher than that of AY2021, resulting in
an increase of CO2 emissions from electricity from5,961 t-CO2 to 6,274 t-CO2 , an increase of 313t-CO2. The overall CO2 emissions increased from8,416 t-CO2 in AY2021 to 8,498 t-CO2 in AY2022, anincrease of 82 t-CO2

CO2 Emission by Academic Year
Target level for AY 2022 (Target value)＊Over the last 5 academic years

tons of CO2
12,00010,000

9,189

9,276

9,362

8,416

8,498（8,332）

8,000
6,000
4,000
2,000
0

AY2018AY2019AY2020

AY2021

AY2022

Tohoku Electric Power’s adjusted emission factor of 0.488t-CO2 / 1000kwh

Initiatives to Reduce Environmental Footprint
Input Usage and External Emissions/Material Balance

INPUT
Energy Usage

PowerDiesel

12,856,000 kWh

32 kl

LPGPaper8, 23
230
0,000 sheets

Greenhouse gas emissions

8,498 tons of CO

74,000 m

Sewage discharge

74,000 m

3

General waste

2

Sulphur oxides

0.67tons

93 kl

Water

OUTPUT

160 tons

Chemicals
3

External Emission

10 tons

Industrial waste

Laboratory liquid waste

16 tons3

Heavy oil type-A

30 kl(Converted to A4 size)

68 kl

732,000
732,000 m

Gasoline

2,547 kg
Kerosene

City gas

227tons

BOD contaminant
waste (estimated)tons

12Tohoku Electric Power greenhouse gas emission factor (adjusted):
Tohoku Electric Power 0.000488t-CO2/kWh

Topics for the 2022 academic year
Iwate University was awarded the “ECO Action Award” inthe “Start with what you can do! ECO Action Award 2022.”
Iwate University was awarded the 2022 “ECO Action
Award” for its participation in the “Start with what you
can do! ECO Action Award” campaign, organized by
the Business Subcommittee of the “Iwate Citizens’
Conference for the Prevention of Global Warming.”
The “Iwate Citizens’ Conference for the Preventionof Global Warming” is a group that aims to “promoteefforts to shift to lifestyles and business activities
that emit as little carbon dioxide as possible throughmutual cooperation and collaboration among its
member organizations in order to protect the richnatural environment and prevent global warming, anextremely serious environmental problem that affects
the infrastructure of the people of the prefecture.”
The “ECO Action Award” is given to “businesses
that lead the prefecture in taking measures to prevent
global warming, and businesses that have implemented excellent overall initiatives.”This is the second
time in seven years that Iwate University has received
the ECO Action Award.

The “2022 Winners for Start with what you can do!
ECO Action Award” report introduces the activitiesof the award-winning businesses. Iwate University’s
main initiatives include (1) human resource development (training internal auditors for the operation of anenvironmental management system and conducting
internal audits, etc.), (2) awareness-raising (calculatingand publicizing monthly electricity and city gas consumption and CO2 emissions, etc.), (3) introductionof LED lighting (as of December 2021, LED has been
introduced to approximately 6.8% of the lighting), and(4) greening activities (the EMSC installed green curtains).
We have received
renewed recognition for our
ongoing efforts as environmentally conscious activities
based on the Iwate University environmental management system operation.

EMSC participation in the 15th HESD ForumOn February 18, 2023, three students from the Environmental Management Student Committee (EMSC)
and the Vice Director of the Office of Environmental
Management joined the 15th HESD Forum held at theYS Arena Hachinohe satellite of Hachinohe GakuinUniversity.
The HESD Forum was first held at Iwate University and has been held across Japan with the goal ofexchanging and sharing information among universi-ties and other higher education institutions working
toward ESD (Education for Sustainable Development).
The 15th HESD Forum featured presentations ofresearch and practical case studies, where three EMSC
students presented their activities, the HESD Forum
General Assembly, and a networking session between
the host university and participating students. The following is a report from the students who participated.

Environmental Management Student Committee:
Noa HANAKAGO Faculty of Humanities and Social Scienses,third year
Our activities range from installing green curtains andproviding environmental education to local children.
We were very happy to receive the feedback that ouractivities were lively and active. We also learned a lot
from interacting with students from other universities,
as they had different ways of thinking and different
perspectives. Especially, the opinions that were basedon the activities and experiences of each group werevery unique, and we felt that this was the most interesting and enjoyable part of the networking.
Finally, through this experience, we realized that
our activities play an important role in the SDGs andin creating a better society. In particular, we understood that environmental education is closely related
to the development of human resources for the futuresociety.

We also learned that in order to expand our activities, we need to have a wider view, considering what
benefits exist for both the people who run the activities and those who participate in them. Moreover,
we believe that through networking, our motivation
will be increased and our activities will become more
ambitious. We would like to apply what I have learned
to our future activities.

Iwate University EnvironmentalManagement Student Committee
at the 15th HESD ForumEnvironmental Activities of Young Children and Students
Affiliated Kindergarten

Affiliated Primary School

Kindergarten children picking the vegetables they have grown

Affiliated Junior High School

Investigating the beauty of the Nakatsugawa River by collecting
aquatic organisms

Affiliated Special Needs School

Volunteers clearing snow

Tending the flowerbed

Environmental Activities of Student Circles

Iwate University Wild Birds Club
Working on the golden eagle forest maintenance project

Environmental Management Student Committee

JUMP2022:Picking up trash activities

About the cover
The image shows the activities that the Iwate University Environmental Management Student Committee (EMSC) does every
year to inspire local children to care about the natural environment.
Last year, we held a nature-themed bingo game for local kindergarten children, and through the interaction, both the children
and the university students gained many insights and discoveries.
The image expresses our hope to motivate children for the future to be curious and passionate about the natural environment
through various experiences, as well as the significance and pleasure of environmental education that also contributes to ourdevelopment as university students.
Natsumi TANICHI,Faculty of Humanities and Social Scienses,third year