# Towards a Climate-Neutral Campus: Carbon Footprint Assessment in Higher Education Institutions
## 4 Results
In 2022, the \"Waste from Operations\" category constituted the largest source of Scope 3 GHG emissions, representing 13.6% of the total emissions profile, followed by \"Purchased Goods and Services\" with a share of 8.7%, as depicted in Figure 3. In 2023, the category \"Purchased Goods and Services\" increased to 10.2% of total emissions, becoming the most significant contributor, while \"Waste from Operations\" experienced a substantial decrease of 60.8% (see Table 1), representing 8.7% of total emissions. This major decrease in \"Waste from Operations\" emissions from 2022 to 2023 is attributed to the completion of major building renovations in 2023 which significantly altered the university's waste stream. In 2022, during the construction phase, a considerable amount of construction and demolition waste was generated, contributing substantially to the \"Waste from Operations\" category. With the completion of these projects, this source of waste was significantly reduced in 2023. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{3}{*}{**Scope**} & \multirow{3}{*}{**Source of Emission**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Year**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Person**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Area**} \\ \cline{3-8}  & & **2022** & **2023** & **19,722** & **19,985** & **238,678** \\ \cline{2-8}  & & & **2022** & **2023** & **2022** & **2023** \\ \cline{3-8}  & & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**tCO\({}_{2}\)e/Year**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**tCO\({}_{2}\)e/Person**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**tCO\({}_{2}\)e/m\({}^{2}\)**} \\ \hline \multirow{3}{*}{**Scope 1**} & Natural gas & 4667.93 & 4836.64 & 0.237 & 0.242 & 0.020 & 0.020 \\ \cline{2-8}  & Mobile fuel & 0.11 & 0.12 & 0.000 & 0.000 & 0.000 & 0.000 \\ \hline \multirow{3}{*}{**Scope 2**} & Electricity location base & 718.59 & 769.74 & 0.036 & 0.039 & 0.003 & 0.003 \\ \cline{2-8}  & Electricity market base & 539.91 & 578.34 & 0.027 & 0.029 & 0.002 & 0.002 \\ \cline{2-8}  & Self-generated renewable energy & 0.00 & \(-\)2.39 & 0.000 & 0.000 & 0.000 & 0.000 \\ \hline \multirow{3}{*}{**Scope 3**} & Purchased goods and services & 645.77 & 738.03 & 0.033 & 0.037 & 0.003 & 0.003 \\ \cline{2-8}  & Capital goods & 75.75 & 75.75 & 0.004 & 0.004 & 0.000 & 0.000 \\ \cline{2-8}  & Fuel and energy & 76.01 & 78.61 & 0.004 & 0.004 & 0.000 & 0.000 \\ \cline{2-8}  & Waste from operations & 1014.27 & 630.84 & 0.051 & 0.032 & 0.004 & 0.003 \\ \cline{2-8}  & Business travel & 72.09 & 58.11 & 0.004 & 0.003 & 0.000 & 0.000 \\ \cline{2-8}  & Investments & 174.57 & 43.63 & 0.009 & 0.002 & 0.001 & 0.000 \\ \hline
**1 + 2 + 3** & **Total:** & **7445.10** & **7229.09** & **0.378** & **0.362** & **0.031** & **0.030** \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: Carbon footprint of the HEI in 2022 and 2023. To gain a deeper understanding of the environmental impacts associated with each Scope, Figure 5 provides a detailed breakdown of the emissions for 2022 and 2023. Driven by its sustainability goals and the need to modernize its infrastructure, TUCN launched a major, multi-phased building renovation project in 2020. This initiative encompasses numerous facilities across campus and focuses on improvements in energy efficiency and environmental impact reduction. Given the ongoing building renovations during the reported period of this study, the environmental impacts of these initiatives are primarily reflected in Scope 3 emissions, which include purchased goods and services and waste from operations, activities associated with the renovation process. This significant proportion underscores the crucial role of Scope 3 emissions in the overall CF assessment. The renovation process temporarily increased Scope 3 emissions in 2022, with a subsequent reduction in 2023. However, these are expected to be offset by significant energy savings and waste reduction once the projects are completed. The renovated buildings are expected to achieve a nearly-Zero Energy Building (nZEB) standard [40], significantly reducing the primary energy consumption by an estimated 25-45%.