Introduction to Carbon Footprinting

As climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts increase, more campuses, organizations, and communities are tracking and managing their greenhouse gas (GHG) footprints. This is a technical process, but is not one that you need to be a scientist or math whiz to learn. With an understanding of some basic GHG accounting concepts and an awareness of the tools and resources available, anyone can help their organization or community take this important first step towards improved sustainability.

In this 4-hour virtual course, we will introduce you to key concepts for GHG accounting. The course will include the following topics:

• The benefits of conducting a GHG inventory
• Case studies as examples, including UNH’s carbon footprint
• Core concepts for GHG inventories, such as setting system boundaries, emissions “scopes,” and an overview of the data requirements
• High-level overview of the entire process for calculating a GHG inventory, from data collection to reporting

This introductory course will provide foundational knowledge on the process and benefits of conducting a GHG inventory. We will demonstrate GHG inventory concepts using SIMAP (www.unhsimap.org), a carbon and nitrogen footprint tool that is hosted by the UNH Sustainability Institute. Future course offerings will provide more detail on how to calculate and manage an organization or community’s GHG footprint.

This course will include presentations from the instructors, independent exercises for students to familiarize themselves with key concepts, and Q&A sessions.

This course is offered free of charge to current UNH students. Please reach out to Jennifer Andrews for details jennifer.andrews@unh.edu.

This program is offered in partnership with the UNH Sustainability Institute