The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research Carbon Footprint Project

The Carbon Footprint Project is the flagship project of Green Campus. Its purpose is to create a snapshot of the situation and estimate the number of resources consumed by the university's activities to think about the environmental impact of the university. In the first phase, the project will take place at the main campus of Ben Gurion University of the Negev - Marcus Campus, but later it will document and analyze the activity on all campuses.

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, similar to leading universities in the world, is engaged in monitoring the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions resulting from its academic and daily activities. The Carbon Footprint Project evaluates the environmental footprint of the university's activities by using the following research methods from the world of environmental accounting: Material Flow Analysis1 and Carbon Footprint2. These analyses enable the identification of a central point of influence on the environmental performance or actions in which the university presents effective performance. The monitoring of the various components was carried out over several years with a combination of quantitative and qualitative tools - the environmental assessment focused on seven areas:

Mileage

Green building

Water

Food

Energy

Waste

Sustainable procurement

So how do you calculate a carbon footprint?

The calculation of the footprint is based on quantitative data that is collected from operational, procurement, and financial factors to trace the flow of materials consumed by the university in the research, teaching, and ongoing functioning of the campus. These are performed alongside monitoring of the by-products, such as the various waste streams. Next, all activities are translated into equivalent values for greenhouse gas emissions (CO2eq) or other environmental indicators like the ecological footprint, using professional literature and emission coefficients adapted to Israel. An aggregated scheme of all factors represents the university's carbon footprint.
In addition, from time to time Green Campus initiates surveys, to track and evaluate changing trends over time. The rationale is to understand the patterns of use and consumption resulting from significant human activity on campus. Based on these data and findings, Green Campus constructs work plans, promotes focal projects, and pinpoints possible improvements in the ongoing management of the university from an environmental point of view.

Photo	Title
	Paper consumption survey
	How do you get to the university? (Mileage survey)
	Lunch survey
	Waste survey

Terms

¹Material flow analysis – this method quantitatively monitors the flow of material and energy within a system (economic or organizational) to describe the material balance (inputs versus emissions). The application of the methodology is possible on three scales from the macro to the micro level, relevant to organizations and companies, and allows the analysis to be adapted to the unique characteristics of the specific organization. The analysis focuses on economic and environmental issues from an organizational perspective and provides detailed information for decision-making processes or regarding the use of specific ingredients or products.

²Carbon footprint – a measure that refers to the impact of human activity on the environment in terms of greenhouse gas emissions expressed in carbon dioxide equivalent units (CO2eq). This method is effective for diagnosing and quantifying the contribution of the activity of organizations or individuals to the climate change processes.