Determination of carbon footprint with IPCC Tier 1 and DEFRA methods: The case study of Erzincan Binali Yildirim University

Since carbon footprint is the main cause of global warming, it is the biggest problem of our day and future that affects ecology, nature and all humanity. Carbon footprint has recently emerged as a subject on which important research has been done. Especially in buildings, carbon footprint calculations have gained importance in terms of their effect on global warming and energy efficiency. In this study, the carbon footprint of Erzincan Binali Yıldırım University for 2019 and 2020 was calculated using the university's natural gas, coal, gasoline, diesel and electricity consumption data. Calculation has done first with the IPCC Tier 1 approach, then using the conversion factors of DEFRA. The primary carbon footprint of EBYU has been calculated as 2753,2 tCO2e for 2019 and 2383,74 tCO2e for 2020, with the IPCC Methodology Tier 1 approach. Compared to 2019, there is a 13,42% decrease in the amount of emissions. With DEFRA conversion factors, 2314,53 tCO2e emissions for 2019 and 1826,54 tCO2e emissions for 2020 were calculated. Compared to 2019, there is a 21,08% decrease in the amount of emissions. This difference between the IPCC Tier 1 approach and DEFRA is due to the fact that the emission factors used in the IPCC Tier 1 approach calculations are general and DEFRA uses national data from the UK. It is thought that this decrease in carbon emissions is due to the change in the climate, as well as the Covid-19 pandemic process, due to the two-week break from March 13 in 2020, and then the conduct of the courses with distance education.