Spatial Estimation and Visualization of CO2 Emissions for Campus Sustainability: The Case of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia

A total of 21 metric tons of CO2 per person in terms of per capita emissions from consumption of energy was recorded in Saudi Arabia in 2011 and forecasts have shown that this emission of CO2 is increasing. This poses the threat of climate change and global warming and therefore the need for the sustainability of the country. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Vision for 2030 addresses environmental sustainability that includes a reduction in CO2 emissions as well as diversified economic growth. Universities have been regarded as institutions with significant responsibilities to resolve the issues of sustainability as well as serve as role model to society by implementing a sustainability plan. This study established a spatial evaluation, estimation, and visualization of the CO2 emissions of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia. The data required for this study were collected from the overall coverage of the university campus buildings by transforming raster data from the satellite image to vector data in the form of polygons, and then multiplying the area by the number of floors of the individual building. ArcGIS 10.3((R)) (ESRI, Redlands, CA, USA) software was used for this campus CO2 emissions evaluation and visualization. The overall estimate of the CO2 emissions for the university campus was 127.7-tons CO2 equivalent. The lowest emission was 0.02-tons CO2 equivalent while the maximum value was 20.9-tons of CO2 equivalent. By this ArcGIS-based evaluation, it is evident that geographically integrated model for campus estimation and visualization of CO2 emissions provides the information for decision makers to develop viable strategies for achieving a higher standard in overall campus sustainability and addressing the issue of climate change.