The sustainableIT Carbon Report produces a GHG audit report for the company or organisation concerned, also known as a carbon footprint. The report is based on the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Standard which is regarded as the definitive GHG reporting standard.
The solution is based on proprietary tooling developed by sustainableIT which allows us to produce an audit report in a cost effective and competitive manner, making it accessible to businesses of all sizes.
Typical solution flow:
What is a carbon footprint?
Lights, heating and cooling, computers, printers, copiers, business travel, and commuting are all ways that your business or office, even if it is small, contributes to global climate change and your carbon footprint. Usually we think of industry—of factories with smokestacks—when we consider the major sources of the carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to climate change. Although that is correct offices and services based companies account for a surprisingly large part of the climate change problem.
Some statistics provided by the United States Department of Energy back this up:
- Office buildings account for 19 percent of all commercial energy consumption.
- Seventy percent of office building energy consumption is electricity, which is used for lighting, heating, cooling, and office equipment.
- More than a quarter of U.S. GHG emissions are from transportation sources. This includes travel by road, rail, and air, including the transportation related emissions generated by employees travelling for office-related business and commuting to and from their jobs.
- Eighty percent of transportation-related fossil fuel use comes from road transportation and 13 percent from aviation.2 Forty-seven percent of passengers on U.S. domestic flights are travelling for business.
A carbon footprint or GHG inventory is the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by an organisation, usually over a period of 12 months. For simplicity of reporting, it is often expressed in terms of the amount of carbon dioxide, or its equivalent of other GHGs, emitted.
Typical activities or operations that contribute to a organisation’s carbon footprint include fuel burned in company owned assets, purchased electricity, employee commuting and paper use. A company’s carbon footprint can be measured by undertaking a GHG emissions audit to document its inventory.
Once the size of a carbon footprint is known, a strategy can be devised to reduce it, e.g. by technological developments, better process and product management, energy efficiency or offsetting.
Are there any business benefits?
Even if a company or organisation recognises that its business activities contribute to climate change, often it must still establish a business case to take action. Perhaps the best message to send a company’s decision makers is that GHG management—that is, measuring its company’s GHG emissions, setting a reduction target, and implementing a reduction strategy—will build corporate value and earn benefits to the company.
Improving your understanding of your company’s GHG emissions by compiling a GHG inventory makes good business sense. Companies frequently cite the following business goals as reasons for compiling a GHG inventory:
- Managing GHG risks and identifying reduction opportunities in terms of cost and energy savings
- Public reporting and participation in voluntary GHG program
- Recognition for early voluntary action
- Competitive positioning and improved shareholder relations
- Participating in madatory reporting programs or gearing themselves up for pending legisliation or taxation regimes.