Carbon footprint calculations
The calculation of carbon footprint is the standard way of measuring and reporting the environmental impact that a building, land, a structure, or a retail location has on the environment.
The carbon footprint of a company, a building, land, a structure, or a retail location is measured in tons of CO2 per year.
- On-site energy production and other industrial activities
- Area of facilities and percent of occupancy
- Facility energy use such as electricity, gas, coal, oil, and solar
- Corporate travel such as plane, rail, vehicle
- Corporate waste
The carbon footprint calculator converts each of these energy, travel, and waste sources from their original unit of measure, for example, kWh or miles, to tons CO2 per year by applying emission conversion factors. The calculator uses the most current energy, travel, and waste data from the energy log, the travel log, and the waste log. These logs are saved until you delete them.
On a recurring basis, which is daily by default, TRIRIGA® searches for any records or locations with changes to the factors that affect the carbon calculation. For example, new energy or travel data is entered. For changed records, the emissions are calculated for each designated location and organization and stores the calculation data in the carbon log. This process can also be triggered manually.
- Energy Conversion Factors
- The conversion factors for converting energy data into grams or
pounds of CO2. Conversion factors can be tailored to be
based on the policy of the company. Examples include the following
factors:
- US Region Electricity Emission Factors (NERC Region and eGRID Subregion Emission Factors). This table contains electricity emission factors for the US regions only.
- World Region Electricity Emission Factors (Electricity Emission Factors - All Fuels)
- World Region Electricity Emission Factors - Coal (Electricity Emission Factors – Coal)
- World Region Electricity Emission Factors - Oil (Electricity Emission Factors – Oil)
- World Region Electricity Emission Factors - Gas (Electricity Emission Factors – Gas)
- Other user-defined emission factors such as factors that are negotiated with an energy provider.
- Travel Conversion Factors
- The conversion factors for converting travel data into grams or pounds of CO2.
- Waste Conversion Factors
- The conversion factors for converting waste data.
Each carbon footprint calculation creates a carbon log on the record for the building, land, the structure, or the retail location. The carbon logs provide a historical view of carbon emissions over the life of the location.