How do I measure my carbon footprint?
The first step in any carbon reduction strategy is to measure your carbon footprint. This allows you to see where most of your emissions are coming from and to prioritise areas for improvement.
According to research, only 12% of SMEs in the UK know their carbon footprint and only 15% understand how to calculate it. But once you know where to start, it’s relatively simple to get a good understanding of your carbon footprint.
A carbon footprint is measured in tonnes of CO2 equivalent (tCO2e). To get this figure, activity data (such as the energy used to heat office spaces, or the fuel used to transport goods) is converted into its CO2 equivalent. Governments usually produce annual conversion data that contains all the CO2 equivalents you need. You can access the UK Government’s here.
Once you have the data, it’s a simple equation:
GHG emissions = activity data (e.g., electricity used in kWh) x emission conversion factor
There are tools available that will do these calculations for you. Triplo has a free carbon footprint calculator. Our free carbon calculator provides you with a detailed breakdown of your emissions from different sources and scopes including utilities, transport, and homeworking. The results enable you to identify the areas where you can make the biggest carbon reductions.
The tool will also measure your carbon footprint in both absolute terms (i.e., your total emissions) and per employee or annual revenue terms. Over time, this will allow you to see how your footprint has changed relative to your annual growth.
Collecting activity data
To calculate your carbon footprint, you’ll need to collect activity data. The main categories of activity data for SMEs are often:
- Utilities: For this one, you’ll need your electricity and gas usage in kWh. This information can be found on your bills and/or through meter readings. Smart-meters and sub-meters are also great tools if you have them because they show real-time energy usage.
- Staff commuting: You will need information on the number of staff who commute into the workplace including their mode of transport and miles travelled. This information could be collected by sending a survey out to staff.
- Travel/Transportation: You’ll often be asked to provide information on the number of miles travelled/the cost of fuel purchased for company-owned and company non-owned vehicles.
- Waste: This is calculated in tonnes of general waste, tonnes of recycled waste, and tonnes of food waste. If you don’t know your waste in tonnes, tools will often allow you to estimate your waste based on how many bins are in your premises, their size and how many times you empty them.
- Hotel Stays: You’ll need information on the location of hotels and the total number of nights.
- Products and Services: An estimate for this section is often made using expenditure data on food and drink purchased for employees, stationary expenditure, furniture expenditure, electronics expenditure, water bill, and so on.
- Homeworking: To understand the emissions produced by homeworkers you’ll need information on the number of employees working from home each week. If you want more accurate results, you could also send out a survey asking staff questions about how much energy they use during a working day and whether they have a green energy tariff.
You should aim to collect data for at least 12 months. This means your business can account for seasonal and business changes that occur over the year.
It’s also important to remember that the more data you have, the more accurate your carbon footprint will be. So it’s worth putting in the effort to collect the necessary data.
How do I measure my carbon footprint?
The first step in any carbon reduction strategy is to measure your carbon footprint. This allows you to see where most of your emissions are coming from and to prioritise areas for improvement.
According to research, only 12% of SMEs in the UK know their carbon footprint and only 15% understand how to calculate it. But once you know where to start, it’s relatively simple to get a good understanding of your carbon footprint.
A carbon footprint is measured in tonnes of CO2 equivalent (tCO2e). To get this figure, activity data (such as the energy used to heat office spaces, or the fuel used to transport goods) is converted into its CO2 equivalent. Governments usually produce annual conversion data that contains all the CO2 equivalents you need. You can access the UK Government’s here.
Once you have the data, it’s a simple equation:
GHG emissions = activity data (e.g., electricity used in kWh) x emission conversion factor
There are tools available that will do these calculations for you. Triplo has a free carbon footprint calculator. Our free carbon calculator provides you with a detailed breakdown of your emissions from different sources and scopes including utilities, transport, and homeworking. The results enable you to identify the areas where you can make the biggest carbon reductions.
The tool will also measure your carbon footprint in both absolute terms (i.e., your total emissions) and per employee or annual revenue terms. Over time, this will allow you to see how your footprint has changed relative to your annual growth.
Collecting activity data
To calculate your carbon footprint, you’ll need to collect activity data. The main categories of activity data for SMEs are often:
- Utilities: For this one, you’ll need your electricity and gas usage in kWh. This information can be found on your bills and/or through meter readings. Smart-meters and sub-meters are also great tools if you have them because they show real-time energy usage.
- Staff commuting: You will need information on the number of staff who commute into the workplace including their mode of transport and miles travelled. This information could be collected by sending a survey out to staff.
- Travel/Transportation: You’ll often be asked to provide information on the number of miles travelled/the cost of fuel purchased for company-owned and company non-owned vehicles.
- Waste: This is calculated in tonnes of general waste, tonnes of recycled waste, and tonnes of food waste. If you don’t know your waste in tonnes, tools will often allow you to estimate your waste based on how many bins are in your premises, their size and how many times you empty them.
- Hotel Stays: You’ll need information on the location of hotels and the total number of nights.
- Products and Services: An estimate for this section is often made using expenditure data on food and drink purchased for employees, stationary expenditure, furniture expenditure, electronics expenditure, water bill, and so on.
- Homeworking: To understand the emissions produced by homeworkers you’ll need information on the number of employees working from home each week. If you want more accurate results, you could also send out a survey asking staff questions about how much energy they use during a working day and whether they have a green energy tariff.
You should aim to collect data for at least 12 months. This means your business can account for seasonal and business changes that occur over the year.
It’s also important to remember that the more data you have, the more accurate your carbon footprint will be. So it’s worth putting in the effort to collect the necessary data.