What should be considered when choosing tools for carbon footprint calculations? Before you enter the numbers into the computer and compile the results, make at least sure that the calculation has been carried out using standard-based tools, that it is reliable, and that the emission factors are up to date. By following these principles in carbon footprint calculations, the same processes for future years will be easy to carry out.
The next round of emissions calculations and reports will be on companies’ desks sooner than we realize. If your company has conducted emissions calculations before, now is a good time to assess whether the calculation tools meet your company’s needs and to improve the calculation process by automating certain steps, for example. If, on the other hand, you are calculating emissions for the first time in accordance with sustainability reporting standards such as VS or ESRS E1, or if a routine for the calculations has not yet been established, you should consider at least the following factors when selecting a calculation tool.
What kinds of tools are available for calculating carbon footprints, and what are they based on?
First and foremost, it is essential to know what is being calculated and to determine whether the calculation tool is suitable for that specific calculation. Options might include calculating a company’s Scope 1–3 emissions or determining the carbon footprint of a specific product. In addition, the calculator should be based on the most widely recognized carbon footprint calculation standards.
On the OpenCO2net carbon footprint platform, you’ll find a corporate calculator based on the GHG Protocol standards, which you can use to calculate your organization’s Scope 1–3 emissions. Our product calculator allows you to determine the carbon footprints of your company’s products in accordance with the ISO 14067 standard. We have designed the calculators to guide you through the calculation step by step, in accordance with the standards’ requirements.
Who developed the carbon footprint calculator, and is it reliable?
There are various calculators available online for calculating companies’ carbon footprints. Check the calculator’s background: who created it, and when was it last updated? Is your calculator developed and maintained by emissions calculation experts, a free online tool, or one created by a former colleague years ago? Can you trust that the calculator is up-to-date and accurate? If the calculator hasn’t been updated in several years, its emission factors are likely outdated as well.
It’s also worth examining the accuracy of the data entered into the calculator. If the calculation relies heavily on information such as spend-based data or averages, the results cannot be very reliable. A high-quality calculator allows you to enter accurate data based on physical quantities in various units.
Are the emission factors for the tools up to date?
Start by determining where the emission factors come from and the year they are based on. Make sure the emission factors come from a reliable source, are up to date, and are suitable for the calculation. If, for example, the emission factors for electricity, district heating, and fuels are from several years ago, your alarm bells should go off. A Google search will reveal a variety of emission factors, some of which are outdated, come from unreliable sources, and lack background information. If in doubt, verify the reliability of the emission factors with an expert or obtain them from a paid database.
The OpenCO2 emissions database developed and maintained by us contains over 9,000 up-to-date and reliable emission factors validated by experts. In addition, the factors in our database are ranked by quality, making it easy to identify the most recent and high-quality emission factors. The OpenCO2net carbon footprint platform also allows you to include an inflation adjustment in your calculations using a “check-the-box” approach. As a result, spend-based emissions calculations are more accurate than those based on factors from years ago, which do not account for inflation between the year the factor was determined and the year of calculation. We also provide our customers with detailed background information on each emissions factor.
Here you can learn more about the background information on the iPhone, which is available in the OpenCO2 emissions database. By creating an account on the OpenCO2net platform, you can view approximately 1,000 emission factors and their background information for free.
How do the tool’s integrations and interfaces work?
Is it possible to integrate the tool into the company’s existing systems? Can data be transferred through an API? Effective integrations reduce manual work, improve data quality, and make it easier to update calculations.
We offer support and solutions for automating emissions calculations. With the OpenCO2 API solution, up-to-date emission factors can be integrated into a company’s own systems or into an Excel-based emissions calculator, for example. Going forward, updating emission factors can be done reliably and effortlessly with only a few clicks.
Learn more about the benefits and possibilities offered by the OpenCO2 API through our customer stories. Among other projects, we have implemented the automation of both Scope 1–3 emissions calculations and a project-specific emissions calculator for NK Tekniikka, a company operating in the electrical sector.
What kind of expert support is available for using the tools?
Software alone cannot solve all the challenges associated with emissions calculations. Check what kind of support, training, and guidance the service provider offers for using the tool. A good tool makes the calculation easier, but expert support helps ensure that the calculation is done correctly. Organizations calculating emissions for the first time, in particular, may have questions regarding the scope of the calculation, data quality, and the selection of emission factors.
The OpenCO2net carbon footprint platform’s calculator subscriptions always include training for new users as well as help desk services. Our services also include the popular Calculate Yourself and Learn subscription. It provides a customized calculation template, hours of calculation training with our experts, and a review of the calculation.
Continuous Improvement – How Are Updates and Changes Managed within the Tool?
First calculations are the most difficult ones. Obtaining data on emissions from the supply chain can often be challenging and may reduce the accuracy of the calculation. However, every year the process becomes easier and the data more accurate. When choosing a tool, it’s worth considering how easy it is to maintain and develop the calculations.
Once the first calculation has been completed on the OpenCO2net carbon footprint platform, performing calculations in following years becomes significantly easier and faster. On the platform, you can copy the previous year’s calculation as a template and update the emission factors to the latest versions with a single click. From there, you can add any new emission sources to the calculation and adjust the previous year’s input data to match the calculation year.
Additionally, if your company has undergone significant structural changes as a result of mergers and acquisitions, for example, the company’s various operations can be accounted for in our carbon footprint platform’s organizational calculator using the group feature. The feature allows you to combine different calculations on the platform and view them as a whole.
Tools should therefore not be compared solely on the basis of how easily and quickly they produce an emissions figure that sounds plausible. What matters most is that the calculation result is truly reliable.
The OpenCO2net carbon footprint platform offers reliable, easy-to-use, and standards-based carbon footprint calculation tools. The calculators are based on the most comprehensive emissions database in Finland. The OpenCO2 emissions database contains over 9,000 up-to-date emission factors and is managed by us. Book a demo and discover how easy our tools are to use.
