Imagine a giant balance scale. On one side of the scale, you have all the greenhouse gases (like carbon dioxide) that people release into the air by doing things like driving cars, making stuff in factories, and powering homes with fossil fuels.

Introduction You’ve decided to create a GHG inventory within your organization. Great! You’ve set your organizational and operational boundaries, selected your consolidation approach (equity share, financial control, or operational control), chosen a baseline year, and set up measures to mitigate…

Introduction When setting up a GHG inventory, there are several choices of activity data and emission factors used for calculating emissions from purchases of electricity, steam, heat, and cooling (i.e. scope 2). The primary piece of data needed to quantify…

Introduction After you’ve secured organization support, and before you start collecting emissions data, you’ll need to establish clear boundaries for your greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory. The inventory will provide the foundation for your company’s climate change strategy by enabling you…

Reporting Programs and Requirements The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) is a federal emissions reporting program which requires high-emitting companies to account for and report emissions at the facility level. Under the GHGRP, facilities emitting…

Setting greenhouse gas reduction targets is like setting a destination on your company’s GPS. It ensures that important issues stay top of mind for senior management, guiding them in making decisions about what products to offer, which materials to use,…

Introduction to the Calculator The EPA’s Simplified GHG Emissions Calculator is designed to help businesses of all sizes take control of their environmental impact. This user-friendly tool looks at both Scope 1 direct emissions and Scope 2 indirect emissions, providing…

Over the past 15 years, sustainability has evolved through a series of focal points: deforestation, the ozone layer’s recovery, melting ice caps. Each issue has commanded global attention at one time or another, reflecting the dynamic challenges of environmental stewardship….

Introduction to the Calculator The EPA’s Simplified GHG Emissions Calculator is designed to help businesses of all sizes take control of their environmental impact. This user-friendly tool looks at both Scope 1 direct emissions and Scope 2 indirect emissions, providing…

Market-Based Methodology A market-based approach accounts for emissions based on the electricity companies have actively chosen or, in some cases, not chosen. The electricity purchased from specific providers may include fossil fuels, renewable, or other types of generation facilities. Market-based…