Measure

Old adage - what gets measured gets managed. The first step in achieving the Carbon Saver Standard is to measure your carbon footprint. Measuring your carbon footprint involves three steps:-

• Defining your Organisational Boundary - which parts of your organisation will be included in the measuring exercise
• Deciding on the Operational Boundary - what type of emissions will be included in the measuring exercise
• Calculating your footprint - using online tools to calculate your footprint

Organisational Boundary

Organisations may apply for certification to cover all or part of their operations. Where the organisation chooses to apply for certification covering part of their operations they may choose to specify the coverage either:

• On a corporate structure basis (e.g. one, or more, subsidiaries or operating divisions are applying)
• or on a physical location basis (e.g. offices x,y,z are applying)

Operational Boundary

Defining the operational boundary involves identifying which emission sources to include in the measurement. For the carbon Saver Standard the following 3 levels of footprint apply.

This provides a realistic and flexible approach. Organisations can start their carbon reduction journey with just onsite energy/fuel use and increase this to include owned transport and business travel. Additional emissions sources can be added to each footprint level, providing further flexibility. For example an organisation can include business travel in a level 1 footprint if they wish.

Level 1 footprint
The following emissions sources must be included:

• Electricity consumption
• Gas consumption
• Onsite fuel consumption (e.g. heating oil, diesel, etc.)
• Plus optional sources if desired

Level 2 footprint
Emissions covered by level 1 plus:

• Owned transport emissions
• Plus optional sources if desired

Level 3 footprint
Emissions covered by level 2 plus:

• Process emissions
• Fugitive emissions
• Emissions from business travel
• Plus optional sources if desired
  

Optional Emissions Sources
The following emissions sources can be included on an optional basis:

Sources from level 3 and/or 2 can be included in level 1 as desired. Remaining scope 3 emissions, including staff commuting, waste disposal, transport of purchased material and outsourced activities, etc. Same rules apply for level 2.