Greenhouse Gas Kick-start guide
Measure.
Plan.
Reduce.
Measure your greenhouse gas emissions
Can you answer the following questions?
Pick a baseline year (ideally the last one)
Do you have facilities that burn fuels on-site (e.g., natural gas, propane, coal, fuel oil for heating, diesel fuel for backup generators, biomass fuels)?
Do any vehicles fall within your organisation? This can include cars, Lorries, propane forklifts, aircraft or boats. Vehicles owned or leased by your company should be counted. Gather copies of the V5 certificates. Note which ones have air-con and gas if possible.
Gather together one previous year’s records of actual mileage/fuel receipts for each vehicle set up a way of tracking these going forward.
Do your facilities use refrigeration or air conditioning equipment? If so, how many, what type and what volume/weight? (Often in purchase details.)
Do your facilities use chemical fire-suppressants? If so, how many, what type and what volume/weight?
Do you purchase any industrial gases for use in your business? These gases may be purchased for use in manufacturing, testing, or laboratories.
Are volatile organic compounds (VOCs) combusted in any of your facilities?
Do you burn/flare any gases on-site?
Do all of your facilities use electricity? Do you have this data available for at least one complete year?
How do you heat your business? Do you have 1 year’s record available for the consumption – total or monthly? You can set up a monthly tracking system for this.
Do you purchase steam for heating or cooling in your facilities?
Do your employees travel for business using transportation other than company-owned or leased vehicles (e.g., commercial airline flights, rental cars, trains)?
Create a business travel tracker – for each individual.
Do your employees commute to work in personal vehicles or use public transportation?
Create a questionnaire to collect this for your baseline year.
Do you hire another company to transport products or other materials to or from your facilities?
Do you have any information on your waste services and do you know how your waste is dealt with?
