Service C · continued

Three scopes, one inventory

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SCOPE 1
Direct emissions

Emissions from sources the organization owns or controls: fuel combustion in boilers, generators and chillers, company vehicles, and refrigerant losses from HVAC systems.

Typically the smallest share for a property portfolio, but the most directly controllable.

SCOPE 2
Purchased energy

Indirect emissions from purchased electricity, district cooling, steam and heat. Reported on both a location-based and a market-based method where the data supports it.

The primary lever for most buildings, addressed through efficiency and renewable procurement.

SCOPE 3
Value chain

All other indirect emissions across fifteen categories: purchased goods and services, capital goods, construction materials, business travel, commuting, waste, tenant energy and end-of-life.

Usually the largest and least understood share. Screening establishes which categories are material.

Reduction hierarchy
1
Avoid
Eliminate demand through brief, massing and operational change.
2
Reduce
Efficiency in envelope, systems, controls and materials.
3
Substitute
Lower-carbon energy, materials and suppliers.
4
Offset
High-integrity removal for residual emissions only.
Deliverables
  • GHG inventory report (Scope 1, 2, 3)
  • Emission factor register & assumptions log
  • Baseline year definition
  • Scope 3 screening & materiality
  • Carbon reduction strategy
  • Net-zero pathway & interim targets
  • Marginal abatement cost review
  • Verification support documentation
Why the baseline matters

Every target, every claim and every year-on-year comparison is measured against the baseline. If the boundary is wrong, the factors are undocumented or the data is unverifiable, the whole pathway is unusable, and the correction is visible to everyone who read the first report.

We set the baseline to withstand third-party verification from the outset, and document the recalculation policy for when the organization changes shape.

Scope 3
Commonly 70–90% of a real estate organization's footprint
C · GHG & Carbon Accounting 11