Supplier-specific emission rates

‍As a real estate investor or owner, switching to more accurate reporting will bring you significant benefits, not the least of which is better service to your financial partners and the ability to be even more proactive in implementing your decarbonization strategy.

Working with CO2 reporting, as you know, is a journey to the best possible data quality. Moving from estimates and averages to actual consumption, i.e. specific and accurate emissions data for your entire portfolio, is a transition that all investors and portfolio owners will benefit from. Thus, being able to get a clear overview, pinpoint investment opportunities and report with confidence. Therefore, we are very pleased to announce that we are now offering a new supplier-specific emission rates feature to all our Pro Plus and Enterprise customers.

As the name implies, the 'supplier-specific emission rates' in Legacy provide the ability to select specific emission rates that are available from their suppliers. In other words, the emission rates (the core of the entire CO2 calculation) is changed from a general/average emission rate to a specific rate that is retrieved directly from the respective energy supplier for each facility. The difference can be significant and gives you some interesting advantages in your work towards net zero emissions.

Moving to supplier-specific emission rates provides a much more accurate representation of a portfolio's carbon emissions. Of course, accuracy in itself is no guarantee of lower carbon emissions, as certain suppliers may have a higher than average emission rate. However, three key benefits should be highlighted here:

One, striving to report as accurately as possible will prevent and mitigate sudden jumps in reported total emissions and emissions per square meter.

Second, as an owner/investor, you have the opportunity to get an overview of the exact emission rates and actively use the approval rates in your decarbonization strategy by influencing your energy suppliers, buying other products, or simply switching suppliers.

Third, and probably most important in the long run, is the valuation that supplier-specific emissions have relative to the averages in the banking sector PCAF rating system. The move to supplier-specific emission rates means that emission reporting will be at a much higher rating, which will most likely put you as a property owner/investor in a much better position in your financial dealings, be it general terms, asset sales, or investment financing.

All in all, this feature is a game changer for accurate carbon accounting. It will help our customers move from GHG Protocol data quality 4 (2b) to 1A, create transparency, enable action and, last but not least, empower them in relation to their financial partners.