The Client:
A large U.S. office portfolio company, with a significant footprint across major U.S. markets, including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle sought to develop a comprehensive Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventory.
Because the client prioritized environmental responsibility and recognized the growing importance of real estate’s role in carbon emissions, they needed to develop a GHG Inventory and Inventory Management Plan while ensuring alignment with the GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting Standard.
Scope, Challenges, and Considerations:
Developing a robust and accurate GHG Inventory presents several challenges:
Data collection: Gathering consistent and reliable data from a diverse portfolio of buildings spread across various locations.
Limited Scope 3 coverage: Scope 3 emissions often represent a significant portion of a company’s total footprint, but they can also be the most challenging to quantify due to limited control and reliance on data from external sources.
Evolving U.S. regulations: The regulatory landscape surrounding GHG reporting is constantly evolving. Companies need to stay up-to-date on new regulations and ensure their inventories comply with the latest requirements. Aligning to Globally Recognized Standards: Navigating the complexities of the GHG Protocol to ensure the inventory adheres to its specific accounting and reporting requirements requires specialized expertise.
EEI’s Solution:
This client partnered with EEI to develop a comprehensive GHG Inventory that met their specific needs and aligned with the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard. Our team provided the following services:
Data collection and management: A streamlined process was developed to gather information from building operations teams across the portfolio.
Scope 3 expertise: We leveraged our knowledge of Scope 3 emissions sources and best practices specific to the real estate industry to guide the client in data collection and methodology selection.
Emission factor selection: We identified and applied the most appropriate emission factors to convert activity data (e.g., energy consumption) into GHG emissions, including those relevant to Scope 3 categories.
Inventory calculations and reporting: We performed all necessary calculations to quantify the client’s GHG emissions across relevant Scopes (1, 2, and 3) as defined by the GHG Protocol.
Inventory Management Plan (IMP) Development: In addition to the core inventory creation, we developed a comprehensive IMP. This document outlines the processes, procedures, and responsibilities for ongoing data collection, inventory calculation, and reporting, supporting long-term consistency and accuracy of GHG accounting efforts. Quality assurance and verification: We implemented rigorous quality assurance procedures to ensure the accuracy and transparency of the inventory.
Key Takeaways:
This successful collaboration demonstrates the value of partnering with a specialized firm to develop a GHG Inventory.
By leveraging our expertise and proven methodologies, we empowered this U.S. office portfolio to take a significant step forward on their journey towards a more sustainable future.
