Savills : How occupiers need to report on carbon emissions from employee commuting

Greenhouse gas (GHG) protocols are standards that more than 90 per cent of Fortune 500 companies report on. To comply with forthcoming regulations, multinational companies will need to quickly develop the systems and capabilities to accurately calculate their total global GHG. This includes reporting on employee commuting emissions, but very few companies currently take account of this when undertaking site selection, despite new data analysis technology making this much easier. A new location can alter employee commuting patterns and could increase overall company emissions without this being taken into consideration.

Scopes 1, 2 and 3 are a way of categorising the different kinds of GHG emissions a company creates in its own operations, and in its wider value chain. The term 'scope' first appeared in the GHG Protocol of 2001 and, today, scopes are the basis for mandatory GHG reporting in the UK.

The three categories of carbon emissions which companies will need to collect data for are:

Scope 1 - emissions directly from operations that are owned or controlled by the reporting company

Scope 2 - indirect emissions from electricity and energy the company purchases

Scope 3 - emissions not created by the company but that they are indirectly responsible for.

For many businesses, scope 3 emissions account for more than 70 per cent of their carbon footprint. However, until recently, corporate carbon disclosures have tended to only include scope 1 and 2 emissions.

There are three possible methods for calculating scope 3 emissions from employee commuting. The first is 'fuel-based', which involves analysing the amount of fuel consumed during commuting; the second is 'distance-based', entailing tracking the distance travelled by employees and the mode of transport used; finally, the 'average-data' method involves calculating the emissions produced by employees, based on national average data on commuting patterns.

For office tenants, the easiest method of calculating scope 3 emissions from employee commuting is through a regular survey of typical patterns. This can be used to calculate the GHG emissions produced by individuals using the distance-based method.

In addition to satisfying carbon disclosure regulations this data can also be considered in office relocation decisions. Companies can choose to be relocate to buildings which produce the smallest possible carbon emissions from employees' commutes based on their home addresses and likely routes taken to the shortlisted offices. Journey patterns will also impact decisions about office facilities. For example, increased adoption of commuting by bike may require occupiers to move to a location which provides the necessary cycle storage.

A survey of staff commute transport modes allows accurate measurement of employee travel routes and distances. By applying the relevant carbon dioxide equivalent factor it's possible to calculate total emissions for an employee commute to an existing office and report on these. This benchmark can be compared to commute patterns for different locations, which can be accurately predicted using mapping application programming interfaces (APIs).

Further information

Contact Matthew Fitzgerald