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Insights Hub: Carbon Metric Definitions

  • Updated

Table of Contents

 

KPIs

Total Emissions

The total emissions include scopes 1 and 2 emissions released into the atmosphere from facilities that share posted FEM assessments with you. This value is expressed in kgCO2e (kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent).

This total includes greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride.

Tip

This metric gets more useful as you apply filters to look at certain areas like regions or types of facilities. 

For example, once a filter is applied, you could understand from a total emissions perspective, how much your tier 1 or 2 facilities are contributing to total emissions.

 

Carbon Intensity

A measure of how many kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent are released per one megajoule of energy consumed. This metric allows organizations to interpret their footprint.

Tip

To reduce your carbon intensity, focus on initiatives that move towards renewable energy sources.

This metric is inclusive of all energy sources.

Formula

(${totalGHGemissions} - ${totalRefrigerantEmissions}) / NULLIF(${ensourcetotal}, 0)

  • Take the total GHG emissions and subtract the total refrigerant emissions. Divide that result by the total energy source value, but only if that energy source value isn’t zero.

 

Aggregated Carbon Intensity

A measure of how many kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent are released per one megajoule of energy consumed. This metric allows organizations to interpret their footprint.

Formula

(${totalGHGemissions.sum} - ${totalRefrigerantEmissions.sum}) / NULLIF(${ensourcetotal.sum}, 0)

  • Take the total GHG emissions from all facilities and subtract the total refrigerant emissions from all facilities. Divide that result by the total energy source value from all facilities, but only if that energy source value isn’t zero.
  • The KPI calculation also filters out total energy values (ensourcetotal) less than or equal to 38574 MJ.

 

Thermal Carbon Intensity

A measure of how many kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent are released per one megajoule consumed from thermal energy sources. This metric shows efficiency of thermal energy usage.

Tip
  • Calculate this metric by dividing the total greenhouse gas emissions produced from thermal sources by the amount of energy consumed from thermal sources (kgCO2e/MJ).
  • Organizations can look at their facility’s thermal energy usage to make comparisons.
  • This metric differs from carbon intensity because it relates to specific thermal energy activity, such as heating a building, generating electricity, or running industrial processes.
  • Thermal sources are typically concentrated in Tier 2 and account for the majority of an organization’s emissions.
  • Thermal sources include: biodiesel, biomass, purchased chilled water, coal, diesel, fuel oil, liquid petroleum gas (LPG), liquid natural gas (LNG), natural gas, petrol/gasoline, propane, purchased steam, purchased district heating, biogas, compressed natural gas (CNG), coal water slurry, fabric waste, ethanol, and hydrogen.
Formula

${thermal_total_kgco2e} / NULLIF(${thermal_total_mj}, 0)

  • Divide the total thermal emissions in kilograms of CO2 equivalent by the total thermal energy consumed in megajoules, but only if that energy use isn’t zero.

 

Aggregated Thermal Carbon Intensity

A measure of how many kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent are released per one megajoule consumed from thermal energy sources. This metric shows efficiency of thermal energy usage.

Formula

${thermal_total_kgco2e.sum} / NULLIF(${thermal_total_mj.sum}, 0)

  • Divide the total thermal emissions from all facilities in kilograms of CO2 equivalent by the total thermal energy consumed from all facilities in megajoules, but only if that energy use isn’t zero.
  • The KPI calculation also filters out total energy values (ensourcetotal) less than or equal to 38574 MJ.

 

Electricity Carbon Intensity

A measure of how many kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent are released per one megajoule consumed from electric energy sources. This metric shows  efficiency of electricity usage.

Tip
  • Calculate this metric by dividing the total greenhouse gas emissions produced from electric sources by the amount of energy consumed from electric sources (kgCO2e/MJ).
  • Electricity carbon intensity can come from onsite or purchased renewables.
  • This metric allows organizations to prioritize investment decisions in renewable energy with facilities, by identifying whether a facility is adopting renewables in the form of Power Purchase Agreements (PPA), Renewab
  • This differs from carbon intensity because it relates to specific electric energy activity, such as heating a building, generating electricity, or running industrial processes.
Formula

${electric_total_kgco2e} / NULLIF(${electric_total_mj}, 0)

  • Divide the total electricity use in kilograms of CO2 equivalent by the total electricity consumed in megajoules, but only if that electricity use isn’t zero.

 

Aggregated Electricity Carbon Intensity

A measure of how many kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent are released per one megajoule consumed from electric energy sources. This metric shows  efficiency of electricity usage.

Formula

${electric_total_kgco2e.sum} / NULLIF(${electric_total_mj.sum}, 0) 

  • Divide the total electricity use from all facilities in kilograms of CO2 equivalent by the total electricity consumed from all facilities in megajoules, but only if that electricity use isn’t zero.
  • The KPI calculation also filters out total energy values (ensourcetotal) less than or equal to 38574 MJ.

 

% Thermal Energy

The percentage of an organization’s energy use (MJ) that comes from thermal sources.

Tip
An organization can use this metric to determine its sources of energy and inform business strategy. Pair this metric with Thermal Carbon Intensity to determine which facilities need to improve energy efficiency.
Formula

${thermal_total_mj} / NULLIF(${ensourcetotal}, 0) * 100 

  • Divide the total thermal energy used by the total energy used from all sources, but only if the energy use isn’t zero. Multiply that value by 100 to get the percentage.

 

Aggregated % Thermal Energy

The percentage of an organization’s energy use (MJ) that comes from thermal sources.

Formula

${thermal_total_mj.sum} / NULLIF(${ensourcetotal.sum}, 0)*100

  • Divide the total thermal energy used from all facilities by the total energy used from all sources across all facilities, but only if the energy use isn’t zero. Multiply that value by 100 to get the percentage.

 

% Electricity Is Onsite Renewable

The percentage of onsite electricity that is renewable, which can be used to determine areas of opportunity.

Tip
Pair this metric with Electricity Carbon Intensity to determine if there is room for improvement. On-site renewable sources include geothermal, hydro, micro-hydro, solar, and wind.
Formula

(${ensourcegeothermtotal} + ${ensourcehydrototal} + ${ensourcemicrohydrototal} + ${ensourcesolarphotototal} + ${ensourcesolarthermaltotal} + ${ensourcewindtotal}) / NULLIF(${ensourcetotal}, 0) *100 

  • Add up all renewable energy sources, including geothermal, hydro, micro-hydro, solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, and wind. Divide that value by the total energy used from all sources, but only if total energy isn’t zero. Finally, multiply it by 100 to get the percentage.

 

Aggregated % Electricity Is Onsite Renewable

The percentage of onsite electricity that is renewable, which can be used to determine areas of opportunity.

Formula

(${ensourcegeothermtotal.sum} + ${ensourcehydrototal.sum} + ${ensourcemicrohydrototal.sum} + ${ensourcesolarphotototal.sum} + ${ensourcesolarthermaltotal.sum} + ${ensourcewindtotal.sum}) / NULLIF(${ensourcetotal.sum}, 0)*100 

  • Add up all renewable energy sources from all facilities, including geothermal, hydro, micro-hydro, solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, and wind. Divide that value by the total energy used from all sources across all facilities, but only if total energy isn’t zero. Finally, multiply it by 100 to get the percentage.

 

% Electricity Is Purchased Renewable

The percentage of electricity that is purchased renewable, which can be used to determine areas of opportunity.

Tip
Pair this metric with Electricity Carbon Intensity to determine if there is room for improvement.
Formula

(${ensourcepurchrenewtotal} + ${ensourcerenewablepurchtotal}) / NULLIF(${ensourcetotal}, 0) * 100 

  • Add the value of total purchased renewable energy, from vehicular and non-vehicular sources. Divide that value by the total energy used from all sources, but only if total energy isn’t zero. Finally, multiply it by 100 to get the percentage.

 

Aggregated % Electricity Is Purchased Renewable

The percentage of electricity that is purchased renewable, which can be used to determine areas of opportunity.

Formula

(${ensourcepurchrenewtotal.sum} + ${ensourcerenewablepurchtotal.sum}) / NULLIF(${ensourcetotal.sum}, 0)*100

  • Add the value of total purchased renewable energy from all facilities, from vehicular and non-vehicular sources. Divide that value by the total energy used from all sources across all facilities, but only if total energy isn’t zero. Finally, multiply it by 100 to get the percentage.

 

Pc-Pair Production Carbon Intensity

The emissions from a facility normalized by production volume in pieces/pairs. This metric only captures emissions from facilities that report production volume in pieces/pairs (referred to as “Final Product Assembly” facilities) and may not account for all Tier 1 data.

Tip
  • Calculate this metric by dividing the total greenhouse gas emissions from Final Product Assembly facility processes by the production volume, in pieces/pairs (kgCO2e/pc-pair).
  • In order to effectively make comparisons, make sure to compare facilities with similar product categories.
  • Tier 1 facilities are finished product manufacturing facilities that assemble and manufacture final products.
Formula

${finalProductAssemblytotalghg} / NULLIF(${finalProductAssemblytotal}, 0)

  • Divide the Final Product Assembly facility type’s total GHG emissions by the total amount of Final Product Assembly, unless the total product amount is zero.

 

Aggregated Pc-Pair Production Carbon Intensity

The emissions from a facility normalized by production volume in pieces/pairs. This metric only captures emissions from facilities that report production volume in pieces/pairs (referred to as “Final Product Assembly” facilities) and may not account for all Tier 1 data.

Formula

${finalProductAssemblytotalghg.sum} / NULLIF(${finalProductAssemblytotal.sum}, 0) 

  • Divide the total GHGs associated with the Finished Product Assembly facility type by the total production volume (in pieces/pairs) associated with the Finished Product Assembly facility type, unless the total product amount is zero.
  • The KPI calculation also filters out total energy values (ensourcetotal) less than or equal to 38574 MJ.

 

Kg Production Carbon Intensity

The emissions from facilities normalized by production volume in kg.

Tip
  • Sum the emissions (kgCO2e) allocated to processes that report production volume in kg. Sum those production processes reported production volume (kg). Calculate this metric by dividing the emissions by the production volume.
  • This number will include facilities from every Tier, because some Tier 1 facilities report production volume in kg. You will need to use the filters to find just the Tier 2-4 or Tier 1 values.
  • In order to effectively make comparisons, make sure the facility processes align.
  • Tier 2 facilities are material manufacturing facilities that produce and finish materials that go directly into a finished product.
  • Tier 3 facilities are intermediate material processing facilities that process raw materials into yarn or other equivalent states.
  • Tier 4 facilities are raw material production and primary processing facilities that extract and farm primary raw materials from the earth, plants, or animals. These facilities also collect secondary raw materials and process these into a commodity state.
Formula

(${hardComponentTrimProductiontotalghg} + ${materialProductiontotalghg} + ${rawMaterialProcessingtotalghg} + ${rawMaterialCollectiontotalghg} + ${printingProductDyeingAndLaunderingtotalghg}) / NULLIF((${hardComponentTrimProductiontotal} + ${materialProductiontotal} + ${rawMaterialProcessingtotal} + ${rawMaterialCollectiontotal} + ${printingProductDyeingAndLaunderingtotal}), 0) 

  • Add up all the GHG emissions from these five stages, hard component/trim production, material production, raw material processing, raw material collection, and printing/dyeing/laundering. These are grouped together due to these facility types reporting production volume in kilograms. Divide this total by the combined amount of materials or products processed in those same stages, but only if the total amount isn’t zero.

 

Aggregated Kg Production Carbon Intensity

The emissions from facilities normalized by production volume in kg.

Formula

(${hardComponentTrimProductiontotalghg.sum} + ${materialProductiontotalghg.sum} + ${rawMaterialProcessingtotalghg.sum} + ${rawMaterialCollectiontotalghg.sum} + ${printingProductDyeingAndLaunderingtotalghg.sum}) / NULLIF((${hardComponentTrimProductiontotal.sum} + ${materialProductiontotal.sum} + ${rawMaterialProcessingtotal.sum} + ${rawMaterialCollectiontotal.sum} + ${printingProductDyeingAndLaunderingtotal.sum}), 0) 

  • Add up all the GHG emissions from these five stages across all facilities, including hard component/trim production, material production, raw material processing, raw material collection, and printing/dyeing/laundering. These are grouped together due to these facility types reporting production volume in kilograms. Divide this total by the combined amount of materials or products processed in those same stages from all facilities, but only if the total amount isn’t zero.
  • The KPI calculation also filters out total energy values (ensourcetotal) less than or equal to 38574 MJ.

 

Pc-Pair Production Energy Intensity

The emissions from a Tier 1 facility normalized by production volume in pieces/pairs. This metric only captures emissions from facilities that report production volume in pieces/pairs (referred to as “Final Product Assembly” facilities) and may not account for all Tier 1 data.

Tip
  • Calculate this metric by dividing the total greenhouse gas emissions from Final Product Assembly facility processes by the production volume, in pieces/pairs (MJ/pc-pair).
  • In order to effectively make comparisons, make sure to compare facilities with similar product categories.
  • Tier 1 facilities are finished product manufacturing facilities that assemble and manufacture final products.
Formula

${finalProductAssemblytotalmj} / NULLIF(${finalProductAssemblytotal}, 0)

  • Divide the total energy used in the Final Product Assembly facility type in megajoules by the total amount of final product assembled, but only if the total amount isn’t zero.

 

Aggregated Pc-Pair Production Energy Intensity

The emissions from a Tier 1 facility normalized by production volume in pieces/pairs. This metric only captures emissions from facilities that report production volume in pieces/pairs (referred to as “Final Product Assembly” facilities) and may not account for all Tier 1 data.

Formula

${finalProductAssemblytotalmj.sum} / NULLIF(${finalProductAssemblytotal.sum}, 0) 

  • Divide the total energy used in the Final Product Assembly facility type from all facilities in megajoules by the total amount of final product assembled across all facility types, but only if the total amount isn’t zero.
  • The KPI calculation also filters out total energy values (ensourcetotal) less than or equal to 38574 MJ.

 

Kg Production Energy Intensity

The emissions from facilities normalized by production volume in kg.

Tip
  • Sum the emissions allocated to processes that report production volume in MJ. Sum those production processes reported production volume (kg). Calculate this metric by dividing the emissions by the production volume.
  • This number will include facilities from every Tier, because some Tier 1 facilities report production volume in kg. You will need to use the filters to find just the Tier 2-4 or Tier 1 values.
  • In order to effectively make comparisons, make sure the facility processes align.
  • Tier 2 facilities are material manufacturing facilities that produce and finish materials that go directly into a finished product.
  • Tier 3 facilities are intermediate material processing facilities that process raw materials into yarn or other equivalent states.
  • Tier 4 facilities are raw material production and primary processing facilities that extract and farm primary raw materials from the earth, plants, or animals. These facilities also collect secondary raw materials and process these into a commodity state.
Formula

(${hardComponentTrimProductiontotalmj} + ${materialProductiontotalmj} + ${rawMaterialProcessingtotalmj} + ${rawMaterialCollectiontotalmj} + ${printingProductDyeingAndLaunderingtotalmj}) / NULLIF((${hardComponentTrimProductiontotal} + ${materialProductiontotal} + ${rawMaterialProcessingtotal} + ${rawMaterialCollectiontotal} + ${printingProductDyeingAndLaunderingtotal}), 0) 

  • Add up the total energy used in megajoules from these five stages, hard component/trim production, material production, raw material processing, raw material collection, and printing/dyeing/laundering. Divide this total by the combined amount of materials or products processed in those same stages, but only if the total amount isn’t zero.

 

Aggregated Kg Production Energy Intensity

The emissions from facilities normalized by production volume in kg.

Formula

(${hardComponentTrimProductiontotalmj.sum} + ${materialProductiontotalmj.sum} + ${rawMaterialProcessingtotalmj.sum} + ${rawMaterialCollectiontotalmj.sum} + ${printingProductDyeingAndLaunderingtotalmj.sum}) / NULLIF((${hardComponentTrimProductiontotal.sum} + ${materialProductiontotal.sum} + ${rawMaterialProcessingtotal.sum} + ${rawMaterialCollectiontotal.sum} + ${printingProductDyeingAndLaunderingtotal.sum}), 0)

  • Add up the total energy used in megajoules from these five stages across all facilities, hard component/trim production, material production, raw material processing, raw material collection, and printing/dyeing/laundering. Divide this total by the combined amount of materials or products processed in those same stages across all facility types, but only if the total amount isn’t zero.
  • The KPI calculation also filters out total energy values (ensourcetotal) less than or equal to 38574 MJ.

 

Average FEM Energy Score

The average FEM energy score, which can be used to capture improvements in an organization’s performance with the FEM assessment.

Tip

More information on the Higg FEM 4.0 Scoring Methodology can be found here.

 

KPI Examples

Electricity Carbon Intensity Example

  • Facilities with a high amount of renewable energy sources may have low electricity carbon intensity.
  • Furthermore, the transition to using electric energy sources can be an important step to decarbonization, such as when an electrified facility transitions to renewable electricity.
  • However, it may be challenging to transition a thermal system that relies on physical fuel sources to a renewable energy source.

 

% Electricity Is Onsite Renewable Example

  • If an organization has high carbon intensity and a low percentage of electricity is onsite renewable, that means there could be room for improvement.
  • However, if an organization has high carbon intensity and a high percentage of electricity is onsite renewable, then this organization has maxed out its renewable energy and improvements need to be identified elsewhere.

 

% Electricity Is Purchased Renewable Example

  • If an organization has high carbon intensity and a low percentage of electricity is purchased renewable, that means there could be room for improvement by increasing renewable utilization, using energy attribute certificates (EACs), etc.
  • However, if an organization has a higher than desirable carbon intensity and a high percentage of electricity is purchased renewable, then this organization has maxed out its renewable energy and improvements need to be identified elsewhere, perhaps reducing use of thermal sources in processes.

 

Pc-Pair Production Carbon Intensity Example

  • An organization might have several facilities that make similar products at similar volumes in different regions. This KPI could be used to look at efficiency on a per product basis to determine which facilities to engage in impact reduction programs.

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