Page 113 - The Green Building Bottom Line The Real Cost of Sustainable Building

92 CHAPTER 3

1 Assign resources.
2 Design a GHG inventory.
3 Collect data.
4 Calculate emissions.
5 Set target.
6 Reduce emissions.
7 Report results.

WRI also has free software tools (available at www.ghgprotocol.org) that help quan-
tify the emissions from fuel used in facilities, electricity purchases, business travel,
and employee commuting.
The main difference between the two programs is that the WRI program has a do-
it-yourself structure, which eases some of the external reporting requirements and
gives a bit more flexibility. The Climate Leaders program is a bit more demanding,
calling for a more significant allocation of a company’s time, money, and human
resources, but it offers personal tech support, recognition, and bi-annual conferences
for sharing best practices and networking. Both programs are helpful tools to begin the
process of establishing a carbon footprint and establishing reduction goals.
At Melaver, Inc., we chose to join the Climate Leaders Partnership to help with our
footprint analysis. We then took a hard look at our business operations to see where
emissions came from, which ones we could measure, and which ones we were respon-
sible for. Our analysis showed we were emitting greenhouse gases from three primary
areas: electricity used to power our offices, business travel (both ground and air), and
the staff’s commutes to the office. While the company does not dictate where employ-
ees live or how they get to work, we did claim responsibility for commuting as part of
our comprehensive carbon footprint.
To determine our footprint based on these three areas required collecting some basic
information:

■ For electricity, the total annual electric bill for each of our offices.
■ For business travel, the total miles driven on company business, total miles flown,
and vehicle fuel efficiency.
■ For commuting, the frequency, distance of commute, and fuel efficiency for each
employee’s vehicle.

Many organizations have this information already. And after establishing a bench-
marking process, systems can easily be put into place to facilitate data collection
on an ongoing basis. For example, Melaver, Inc.’s electric bills were already on file
through accounts payable. This held true for business travel as well, since in order to
be reimbursed, mileage and flight information must be turned in. To assemble com-
mute information, a brief survey asking employees to list their vehicle, fuel efficiency,
round trip commute in miles, and how many days per week this trip is made. (Carpool-
ing and public transportation are excluded from the calculations.) Larger organizations