What Can I Do If I Don’t Have Specific Environmental Data for My Company?
If your company doesn't have access to specific environmental data - whether you're in a shared space or only have aggregated data that exceeds your company's individual consumption - you can still estimate your environmental footprint to align with carbon accounting goals.
How to Estimate Your Environmental Impact
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Determine your company’s share
Identify what proportion of the overall data applies to your company. This could be based on space occupied, number of employees, or other relevant metrics. -
Obtain the total environmental impact data
Get the collective environmental data (e.g., energy, water consumption) for the entire facility or system. -
Estimate your company’s share
Multiply the total environmental data by your company’s proportion (e.g., 10% if you occupy 10% of the space, or based on the number of employees or another relevant factor). -
Use the estimate for carbon accounting
Include these estimates in your environmental reporting to track your carbon footprint.
Reporting Your Estimates Transparently
As our article on Can I use estimates if I don’t have certain data? states, it’s important to transparently report and explain any estimations made. You can use the “Add Evidence” field to upload relevant materials that document your approach. This can include Excel files, PDFs, Word documents, or any other resources that help track the estimations and how they were calculated.
Why Estimate Instead of Omitting Data?
Estimating your environmental impact is a practical alternative to leaving data out. While not as precise as direct consumption data, it provides a more accurate reflection of your company’s footprint and supports better decision-making.
Example Scenario
Let’s look at an example:
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Your company occupies 10% of the total space in a building.
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The total energy consumption for the building is 100,000 kWh.
In this case, your company’s estimated energy consumption would be 10,000 kWh. This estimate can then be included in your carbon accounting efforts.