The GZA Scope 3 Calculator

 

Our goal is to remove the barriers organizations face in addressing the climate change impact from their value chain. With that goal in mind, we built our Scope 3 Calculator as a simple to use, affordable, and easy to deploy application for any size organization without specialized training.

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Introducing the GZA Scope 3 Calculator

The latest version of our Calculator enables users to evaluate and assess the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from upstream Scope 3 activities (Categories 1 – 8) and several downstream Scope 3 categories (Categories 13 – 15) all in one streamlined and easy-to-use Excel-based tool.

The GZA Scope 3 Calculator uses transparent calculation methods in alignment with GHG Protocol guidance and can serve as a fundamental first step in your organization’s Scope 3 journey. It was built with real-world users in mind, from small enterprises to global corporations.

More than 600 unique companies, municipalities, institutions, and other organizations - located across the world - have used the GZA Scope 3 Calculator to evaluate their Scope 3 GHG emissions.


Download the GZA Scope 3 Calculator

You can download the Preview Version for free, or purchase the Full Version for $5,000 USD. To proceed with either option, please review and accept the Terms and Conditions below. For questions or alternate purchasing options, contact us at sustainability@gza.com.


Scope 3 Categories Covered by the Calculator

UPSTREAM

  • 1. Purchased Goods and Services
  • 2. Capital Goods
  • 3. Fuel- and Energy-Related Activities
  • 4. Upstream Transportation and Distribution
  • 5. Waste Generated in Operations
  • 6. Business Travel
  • 7. Employee Commuting
  • 8. Upstream Leased Assets

DOWNSTREAM

  • 9. Downstream Transportation and Distribution
  • 10. Processing of Sold Products
  • 11. Use of Sold Products
  • 12. End-of-Life Treatment of Sold Products
  • 13. Downstream Leased Assets
  • 14. Franchises
  • 15. Investments

Supply Chain Activities | Categories 1 through 6

The Calculator uses the United States Environmentally-Extended Input Output (EEIO) emissions factors to correlate supply chain purchases with the associated life cycle emissions of each purchase.  Each factor is automatically adjusted to account for currency inflation and the decarbonization of the US electric grid over time, from 2012 (the base year of the EEIO data) to 2025.

Employee Commutes | Category 7

Evaluating GHG emissions from employee commuting can seem like a straightforward task. However, it can become time-consuming and complex process when one considers the many variables needed to complete these calculations. The GZA Calculator has simplified this process by transparently compiling research and survey data for (1) average commuting distances and (2) personal vehicle well-to-wheel emissions from over 25 sources and covering more than 50 countries.

Upstream Leased Assets, Downstream Leased Assets, and Franchises | Categories 8, 13, and 14

If your organization operates leased assets or franchises, the most common source of emissions in those Scope 3 categories are related to energy consumption in buildings.  The GZA Calculator allows users to easily evaluate those emissions by providing a wide range of building energy intensity values for multiple countries, climate zones, and building types.  Simply provide the building size, location, and type (e.g., office, warehouse, retail, etc.) to receive automated energy consumption and Scope 3 emissions results. 

Investments | Category 15

The Investments category can be difficult to evaluate given the various types of investment activities organizations may have and the unique calculation steps and boundaries that should be considered.  This Calculator simplifies the process using spend-based EEIO emissions factors which enable users to estimate the Scope 1, Scope 2, and upstream Scope 3 emissions of each investment based on each investment’s revenue and your organization’s percent stake. 


Scope 3 Summaries and Charts - Automatically Generated

The GZA Scope 3 Calculator gives your organization instant insights into your Scope 3 emissions through a variety of functions and features: 
•  Automated summaries of your value chain’s GHG emissions, sorted by their Scope 3 category 
•  Hotspot analyses of supply chain emissions, sorted by user-defined suppliers and categories 
•  Insights into the major industry groups where emissions are occurring in your supply chain
•  Resources and links to Scope 3 guidance  
•  Recommendations to help your organization continue to address its Scope 3 impact
 


Frequently Asked Questions

Can I see my emissions factors in more detail? 
In many Scope 3 calculators, emissions factors are often hidden from users or presented in a format that is not easy to understand. The GZA Scope 3 Calculator transparently presents the emissions factors and other supporting variables that form the backbone of its calculations, allowing users to understand and review the sources, methods, and assumptions being employed.
What is included with the purchase of the GZA Scope 3 Calculator? How much does it cost?
Users can purchase the GZA Scope 3 Calculator for $5,000 USD. Once the purchase is completed, users will be provided the Calculator and the Calculator Commodity Lookup (in the format of a Microsoft Excel workbook).
What software does the GZA Scope 3 Calculator use?

The GZA Scope 3 Calculator is a Microsoft Excel-based tool that employes Visual Basic Macros to create a simplified and user-friendly experience.

Scope 3 calculations can comprise of thousands, even tens of thousands, of unique data points (especially for supply chain data) which are commonly available in a CSV or Excel format. Formatting and transferring this data into an Excel-based tool thus simplifies the calculation processed, as opposed to having to manually enter or upload each data point.

Do I need to be connected to the internet to use the Scope 3 Calculator? Will I be required to share my data with any external party?
There are no connections to external databases and no required internet connections or data sharing. Once you have downloaded the Calculator, you are able to use it completely offline, on your computer and/or your organization’s network.
What type of information is required to use the Calculator?

We highly recommend that users download the Preview Version of the Calculator for a detailed overview on what activity data is required to complete their organization’s Scope 3 emissions calculations.

• The supply chain emissions calculations will require your organization’s supply chain spend (i.e., spend with Tier 1 suppliers) broken down by purchase description and/or supplier, which will then allow you to select the Environmentally-Extended Input-Output emissions factors that are most applicable to each purchase.

• The employee commuting calculations will require your organization’s employee headcount, by country, and broken down by the typical weekly commuting schedule for each employee (e.g., 5 days per week, 3 days per week, remote worker, etc.).

• The leased asset calculations will require a list of your organization’s facilities (which do not fall under Scope 1 and Scope 2 reporting). Users must indicate the location, size, and building type for each facility.

• The investments calculations will require details on your organization’s equity and debt investments, which can include annual investment amounts, equity shares in each investment, and the industry type of each investment.

What is USEEIO?
The US Environmentally-Extended Input-Output (USEEIO) model is a publicly-available, environmentally-extended input-output model of the United States, released by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The USEEIO model referenced in the GZA Scope 3 Calculator (USEEIO v2.0.1-411) creates a life cycle model of 411 US goods and services by combining economic transaction data between the 411 industry sectors with each sector's environmental data spanning land impacts, water impacts, mineral usage, nutrients and toxics, criteria air pollutants, energy, and greenhouse gas emissions. The USEEIO v2.0.1-411 model provides life cycle results per $1 (in 2012 USD) demand for all goods and services in the model in the producer's price and purchaser's price.
Can the results of the GZA Scope 3 Calculator be used in my organization's external reporting?

The GZA Scope 3 Calculator was designed using methodologies provided by the GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard. Regardless, users must consider the reporting criteria of their disclosure program(s) before using information or following the recommendations provided by the GZA Scope 3 Calculator.

The methodologies used by the Calculator are intended to serve organizations who are calculating Scope 3 emissions for the first time or who are looking to use secondary approaches to evaluate their Scope 3 emissions. Most often, the Calculator helps organizations faced with the challenge of collecting more robust activity data such as supplier surveys or life cycle assessments.

Can the GZA Scope 3 Calculator support an organization’s submission to the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi)?

The SBTi Corporate Near-Term Standard and Corporate Net-Zero Standard indicate that companies must follow the GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard when calculating their Scope 3 emissions. As the methodologies used by the GZA Scope 3 Calculator are aligned with GHG Protocol guidelines, it can be used by organizations to develop a Scope 3 Inventory in support of submissions and reporting to the SBTi.