The GZA Scope 3 Calculator
Our goal is to remove the barriers organizations face in addressing their climate change impact. With that goal in mind, we built our Scope 3 Calculator as simple to use, affordable, and easy to deploy by organizations at any scale without specialized training.
The need for quantification and disclosure of Scope 3 emissions continues to escalate, and to help organizations meet this complex challenge, GZA is proud to release our latest version of the GZA Scope 3 Calculator.
This Calculator enables users to evaluate and assess the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions from their supply chain, also known as Upstream Scope 3 Emissions. The Calculator can serve as a fundamental first step in your organization’s Scope 3 journey. We have applied the emissions factors from United States Environmentally-Extended Input-Output (USEEIO) models, and integrated numerous updates to help users understand, apply, and view results from those factors.
Anyone is welcome to download a Free Version of the Scope 3 Calculator. If you would like to use the Full Version of the GZA Scope 3 Calculator, with all of the features listed below, it is available for purchase. Please scroll below for more details.
How the GZA Scope 3 Calculator helps organizations
Instant Upstream Scope 3 Results
Enter your organization’s supply chain spend – disaggregated by supplier, purchasing category, or other commodity-specific category – and as you assign an Industry or Commodity to each entry, the Calculator will automatically assign the related USEEIO emissions factor to that entry. Based on the user-selected year, the emissions factors are automatically adjusted for United States currency inflation rates and the decarbonization of the US electric grid. With the Full Version of the GZA Scope 3 Calculator, users can enter up to 2,000 unique entries to be compiled in your total Upstream Scope 3 results.
View Your Emissions Factors at a Greater Level of Detail
We understand that EEIO factors can be difficult to visualize or understand for users new to Scope 3. So instead of hiding the factors in background calculations, the GZA Scope 3 Calculator transparently presents the emissions factors for each selectable Commodity, broken down at different levels of your organization’s supply chain. The factors for 2012 (the source year of the USEEIO model) are also presented alongside the adjusted factors for the user-selected year to show the estimated impact of currency inflation and electric grid decarbonization. Even with over 400 Commodities to choose from, we know that in many cases it can be difficult for users to determine which emissions factor is most relevant to the good or service being evaluated. That is why the Calculator also provides a list of over 19,000 items or services across over 970 NAICS Titles, aligned to the USEEIO Industries and Commodities.
Scope 3 Summaries, Hotspots, 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 supply chain’s GHG emissions, sorted by their upstream Scope 3 category
- Hotspot analyses of Scope 3 emissions, sorted by user-defined suppliers and categories
- 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
Perform High-Level Forecasts of Your Scope 3 Emissions
Once you have completed your organization’s Upstream Scope 3 emissions inventory in the Calculator, you can then take your Scope 3 Results to the next level by using our custom Forecasting Tool. Using the results within the GZA Scope 3 Calculator as a Baseline, you can then set an absolute reduction target and modify a variety of high-level variables to better understand what supply chain-level actions would be required to meet the target.
Download the Free Version of the GZA Scope 3 Calculator
If you would like to demo a free version of the GZA Scope 3 Calculator (V2.0), please fill out the form below.
Purchase the Full Version of the GZA Scope 3 Calculator
The Full GZA Scope 3 Calculator can be purchased for $2,500 USD. To proceed with purchasing the Full Version, please review and accept the Terms and Conditions below. Once the purchase is completed, you will receive a copy of the latest version of the GZA Scope 3 Calculator (V2.0), in the format of a Microsoft Excel workbook, for download via this web page and via email. Contact us at sustainability@gza.com for any questions.
I agree to the Terms and Conditions.*
Terms and Conditions
PROGRAM LICENSE, CONFIDENTIALITY AND DISCLAIMER AGREEMENT
By checking the “I agree” box and downloading the GZA Scope 3 Calculator, you individually are, or the organization you represent is (in either case, the “USER” or “you”), agreeing to the following terms and conditions governing the specific version of the software downloaded and its use:
1. LICENSE SCOPE
The version of the GZA Scope 3 Calculator you are downloading, hereinafter referred to as CALCULATOR, is being licensed to User by GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc. (“GZA” or “Licensor”) only for non-profit making (internal) applications. These are limited to research activities and the use of the CALCULATOR by commercial organizations to assess their own operations and supply chains, but excludes the use by consulting and other organizations as a tool in furtherance or for the purposes of revenue generation (e.g. through consulting services). The CALCULATOR is protected by copyright laws. The CALCULATOR is licensed under the terms set forth herein, not sold.
2. GRANT OF LICENSE
Subject to and conditioned on USER’s compliance with all other terms and conditions of this Agreement, this CALCULATOR is licensed to USER on a non-exclusive, non-transferrable, non-sublicensable basis for a single User or within a single organization only by employees of that organization.
3. OTHER RIGHTS AND LIMITATIONS; CONFIDENTIALITY
3.1 You may not reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble the CALCULATOR, except and only to the extent that such activity is expressly permitted by applicable law notwithstanding this limitation.
3.2 You may not copy, distribute, publicly display, rent, lease or lend the CALCULATOR to third parties or make derivative works based upon the CALCULATOR.
3.3 This LICENSE does not grant you any rights in connection with any trademarks or service marks of GZA.
3.4 Without prejudice to any other rights, GZA may terminate this LICENSE immediately upon email or mailed notice to you (effective upon the date sent or transmitted) if you fail to comply with the terms and conditions of this LICENSE. In such event, you must destroy all copies of the CALCULATOR and all of its component parts and provide evidence of such destruction in writing to GZA within three (3) business days from the date of the notice of termination.
3.5 The information in this CALCULATOR is intended solely for the personal or internal use of the User who accepts full responsibility for its use. While GZA has taken every precaution to ensure that the content of this CALCULATOR is both current and accurate, errors can occur. GZA is not responsible for any errors or omissions, or for the results obtained from the use of this information. All information in this file is provided "as is", with no guarantee of completeness, accuracy, timeliness or of the results obtained from the use of this information. GZA does not warrant that this CALCULATOR and any information or material included in this CALCULATOR, will be uninterrupted, error-free, or omission-free.
3.6 GZA and the USER may have access to certain information of the other that are confidential and of substantial value to the respective party, which value would be impaired if such information were disclosed to third parties, including without limitation the downloaded software itself ("CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION"). GZA and the USER agree that neither shall disclose any CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION to any third party and shall take every reasonable precaution to protect CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any information which (i) is or becomes available to the public other than by breach of the LICENSE agreement by the receiving party, (ii) is rightfully received by receiving party from a third party without confidential limitations, (iii) is independently developed by receiving party's employees without access to CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION, or (iv) is known to the receiving party without any restriction on its use or disclosure prior to first receipt of it from the disclosing party. This obligation of confidentiality shall survive any expiration or termination of this Agreement and shall continue until such time as the Confidential Information is no longer confidential through no fault of the User.
4. COPYRIGHT
All title and intellectual property rights in and to the CALCULATOR (including but not limited to any images, photographs, animations, video, audio, music, and text that may be incorporated into the CALCULATOR), the accompanying printed materials, and any copies of the CALCULATOR are owned by GZA. All title and intellectual property rights in and to the content which may be accessed through use of the CALCULATOR is the property of the respective content owner. This LICENSE grants you no rights to use such content. All rights not expressly granted are reserved by GZA.
5. DISCLAIMER
All users are requested to inform GZA immediately if any errors are found in the CALCULATOR. As modifications, updates, or new versions are produced, the latest versions are posted on GZA’s web site and made available to all visitors for free downloading. No warranty, expressed or implied, is offered as to the accuracy of results from GZA’s CALCULATOR.
6. TERM AND TERMINATION
The license granted hereunder shall be for a perpetual term, as long as USER is not in violation of any of the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement. GZA reserves the right to terminate this license immediately upon transmission of notice to the User’s provided email address, if GZA determines that the USER has breached any term or condition set forth herein.
7. GOVERNING LAW
This LICENSE is governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and laws and treaties of the United States of America. Should a legal remedy be sought to enforce or address a breach of this Agreement, the parties agree that the exclusive venue for any such dispute shall be the state or federal courts located in any county or federal district containing Boston, Massachusetts.
8. NO OTHER WARRANTIES
THE CACULATOR AND ALL DOCUMENTATION AND OTHER PRODUCTS, INFORMATION, MATERIALS, AND SERVICES PROVIDED BY GZA ARE PROVIDED "AS IS." GZA SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND ALL WARRANTIES ARISING FROM COURSE OF DEALING, USAGE, OR TRADE PRACTICE. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, LICENSOR MAKES NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND THAT THE LICENSED SOFTWARE OR DOCUMENTATION, OR ANY PRODUCTS OR RESULTS OF THE USE THEREOF, WILL MEET USER'S OR OTHER PERSONS' REQUIREMENTS, OPERATE WITHOUT INTERRUPTION, ACHIEVE ANY INTENDED RESULT, BE COMPATIBLE OR WORK WITH ANY SOFTWARE, SYSTEMS, OR OTHER SERVICES, OR BE SECURE, ACCURATE, COMPLETE, FREE OF HARMFUL CODE OR ERROR FREE.
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249 Vanderbilt Avenue Norwood, MA 02062
Learn how the Scope 3 Calculator works
Frequently Asked Questions
Use of the GZA Scope 3 Calculator is an acceptable pathway for both conducting a Scope 3 screening and creating a Scope 3 Inventory for submission to SBTi, as it uses activity data and methods outlined in the GHG Protocol. However, users should be aware of several factors and limitations as they proceed with use of the GZA Calculator (or any spend-based calculation methods):
Scope 3 Emissions Screening
Per the SBTi Criteria as of 10/04/2023, “Companies must complete a scope 3 inventory covering gross scope 3 emissions for all its emissions sources according to the minimum boundary of each scope 3 category set out by the GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard.”
The GZA Scope 3 Calculator can assist with screening (estimating / calculating) emissions primarily for upstream Scope 3 categories 1 through 6, and 8, if your company is able to compile and enter the associated spend related to each category. For employee commute emissions (Category 7) and downstream Scope 3 Categories ( e.g., use of sold products, end-of-life treatment of sold products, investments, etc.), your company will have to use other estimation methods to determine the potential magnitude of emissions in these categories.
While this may seem like a huge calculation ordeal, we can offer some overall perspective to provide some relief:
Companies in the manufacturing or service sector often find a majority of their scope 3 emissions occur in upstream supplier activities (which our Calculator covers). If these companies produce products that use energy or emit greenhouse gases (e.g., engines, cars, appliances), then the use of these products is most likely another large scope 3 source.
Companies in the transportation sector also often find that their Scope 3 is also primarily concentrated in their upstream supplier activities, though downstream scope 3 from additional logistics activities might be significant depending on how the company operates.
Once the screening effort is complete, if a company’s relevant scope 3 emissions are 40% or more of total scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, they must be included in Near Term science-based targets. However, if your company is also setting long-term science-based targets, then all relevant scope 3 categories must be included (90% of Scope 3).
Scope 3 Emissions Coverage
For Near-Term science-based targets, two-thirds of your company’s scope 3 emissions must be included in the target. We recommend that you choose the parts of scope 3 emissions that are most relevant to your company and where your company has the best ability to engage with and improve the accuracy of Scope 3 calculations. And for Long-Term science-based targets, 90% of your company’s scope 3 emissions must be included in the target.
If your company’s Scope 3 target includes baseline results that were produced in the GZA Scope 3 Calculator, and assuming that your data entries in the Calculator are provided at the supplier-level or the product-level, then you will have a reasonable understanding of which of your suppliers and products contribute the most to your Scope 3 emissions. That said, the GZA Scope 3 Calculator uses spend-based industry-averaged emissions factors, which are not updated annually and whose reductions over time can only reflect the average decarbonization of the US economy.
So while the GZA Scope 3 Calculator can help your company set a Scope 3 target and develop a target baseline, to show progress against your target your company will need to pursue more accurate emissions data (e.g., supplier surveys, supplier commitments to GHG targets, life cycle assessment of products, etc.) which you can then “swap out” with future emissions results of the GZA Scope 3 Calculator to show reductions over time.
The limitations and processes we have outlined above are inherent to any spend-based Scope 3 calculation methodology, and are a key step in an organization’s journey to calculating Scope 3 and setting an emissions reduction target.