CO2e stands for “carbon dioxide equivalent”. It is used to measure and compare emissions from greenhouse gases based on how severely they contribute to global heating. Metrics for CO2e would show how much a particular gas would contribute to global warming if it were carbon dioxide.
How to use the
Roots
Carbon Calculator
A step-by-step guide to capturing your greenhouse gas emissions data and generating your carbon footprint report using Roots.
Carbon footprinting fundamentals
Learn the basics of carbon accounting so you feel confident in measuring, reporting and reducing your emissions.
Greenhouse gases are gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect by absorbing infrared radiation. They are gases like carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, and nitrous oxide that keep the Earth warmer than it would be without them.
Greenhouse Gas Protocol provides the world’s most widely used greenhouse gas accounting standards for companies. These standards are designed to provide a framework for businesses, governments, and other entities to measure and report their greenhouse gas emissions in ways that support their missions and goals.
The standards include scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions.
Scope 1 emissions refer to direct emissions originating from sources owned or controlled by an business. This includes on-site fossil fuel combustion, gas boilers, fuel used in fleet vehicles, and air-conditioning leaks.
Scope 2 emissions are indirect emissions from the generation of purchased electricity, steam, heating and cooling consumed by the reporting company.
Scope 3 emissions are all other indirect emissions (not included in scope 2) that occur in the value chain of the reporting company, including both upstream and downstream emissions.
Upstream emissions are emissions that occur in the supply chain of the reporting company. These include a portion of emissions generated from purchased materials, the transportation of these to the business, and the products and services a business uses, as well as emissions from employee travel and commuting.
Downstream emissions are emissions that occur in the use or disposal of the reporting company’s products or services. They related to a business’s customers, and the distribution, storage, use and disposal of its products.
Carbon intensity refers to the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases emitted per unit of activity, whether it be producing goods, providing services, or number of full time equivalents. It can be measured in various ways, depending on the specific activity and unit of measurement. For instance, it can be expressed as grams of CO2 per kilowatt-hour of electricity or kilograms of CO2 per tonne of steel.
Getting started with Roots
The login details will be sent via email to the address used during the initial signup for Roots. If you haven’t received your login information, please contact us at roots@sustainablefilm.green.
Once signed in, you’ll be directed to the Roots dashboard, where the four main components of the calculator will be visible:
1. Organisations: Upload and update information about your business.
2. Facilities: Add details of all your facilities, including offices and warehouses associated with your business.
3. Data Entries: Input your data.
4. Reports: View emissions reports and export them in Excel and PDF formats.
Easy navigation is provided through the left-hand panel conveniently located for quick access to these sections.
Setting up your organisation
To set up your Organisation after receiving your Roots login details, follow these steps:
1. Go to the dashboard and click on the Organisations button located in the left-hand sidebar.
2. Provide the following information:
- Business Name
- Reporting Year End – This should align with your financial reporting year (e.g., 1st August – 31st July).
- Industry Sector – Choose the appropriate option from the drop-down menu. You can find a list of different industry categories here. If you’re unsure which option to select, please contact your Roots Account Manager.
- Reporting Currency
Revenue and productivity data
- Annual turnover – This should be the total turnover for the reporting year.
- Full-Time Equivalents (FTE) – This should be the total number of employees in the reporting year or full-time equivalents. If you are unsure how to calculate this, please refer to the FAQ section below.
- Total number of units – produced, processed, purchased and sold in the reporting year. This will be determined by Industry Sector.
Please provide the information to the best of your ability. You can update it at any time by revisiting the page and selecting the edit icon.
FTE stands for full-time equivalent, which is a way of measuring the number of full-time employees in your business, as well as how many part-time employees could be converted into full-time roles. FTE is helpful for measuring carbon intensity in your business.
To calculate FTE, you need to determine the number of hours considered full-time in your business. This may vary depending on your industry and location, but a common standard is 40 hours per week.
Once you have defined the full-time hours, you can use the following formula to calculate FTE for any given period:
FTE = (Total number of hours worked by all employees) / (Full-time hours x Number of weeks in the period)
For example, if you have 5 full-time employees who work 40 hours per week, and 3 part-time employees who work 20 hours per week, and you want to calculate FTE for a month (4 weeks), you can use the formula as follows:
FTE = (5 x 40 x 4) + (3 x 20 x 4) / (40 x 4)
FTE = 800 + 240 / 160
FTE = 1040 / 160
FTE = 6.5
This means that you have 6.5 FTEs in your business for that month. You can use this number to compare with other businesses in your industry or to check if you satisfy the requirements for certain tax credits or benefits.
FTE stands for full-time equivalent, which is a way of measuring the number of full-time employees in your business, as well as how many part-time employees could be converted into full-time roles. FTE is helpful for measuring carbon intensity in your business.
To calculate FTE, you need to determine the number of hours considered full-time in your business. This may vary depending on your industry and location, but a common standard is 40 hours per week.
Once you have defined the full-time hours, you can use the following formula to calculate FTE for any given period:
FTE = (Total number of hours worked by all employees) / (Full-time hours x Number of weeks in the period)
For example, if you have 5 full-time employees who work 40 hours per week, and 3 part-time employees who work 20 hours per week, and you want to calculate FTE for a month (4 weeks), you can use the formula as follows:
FTE = (5 x 40 x 4) + (3 x 20 x 4) / (40 x 4)
FTE = 800 + 240 / 160
FTE = 1040 / 160
FTE = 6.5
This means that you have 6.5 FTEs in your business for that month. You can use this number to compare with other businesses in your industry or to check if you satisfy the requirements for certain tax credits or benefits.
Yes, you can!
When setting up a new business on Roots, you may want to invite others from your team to the platform. Here’s how to invite a user:
To onboard your team members onto Roots, the platform for setting up new businesses, follow these simple steps.
- First, navigate to the Users section in the left-hand sidebar.
- Next, click on the Invite Users button to send out invitations to others in your organisation.
Upon receiving the email invitation, they can join and start collaborating with you.
Facilities encompass a range of locations crucial to your business operations, such as offices, warehouses, and retail spaces. When inputting data, select the relevant facility. For example, you would record energy consumption specifically for the headquarters. This approach enhances your understanding of emission sources, providing valuable insights.
Setting up your facilities
To set up your facilities, follow these steps:
1. Access the Dashboard or the left-hand sidebar and click on the Facilities button.
2. On the Facilities page, you can easily add or edit facilities.
3. Click on the Add a Facility button to begin.
4. Provide the Facility Name, Facility Type, Country, and Postcode.
5. Specify whether this facility is your Primary Facility.
If you have numerous facilities to add, there’s a convenient alternative:
1. Click on the Import Facilities button.
2. Download the Facilities Excel template and fill it out accordingly.
3. Upload the completed template by clicking the Upload File button, then Start Import.
Upon completion, your facilities will be visible on the Roots platform.
Gathering data
To determine the primary sources of your emissions, it is crucial to establish a thorough scope for your entire operation. By setting a broad scope at the outset of your carbon footprint assessment, you can ensure more precise reporting and minimise the need to incorporate additional data types later on, which could potentially distort your results. This will enhance the accuracy of your analysis and streamline your carbon footprinting journey.
Data templates, types and guides
To begin your data gathering journey, start by using our data templates, data types and a handy usage guide to ensure you’re gathering the best quality data from the outset.
The templates helpful when getting started and allows the uploading of a large amount of a specific data type in one go. These templates support some of the core data types, including:
- Business Travel: Air
- Business Travel: Rail
- Business Travel: Road
- Construction
- Electricity
- Employee Commuting: Rail
- Employee Commuting: Road
- Food and Drinks
- Freight with Distance
- Freight without Distance
- Gas
- Paper
For all of our trackers and templates, we recommend downloading them from the Resources and Support folder on your dashboard at regular intervals. These are updated with new information and formulae on a periodic basis and we want to ensure you have access to the most up-to-date version.
There are over 60 different types of usage data, with thousands of sub-types ranging from GHG emissions associated to advertising your business to your water consumptions, and the carbon conversion metrics are regularly updated, so you are always reporting on the most up-to-date carbon intensities.
There are over 60 different types of usage data, with thousands of sub-types ranging from GHG emissions associated to advertising your business to your water consumptions, and the carbon conversion metrics are regularly updated, so you are always reporting on the most up-to-date carbon intensities.
At a minimum, you need to include scope 1 and scope 2, and operational scope 3 emissions.
This includes things like energy use, fuel used for business travel, gas, employee commuting, water and waste.
We have a selection of resources to help you gather this information, and if you require extra support, reach out to your Roots Account Manager for how we can help.
Collecting the necessary data for a comprehensive and accurate carbon footprint can often take more time than anticipated, especially when historical data is involved and no formal data collection methods were previously established.
Our recommendation is to establish efficient processes for data gathering after obtaining the initial baseline data. This will enable faster and more streamlined data collection for future reporting, ensuring accuracy and timely reporting.
To use our Excel Template:
- Select the Import Usage Data button and select the appropriate usage type
- Download the template
- The first sheet will give you the instructions on how to fill out the template
- The dark blue column headings indicate which information is required
- The light blue column headings are optional columns that add more detail and increase precision
- When you’ve filled out your information, save your file ready to upload to the calculator.
Inputting your data
Once you have set up your Organisations and Facilities, and collected your data, you can start adding to the calculator manually or through bulk upload of the completed templates.
Manual data entry
To get started, follow these steps to manually add your data to the calculator:
1. Click on the “Data Entries” button on the Dashboard or the “Usage Data” button on the left sidebar.
2. For manual data entry, select the “Add Usage Data” button.
3. Choose the appropriate usage type and subtype.
4. Enter the required information.
5. Click “Add Data” to save it to your account.
If you need more information about the usage types and subtypes, hover over the question mark buttons.
Repeat these steps for each applicable data usage type.
Bulk uploading (templates)
- Return to the Roots platform and select the Import Usage Data button again
- Select the Upload File button, choose the relevant file then press the Start Import button
You will see a notification that the import has started, that it is processing and that it has completed. This can take a couple of minutes. Once this is complete, the data will be in your account.
Generating reports
Creating a report
To view your business’s emissions, follow these steps:
1. Click on the Reports button either on the Dashboard or the left-hand sidebar.
2. Select the Add Report button.
3. Choose your reporting period. Typically this will be your financial reporting year.
The report will include any usage data you’ve added within this range. If you make changes to your usage data later on, your reports will automatically update to reflect those changes.
You can export the reports as PDF or Excel files, allowing you to analyse and customise your results as needed for your reporting requirements.
Creating a report
Once your report has been created, you will have several options for how the data is presented.
You are able to toggle your data to show your total footprint as Total Co2e, per million revenue, per FTE. As revenue and staff numbers can change year-on-year, the latter two of these are useful for tracking your relative footprint over time.
You are also able to choose to present your footprint in a market-based or location-based method. The key difference between these is the way in which emissions from grid electricity are calculated:
- Location-based reporting will calculate electricity emissions A location-based method reflects the average emissions intensity of grids on which energy consumption occurs (using mostly grid-average emission factor data).
- Market-based reporting reflects emissions from electricity that companies have purposefully chosen (or their lack of choice). It derives emission factors from contractual instruments, which include any type of contract between two parties for the sale and purchase of energy bundled with attributes about the energy generation, or for unbundled attribute claims.
Contact and support
To further assistance, including effective strategies for reducing emissions, get in touch with your Roots Account Manager or email Roots@sustainablefilm.green to explore and discuss your available options.
For any technical support you may require, please contact Roots@sustainablefilm.green.
