Carbon Accounting (Scope 1, 2 & 3)
A standardized framework for categorizing an organization's greenhouse gas emissions into three scopes, Scope 1, direct emissions from owned equipment, like a company's own vehicles or generators, Scope 2, indirect emissions from purchased electricity, and Scope 3, all other indirect emissions across the value chain, including, for a construction company, materials it purchases and subcontractors it hires, used to track and report a company's total carbon footprint.
Why it matters
Scope 3 is typically the largest category by far for a construction company, since materials manufacturing and subcontracted work dwarf a company's own fuel and electricity use, but it's also the hardest to measure accurately since it depends on data the company doesn't directly control, which is exactly why many companies' early carbon accounting efforts understate their real footprint by focusing mainly on the easier Scopes 1 and 2.
On a real project
A general contractor's sustainability report tracks Scope 1 emissions from its own equipment fleet and Scope 2 from its office electricity use, but also begins estimating Scope 3 emissions from purchased concrete and steel, its largest actual source of carbon, rather than omitting that harder-to-measure category entirely.
Who this matters most to
A Sustainability/LEED Consultant or a dedicated corporate sustainability role tracks and reports a company's emissions across all three scopes, increasingly a requirement for companies bidding on projects with owners who have their own carbon reduction commitments.
Where this goes wrong
A contractor publishes a carbon footprint report covering only its Scopes 1 and 2 emissions, its own vehicles and offices, presenting the number as the company's total footprint. A client evaluating bidders for sustainability commitments discovers the report omits Scope 3 entirely, the company's actual largest source of emissions, and questions the credibility of the reported figure.
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