OUR CARBON FOOTPRINT

The Carbon Footprint measures the impact of human activities on the Greenhouse Effect (GHE), expressed in tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e).

The Greenhouse Effect issue has been attracting the attention of both the scientific world and the European institutions for some time now. Namely the EU has recently put forward an integrated energy and climate change package, setting new targets for 2020.
Its goal is to lead the European society towards a sustainable development model, by developing a low carbon economy through the implementation of the following measures:
- to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20% (or 30% if internationally agreed);
- to cut energy consumption by 20% through the increase of energy efficiency;
- to reach a target of 20% sourced from renewable energy resources.

Within this framework, the Carbon Footprint is a precise and significant indicator, which enables organisations to effectively control the effectiveness and efficiency of the management policies required to meet the sustainability targets set by the European authorities.

In addition, at the enterprise level, the Carbon Footprint is a valuable tool:
- to achieve greater control of the environmental performance of a product and / or process;
- as a synthetic indicator to determine internal target;
- to improve the corporate image to stakeholders, who can perceive the indirect emissions related to activities carried out by the company as potential liabilities that must still be managed and reduced where possible.

To find out more: http://ec.europa.eu/climateaction

part 1 - quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions.

The ISO 14064-1 requires that the emissions of GHG (Greenhouse Gas) are estimated by distinguishing between the direct and indirect emissions, which are then classified into three application areas decreasing liability.
The three fields of application (or Scope) are:

a) Scope 1 (direct emissions):
Emissions from direct combustion of fossil fuels used to produce thermal energy, for any on-site production of electricity, for the supply of transport vehicles. The sources classified as Scope 1 emissions are generally owned and controlled directly by the organization and subsequent emissions occur directly within the boundaries chosen.

b) Scope 2 (indirect emissions from energy consumption):
Emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels to produce electricity purchased and used by the organization.

c) Scope 3(other indirect emissions):
Emissions from products and services used by the organization, such as emissions from business travel, the goods used, the mobility of workers, etc..; the boundary of Scope is defined by the organization and generally must be included in Scope 3 only those issues that the organization is able to quantify and influence.

To find out more: : http://www.uni.com

By analyzing the activity of ecogestioni srl has been defined the system boundary, which apply the quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions.




The data collected to calculate the carbon footprint refers to the year 2010.

	company car: mobility related consulting services that employees have with customers using the company car;
	refrigerants: the presence of refrigerants inside a conditioning circuit is not in itself lead to GHG emission, but this occurs only in case of gas leaks from equipment;
	electricity consumption building: considering the amount of electricity charged to ecogestioni srl and used from the air conditioner for cooling of the offices;
	electricity consumption office: the contract for the supply of electricity with A2A SpA, which is used in the office, is CO2 Free (100% renewable energy certified RECS);
	consumption thermal energy: the heat production is derived from the sum of the contributions of the main plants that supply heat to district heating network in Brescia: the incinerator of Brescia and the cogeneration plant Lamarmora;
	systematic mobility: mobility of employees between home and work, divided on the different types of transportation (car, train, bus, motorcycle);
	mobility activities: mobility related consulting services that employees have with customers, divided over different types of transportation (train, plane, taxi, car rental);
	paper consumption: at ecogestioni srl activities are carried out primarily office and, as a logical consequence, it uses a significant amount of paper. The type of paper used is mainly in A4 format, de-inked and recycled;;
	water consumption: water transport used by the company strictly for sanitary and subsequent treatment in sewage treatment plants is a source of GHG emissions, especially considering the energy required for pumping and for wastewater treatment;
	Shipments: Delivery documents to customers, using express mail and registered mail;;
	unsorted waste: municipal solid waste not destined for recycling, sent for energy recovery (incinerator of Brescia);
	waste paper: paper collection in a differentiated way, for the recovery of materials;
	purchase electronic material: they are accounted GHG LCA related (Life Cycle Assessment) of desktops, laptops, LCD monitors, mobile phones and other electronic equipment purchased in 2010 and documented by invoices;
	Email: sending mail is an integral part of the office and this also is possible to calculate the GHG emission associated with the consumption of electricity of the mail server.

The calculation method used is based on the multiplication between the "Data activities," which quantifies the activity, and the corresponding "emission factor":

                                                         GHG emission = Data business * EF

where:

GHG emission: it is the quantification of GHG emitted from the task, expressed in terms of tonnes of CO2 equivalent (t CO2e)

Data activities: is the amount generated or used, which describes the activity, expressed in terms of energy (kWh or MJ), mass (kg) or volume (m3 or L)

EF: Emission factor is the amount that can transform the resulting GHG emissions expressed in CO2 emitted per unit of Data activities

The choice of emission factor was made favoring:
- updating;
- the appropriateness and specificity with respect to the source in question;
- the use of emission factors recognized (Ecoinvent databases, Defra);
- the use of emission factors specific to Italy, over the use of international emission factors.

In order to calculate GHG emissions was used LCA software SimaPro, using the 2007 IPCC assessment, which includes the factors of climate change by considering a time frame of 100 years.

The result of reporting for the year 2010 is as follows:

The result of the calculation of the total carbon footprint is broken down into its various components: the analysis of the impact of each component on the total value permits to build actions and management strategies, which are able to orient toward a target indicator of sustainability, for each component identified.

Some useful actions to reduce GHG emissions and mitigate the ecogestioni srl can be, for example:
a) to improve the energy efficiency of offices, through works to increase the thermal insulation;
b) use the double pushbutton for discharging water from the toilet, allowing an average savings of 40% water;
c) focus on the use of the train for travel or car rental at low GHG emissions;
d) improve the awareness of employees about the consumption related to energy use in offices (correct temperature and lighting of rooms).

ecogestioni srl has decided to offset the tons of CO2 emitted in 2010 by purchasing certified VERs and thus contributing to the setup project geCO2 system, a technology with action and abatement of methane from biogas migrants from the landfill of solid waste (MSW) landfills in Bairo, Colleretto and Torrione, located in the Province of Turin.

http://www.eco2care.org/progetti/pr02-01/it0002-p0201.pdf
http://www.eco2care.org/acquirenti.htm

Certificato Ritiro VER

RINA Services S.p.A. verified the Carbon Footprint of ecogestioni for the year 2010 by:
• A desk review of the Annual Report reporting product
• an on-site visit on 09/30/2011 to interview representatives of the organization and check the records to support the Carbon Footprint
• acceptance of the resolution of requests for clarification and corrective actions proposed by the organization

RINA Services S.p.A. has confirmed that the carbon footprint of the company ecogestioni, for the period 01/01/2010 to 12/31/2010 is in compliance with testing criteria identified:
• UNI EN ISO 14064-1:2006 "Part 1: Specification and guidance at the organizational level for quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and their removal"
• The Greenhouse Gas Protocol - A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standards

Dichiarazione Verifica RINA

ecogestioni srl is able to support you in the calculation of CO2 emissions both at the level of your organization at a single product; this allows not only to assess your carbon footprint and subsequently to offset or reduce the calculated emissions, but also use the data that emerged as a tool for detailed analysis of consumption, allowing an improvement in energy savings in business costs.

Carbon Footprint Organizzazione

Carbon Footprint Prodotto

For more information, please contact us.