1Carbon accounting
Progress
On time
- Not started
- Planning
- Implementation
- Continuous
OBJECTIVE
IMPACT
HighTracking emissions allows us to evaluate progress towards our net zero by 2035 target, and identify and implement actions to decarbonise.
Description
We track our greenhouse gas emissions to monitor progress against our baseline emissions (2019/20) and to help determine how much carbon offsets we need to purchase after we have done all we can to decarbonise.
If we don't measure our emissions we can't tell how we are progressing towards Net Zero.
We track our emissions (Scope 1, 2 & 3) using the carbon accounting platform Trellis. We use invoices from service and utility providers to extract quantities of resources used, such as kW of electricity or kL of water consumed at Council's assets. Trellis applies 'emissions factors' against resources to calculate our emissions. For some resources (e.g. corporate waste, staff commuting) we rely on periodic surveys and audits to measure impact.
Tracking emissions with attention to different resource types and assets (including buildings, fleet, infrastructure and services) allows Council to identify the best opportunities to make a big impact on our emissions profile.
Tasks
What are we doing?
- 31/12/2024
Integrate electricity interval data for top-consuming facilities
- 31/12/2024
Add utilities data for Council's leased facilities (Scope 3)
Our Scope 3 emissions include utilities in our leased buildings. We need to quantify these emissions in order to determine which facilities should be prioritised for upgrades such as more efficient heating and cooling, LED upgrades or solar installations. Often these buildings are occupied by community groups, so lower utilities bills will also benefit our community by helping these groups' funding stretch further.
- 31/12/2024
Integrate Council's Asset Management platform (Unity) and Trellis
Marry existing data in Unity with Trellis via ID Keys in order to:
- ensure accurate references to Council facilities.
- make it easier for sustainability upgrades/works to be recorded.
- make it easier to have a centralised database for facility information, including sustainability information (see Energy Efficiency Register).
- 31/12/2024
Work with providers to ensure data integrity
Our utilities and service providers can help us track our emissions by providing invoices in electronic format with all the data we need. In some cases our providers invoices are not compatible with our carbon accounting platform, which causes gaps in our data. Filling gaps of missing data is essential to having an accurate estimate of our total emissions.
UPDATE: As of February 2023, we have full transparency on water and electricity invoices for all of our pools, which are managed by a third party. Pools are amongst are largest consumers of utilities.
What has been done?
- 15/05/2023
Add indicator data to all actions
- 20/02/2023
Increase resolution of plant and fleet fuel consumption data
Plant and fleet account for a significant part of ISC's emissions.
Converting our most heavily used vehicles and plant to lower- or no-emission technologies will help us reduce our emissions, but first we need to understand our fuel consumption patterns.
Interrogating our fuel invoices to find out which vehicles and plant are consuming the most fuel is only possible with good quality data. We need to assign usage to individual vehicles and understand how much fuel our plant is consuming.
UPDATE: As of February 2023, we have the ability to track large portions of fuel consumption for most of our self-propelled fleet and plant, giving us better resolution on fuel consumption and efficiency data.
Fleet is implementing better tracking technology to better capture usage data (km and fuel).
- 31/01/2023
Implement Scope 3 tracking in Trellis - Goods and Service Providers
Goods and services account for a large portion of our emissions profile. We will continuously add new emissions factors to better capture our Scope 3 emisions as Climate Active attains IP.
UPDATE: General Ledger data has been integrated into Trellis from July 2021 onwards, capturing diverse Scope 3 emissions sources such as Plastic Packaging, Construction Contractors, Chemical Use, and Asphalt. Council and Trellis will work to update and apply emissions factors to an increasing range of products and services as they become available.
- 01/07/2019
Joined Trellis (carbon accounting platform)
Council subscribed to Trellis as a result of the 'Carbon Crunching Councils' project by Goulburn Murray Climate Alliance (GMCA).
Update: Our buildings and other assets (including parks and gardens, BBQs and public toilets), goods and service providers (Scope 3 emissions such as Contractors and Plastic Packaging), Fleet and Plant fuel use, printing and paper use, and operational waste are now captured in Trellis.
Summary and contacts
Timeline
01/07/2019 → Continuous
Target audience
Responsible organisations
- Environment & SustainabilityManages Council's carbon accounting platform (Trellis) to ensure data accuracy and completeness.
- FinanceManages invoicing and provides data on financial transactions.
- Assets & PropertyProvides facility and fleet information (e.g. management responsibilities, usage statistics, repair/upgrade information). Integral in maintaining Asset Management System & Energy Efficiency Register.
- Capital Works & WasteProvides data and information on material use and service providers.
- Municipal OperationsRecords and provides data.
Emissions Scope
Indicative costs
$11,286 (2024/25 subscription fee) and cost of staff wages.
Indicative savings
Unit cost per kWh
Information updated 25/10/2024
Track peak usage to identify opportunities to reduce usage, reduce peak demand and reduce electricity costs.
We are working with Trellis to integrate interval data into our existing reporting platform.