Master of Environmental Science and Management: Master's Group Project
(2024)

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Accounting for a Professional Services Firm

Description

Businesses play a vital role in driving down greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and building a resilient, sustainable economy to avoid the catastrophic impacts of climate change. To manage its environmental impacts and contribute to lowering emissions to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius, the professional services firm, FORVIS, must calculate its GHG emissions and identify significant emissions sources within business operations. To calculate and manage the company’s GHG emissions, FORVIS has enlisted the help of a group of Bren students.

This project will create an interactive Excel-based tool to measure FORVIS’s greenhouse gas emissions and make operating recommendations to abate its Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions. In this project, we will 1) Determine applicable categories for Scope 3 emissions and measure Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, 2) Calculate the total GHG emissions using a company-specific calculator tool based on the GHG Protocol’s Corporate Standard, 3) Identify critical areas for emissions reduction by conducting a hotspot analysis and identifying potential emissions reduction pathways, and 4) Recommend operating procedures to ensure repeatability of the inventory for the continued year-on-year analysis.

After completing an annual GHG Inventory, identifying emissions hotspots and reduction pathways is essential for firms to establish climate goals and reduce environmental impacts. We anticipate that much of FORVIS’s emissions will come from its Scope 3 business travel and employee commuting, which can be abated through substituting travel with video conferencing, flying with more efficient airlines, or flying in coach rather than in business or first class. Further, we predict that a significant portion of the firm’s emissions will result from energy use in commercial buildings, including space heating and cooling, lighting, appliances, and miscellaneous equipment (such as office equipment). There is significant potential to reduce building emissions with increased insulation, electrification, more energy-efficient appliances, and a transition to renewable energy sources.