Guidance for getting started.
Pilot planning, evidence standards, emission factor notes, and methodology references. Grounded in DEFRA 2025, EPA 2025, and GHG Protocol Corporate Standard.
Pilot planning checklist
How to scope a first reporting period, choose a factor library, set up org structure (facilities, business units), and invite team members. Includes a suggested timeline for a 90-day pilot.
Emission categories for construction
Which GHG Protocol categories apply to typical main contractor, subcontractor, and waste-haulage operations. Scope 1, 2 and 3 decision tree with worked examples.
Onboarding field workers
Step-by-step guide for admins: generate invite link, set expiry, send by SMS or email, confirm receipt, and handle PIN setup issues. Includes the field_worker role permission summary.
What counts as acceptable evidence
DEFRA guidance on supporting evidence for GHG inventory entries. Minimum requirements for waste tickets, fuel receipts, utility bills, and travel bookings. Photo quality guidance for OCR accuracy.
Handling missing or incomplete evidence
Using the assumptionNotes field. When estimation is acceptable versus when a record should be rejected. Documentation requirements for auditor review under SECR.
DEFRA 2025 conversion factors
Published by DESNZ under Open Government Licence v3. Used for UK-based Scope 1 combustion, Scope 2 electricity (UK grid: 0.207 kgCO2e/kWh location-based), and Scope 3 transport and freight factors.
EPA GHG Emission Factors Hub
US EPA factors for US-geography records. Natural gas at 0.18116 kgCO2e/kWh. Diesel at 2.705 kgCO2e/litre. US national grid at 0.371 kgCO2e/kWh. Public domain, no redistribution restrictions.
IPCC AR6 global warming potentials
GWP-100 values from the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report: CO2 = 1, CH4 = 27.9, N2O = 273. These replace AR5 values (CH4 = 25, N2O = 265) and affect calculation outputs where gas-specific factors are used.
GHG Protocol Corporate Standard
The calculation methodology used by CarbonSite is ghg-protocol-v2026-01. Scope 1 includes direct emissions from owned or controlled sources. Scope 2 covers purchased electricity using location-based or market-based methods. Scope 3 covers 15 categories in the standard.
SECR reporting requirements
Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting applies to UK-quoted companies, large LLPs, and large unquoted companies. Minimum disclosure: energy and carbon figures, intensity ratio, methodology summary. CarbonSite audit packages include the required methodology statement.
Factor library versioning policy
When DEFRA or EPA update their factor publications, a new FactorLibrary version is created. Existing calculation runs reference their original library version, so historical figures do not change when factors are updated.