** Please note that as of May 1, 2023 this library has been selectively updated. New resources using the 2018 CBECS benchmarks have been added for the emissions factor-EUI combinations actively in use or requested by our customers. If you would like to see a new resource added, please contact your account manager.
Upcoming development of the Scope 5 application will enable the ability to assign multiple conversion factors to one tracker without combing factors together in one resource, as is done in this library. This functionality will enable a broader set of factors and is expected later in 2023.**
Introduction
Scope 5’s Estimated Electricity (Residual Mix) Library includes emissions factors that allow you to estimate electricity usage and the resulting emissions for office buildings, warehouses and vacant buildings when actual utility data is unavailable. This library combines AIB country-specific residual mix electricity emissions factors with CBECS energy use intensity benchmarks.
What’s Included
As of March 2021, the library includes nineteen resources, covering twelve European countries. Each resource reflects the combination of a country, a Principal building activity and a climate zone. Large countries include several climate zones and, consequently, have several resources. Emissions factors in these resources combine energy use intensity (EUI) benchmarks with emissions factors; as such they express energy and emissions per square foot of building area.
The list of locations in this library were determined based on Scope 5’s clients’ current needs. If the list of locations in this library does not include what you are looking for, feel free to reach out to your Scope 5 account manager who can help to add new locations to the list.
The bulk of the library covers office buildings’ electricity consumption. Other building categories such as “service” or “vacant” are available through CBECS and can be leveraged for additional resources. Please see the full list and their definitions here.
Where the Numbers Come From
Each resource is based on four elements:
- Climate zone/region
- EUI benchmark
- Emissions factor
- Principal building activity
Below we explain from where each component was sourced.
Climate Regions
The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) defines nine unique climate zones based on heating and cooling degree days. Each of these zone designations can be mapped to a Building America Best Practice Series climate region, which form the basis of the Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) climate regions and accompanying energy use intensity figures.
EUI Benchmark
Energy use intensity benchmarks - which describe the average number of kWh used per square foot per year based on climate region and Principal building activity - were sourced from the Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS), a review conducted by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) to understand building characteristics and define figures for average EUI for different ‘Principal building activities’.
Principal Building Activity
This library includes data for the Principal building activity of Office, Warehouse and Vacant. If the principal building activity is not explicitly stated in the resource name, then the resource applies to office buildings. Floor space for each building type is measured by evaluating "the gross or total square footage of all the space in this building, both finished and unfinished, including basements, hallways, lobbies, stairways, elevator shafts, and indoor parking levels." This means unconditioned spaces like closets are included in calculating EUI figures, but outdoor patios are not. The degree to which your facility deviates from the ratios of conditioned space used in CBECS calculations will contribute to deviations in the accuracy of an inventory using benchmarks, one way or the other.
Emissions Factors
All emissions factors were sourced from the Association of Issuing Bodies (AIB). For more information on these emissions factors, please review the Scope 5 Electricity (Residual mix) Library.
More Details
To identify the source of a specific set of emissions factors in Scope 5, please refer to the ‘Source’ for the specific conversion factor set, as illustrated in the following example.
Updates
The Scope 5 Estimated Electricity (Residual Mix) Library is updated when any of the source authorities publish updates. The most recent set of emissions factors was published by the AIB in June 2023 (IEA data is used to supplement this information by also providing N2O and CH4 emissions data). The EUI factors sourced from CBECS were last updated in 2022.
Global Warming Potentials
Following the Greenhouse Gas Protocol recommendation, all Scope 5 standard resource libraries use global warming potentials from the IPCC's Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) as of February 13, 2017.
The Scope 5 team is always available to help, whether that means navigating the application, making changes to your account configuration, or just answering questions.
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