The Climate Action Liaison Coalition, or CALC, provides a metric-driven internal sustainability program to help our member businesses achieve measurable results in sustainability performance. Our projects aim to help your businesses reduce its environmental impact while improving your bottom line.

To help you achieve these results, we’ve developed the…

CALC SPaRK Tool

General notes about the CALC SPaRK Tool

SPaRK stands for Sustainability Performance and Reporting Kit. This tool was initially designed by Darcy Hitchcock and Marsha Willard of AXIS Performance Advisors and has been heavily customized for CALC by Karen Schlesinger. SPaRK is intended to help organizations plan, track and report their progress on sustainability efforts.

Important things to note when using this tool:

• Only enter data into the YELLOW shaded cells, as shown at left.

• Cells with formulas are locked by default, and all sheets have protection enabled to prevent accidently changes. If you need to make changes to a locked cell (not recommended), contact CALC and someone will provide you with the password to unprotect the locked cells.

• Remove the sample data that will be in the tool when you receive it, and replace it with your own.

Terms of Use: The CALC SPaRK is provided as a simple tool for your internal use. You may not provide copies of SPaRK to people outside your organization, and this tool may not be used for commercial purposes. Questions or comments about the use of this tool should be directed to Karen Schlesinger at kar.schlesinger@gmail.com

Sustainability Project WorkflowCALC has established a process for all member businesses to follow for implementing their internal sustainability projects. The Sustainability Workflow screen provides a step-by-step workflow diagram with details about what actions need to be taken at each stage. Below the process diagram is a project tracker, so CALs can track the start and end dates for each stage, set the current status, and keep notes on the activities happening at each stage.

Dashboard OverviewThe dashboard provides a snapshot of the company’s performance across all five impact categories: GHG emissions, Energy, Renewable Energy, Waste and Water.

Once you define the baseline year and the goal on the Company Setup screen, the tool will calculate progress toward the goal for all key metrics.

Dashboard Overview: GHG EmissionsThe emissions table and chart on the dashboard display the Total Scope 1 & 2 emissions for each year, and tracks the percent change in total emissions from the previous year.

The Emissions Intensity calculates total emissions per unit of revenue for the business. This enables different size companies to be compared, and also accounts for company growth. The percent reduction in emissions intensity is calculated from the baseline year, and the progress toward the goal is displayed on the chart below.

Dashboard Overview: EnergyThe energy table and chart on the dashboard displays the total energy use for each year, and tracks the percent change in energy from the previous year.

The Energy Intensity calculates total energy used per unit of revenue for the business. This enables different size companies to be compared, and also accounts for company growth. The percent reduction in energy intensity is calculated from the baseline year, and the progress toward the goal is displayed on the chart below.

Dashboard Overview: Additional ChartsThe tool comes with a total of seven pre-built dashboard charts:

Percent reduction in emissions intensity; Percent reduction in energy intensity; Percent of renewables in energy mix; Percent of total waste recycled; Percent reduction in water consumption; Energy used charted against revenue; and Emissions charted against spending on sustainability.

Dashboard Overview: Additional ChartsThe tool comes with a total of seven pre-built dashboard charts:

Percent reduction in emissions intensity; Percent reduction in energy intensity; Percent of renewables in energy mix; Percent of total waste recycled; Percent reduction in water consumption; Energy used charted against revenue; and Emissions charted against spending on sustainability.

Company SetupThis screen is critically important. This is where the all the company parameters are defined, such as the baseline year, facilities, vehicle groups, and the company financials used for calculating intensity metrics (revenue, square footage, # of FTEs, and units of production).

Users will start by defining the 10-year time period for tracking the data. This can start with the baseline year, or a different year.

Company SetupNext, users will define the baseline year for each impact category (GHG emissions, energy consumption, renewable energy, waste, and water). This is the year from which the Percent Reduction metrics are calculated.

Then, users will specify all the facilities owned and operated by the company. Users will enter each facility’s name, square footage, and whether it is open or closed. The square footage for all Open facilities is added up and pulled into the table in the lower left of this screen.

Company SetupThe next step is to enter the fiscal year (FY) revenue, the number of full-time employees (FTE) and the units of production for each year. These values are used to calculated the intensity metrics. By default, the intensity metrics are using FY Revenue, but users can add additional intensity calculations using the other values. For example, a manufacturing company might find that calculating total emissions per unit of production is a valuable metric to track, whereas a consulting firm might find more value in calculating emissions or energy per FTE.

ALL CALC MEMBER BUSINESSES MUST CALCULATE INTENSITY METRICS ON REVENUE, HOWEVER.

Company SetupFinally, businesses that use vehicles as part of their operations must set up Vehicle Groups. All vehicles of a similar type (engine type and size, such as large trucks) and age should be grouped together. The first step is to select the vehicle type from the available options in the dropdown. Next, select the fuel used by vehicles in this group. Finally, give the group a custom name. This should be something easy to identify and remember.

Metric SetupKeeping track of what metrics are being tracked, the goals that they are supporting, how they are being calculated, and who is responsible for them is a huge task, even for a relatively small organization. The Metric Setup screen is the place for doing all this “housekeeping” on your sustainability data and metrics. By taking the time to complete this table, anyone in your company will be able to open the CALC SPaRK tool and know exactly what is being tracked, how it’s being calculated, and who to go to for each piece of data.

Data Entry: EnergyThe CALC Sustainability Tool is designed so that users only have to enter monthly usage data for 4 impact categories (energy, waste, water, and transportation), and all of the emissions calculations and performance tracking charts are generated automatically. On the Energy Data Entry screen, users enter monthly usage for electricity (from non-renewable, grid-purchased renewable, and on-site generated renewable), fuel oil, propane, and natural gas. Users then specify the unit of measure, and tool automatically converts the usage amount into a common unit (BTUs).

Data Entry: WasteThe second data entry screen is Waste. Users enter the amount (either lbs or tons) of waste either sent to landfill or recycling. The tool allows for entering either an aggregated total recycling amount, or users can specify the amount of each waste stream category if that level of detail is collected. The full list of available waste streams is shown on the left.

Data Entry: WaterThe third data entry screen is for water consumption. Most commonly, users will enter the total number of gallons withdrawn, either from a municipal water supply or from a well. If the business has the capability for recycling/reusing water or capturing rainwater, these amounts can be entered as well. This is also the screen where wastewater data is entered each month.

Data Entry: TransportationThe last data entry screen is for Transportation. This data is used for both Scope 1 and Scope 3 emissions calculations, and therefore is entered into separate tables. The table on the left is for vehicles used in business operations. These vehicles are the company’s owned/operated fleet. The user must add up the total gallons for each Vehicle Group for the month. Each Vehicle Group is entered separately. Vehicle Groups are defined in the Company Setup screen. This data is used for calculating Scope 1 emissions.

Data Entry: TransportationThe middle table is for business travel, such as airplane miles and rental car travel. The mode of transport is selected from the dropdown, and then the total number of miles traveled is entered.

The third table is for employee commuting. The total miles traveled for each mode of commuting (car, rail, bicycle, etc…) is entered each month. Both business travel and employee commuting are used for Scope 3 emissions.

Performance Review: EnergyThe tool provides automated Summary screens for users to review the company’s performance on Energy, Waste, Water and Transportation metrics. Each screen comes with pre-built data tables and charts, and users can add their own charts and graphs, as well.

The energy screen provides a summary view of energy usage by type, the amount of renewable energy used, and the energy portfolio mix broken down by percentage.

Performance Review: WasteThe waste summary screen shows the amount (in tons) of each waste stream. The pre-built charts provide a snapshot of total waste generated over time, and the ratio of landfilled waste to recycled waste.

Performance Review: WaterThe water summary screen shows the total amount of water consumed each year, as well as the breakdown of water consumption by source (withdrawn from municipal/well, recycled/reused, and rain water harvesting).

Performance Review: TransportationThe transportation summary screen provides data tables and chart analysis on fuel usage by vehicle type, the total gallons of each fuel type used, and a breakdown of business travel and employee commuting (not shown below) by transit mode.

GHG Emissions CalculatorThe GHG calculator automatically pulls usage data from the data entry screens into the correct categories for calculating scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. The only additional data that users need to provide on this screen is to enter the year for which the calculation is being performed, then specify their state (for correct electricity grid calculations), and to specify the total amount and type of refrigerants used throughout the year (if any).

The tool then generates the MT of CO2e for each scope, and breaks them down by category (buildings, transportation, business travel, and waste).

Project FinancialsFor many businesses, it is important to track the amount of spending and investment in sustainability projects, and the savings that will be recouped over time from those projects. This screen enables companies to enter spending and savings from each project, and classify them as expenses for operations & maintenance, or a capital investment. A simple payback calculation helps decision-makers balance sustainability spending decisions on a project-by-project basis.

Thank You!