Use this guide to select appropriate emissions factors and calculate your emissions reduction impact from your lower carbon material or ingredient purchases.

Emissions Impact Modeling Template

• A pre formatted sheet to help you calculate the emissions reduction between a baseline and preferred scenario. Create a copy of the template.
• To use this sheet you’ll need information about the baseline and preferred materials you purchased, such as a virgin material compared to a recycled material
  • quantity purchased of each (kg)
  • the emissions impact of the quantity purchased (tCO2e)
  • OR an emissions factor for each material (kg/tCO2e)
  • % expected emissions reduction from the baseline for the preferred material (optional)
• The following tools and emissions factor sources can help you to select an appropriate emissions factor for your purchased materials

Emissions Factor Sources

| Tool Name | Who should use this tool | What the tool does / contains | Outputs from the tool to submit | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | The BEE | Licensed Refinement users | Emissions data from your purchased materials measured in your refinement workbook | Quantity of material purchased and associated emissions from your emissions contributors list | | EPA ReCon Tool | All (free) | LCA data for recycled content materials. Enables modeling of variable recycled content | Download the xcel version of the tool to create a baseline and preferred material comparison. Submit the completed xcel sheet | | Planet FWD | All (2 week free trial, then need to purchase a subscription). Exclusive access provided for certifying companies. | Custom LCA modeling and corporate inventory emissions measurement | An export of the baseline and preferred materials comparison with emissions factor values modeled in the LCA tool | | Higg MSI | Best for M and L brands (subscription purchase required) | Product environmental impact modeling | An export of baseline and preferred materials comparison with emissions factor values OR An export of the relative MSI carbon scores of the baseline and preferred materials | | Other Published LCA Studies | All | Life cycle assessment of studied materials and their carbon impacts | Source references and the emissions factor values utilized from the primary source |

Published LCA Research for Preferred Materials

This table includes a sampling of web resources for preferred material LCAs or emissions factors. This is not a comprehensive list of all resources that may be suitable for modeling emissions impacts of lower carbon materials.