The Community Carbon Footprint
The Community Carbon Footprint
What is a “carbon footprint?” In short, it’s a number! A number that represents tons, of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. As you may have noticed, a core goal at SSAFE is to help senior living communities get on the path to “net zero” – which means zero GHG emissions. Read more about “net zero” here.
In order to obtain a carbon footprint that equals 0, you need to know what your carbon footprint equals now.
Measuring your community’s carbon footprint can be daunting but SSAFE wants to help you simplify this step and start with the basics.
As a resident volunteer, you will likely need some cooperation from your administration. Start thinking about who could help you collect utility bills from a base year (more on this later) and who, even if it’s you, is the best person to enter the data into a carbon footprint calculator.
Before you recruit volunteers or ask your administration for utility bills, take a moment to consider the concept of “Scopes.” The easiest way to understand carbon footprint scopes may be to think about apples and oranges! (Not all carbon footprints are measured equally!)
Here is a thought experiment:
- Community A declares they have achieved a carbon footprint of 1000 (tons of GHG emissions annually).
- Community B declares that they have achieved a carbon footprint of 4000 (tons of GHG emissions annually). .
Community A took a year to measure their emissions generated on-site. They also measured emissions generated from the energy purchased off-site, and did an in-depth analysis of their employee’s commuting habits.
Community B collected electric bills for a year and used their energy consumption to calculate a carbon footprint.
As you can see, it’s tough to compare Community A with Community B since the scope of each measurement varied.
In order to get a handle on what exactly we should measure and how to compare our measurements, we need to talk about scopes to make sure we are comparing apples to apples !
Learn about Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 below:
- Examples:
- Emissions from community-owned vehicles.
- On-site fuel combustion (e.g., propane or natural-gas heating).
- Importance: Represents the most direct and easily controlled emissions within a community.
- Examples:
- Emissions from electricity purchased from a gas-fired power plant.
- Emissions from electricity purchased from a coal-fired power plant
- Importance: Reflects the impact of a community’s energy consumption which depends on the type of the energy supply.
- Examples:
- Emissions from goods and services purchased by residents.
- Transportation-related emissions from community members commuting.
- Waste disposal and recycling processes.
- Importance: Typically the most complex category, reflecting the broader environmental impact of the community’s activities beyond direct operations.
Carbon Sinks and Carbon Footprint Accounting
Emissions Focus: The three scopes are designed to measure the total GHG emissions produced by an organization. This involves quantifying direct emissions (Scope 1), indirect emissions from energy consumption (Scope 2), and other indirect emissions related to the organization’s activities (Scope 3).
Carbon Sinks: While carbon sinks like tree planting do absorb CO₂ from the atmosphere, they are generally not included directly in the calculation of the carbon footprint within the three scopes. Instead, they are considered in the context of offsetting emissions.
Offsets and Net-Zero Strategies:
- Carbon sinks are often used as part of a strategy to offset emissions, helping an organization achieve net-zero carbon emissions.
- After calculating total emissions across the three scopes, an organization might invest in carbon sinks (e.g., planting trees, restoring native meadows, creating low-mow zones, sourcing food from local gardens, adding rain gardens) to compensate for their emissions.
- Many organizations purchase carbon offsets in their quest to reach net-zero such as an investment in reforesting land that does not currently have trees. Purchasing offsets should be a last resort due to credibility issues. You can read more here.
Reporting: While carbon sinks are important to offset emissions, they are not typically included directly in the carbon footprint measurement but may be included in a broader campus sustainability or campus net-zero planning.
If you feel like this is too much to manage on their own, don’t give up! Some SSAFE Chapters have already forged the path and can help you narrow down your next steps. The SSAFE Energy Pathway to Net-Zero is designed to guide Senior Living Communities toward net-neutrality.