Operational emissions indicate the amount of carbon emitted through the use of a building. This includes energy used for climate control, ventilation, lighting, and many other activities. Operational emissions measure the energy use on a site and depend on location and environmental factors to evaluate expected building performance.

How are operational emissions calculated?

Delve’s operational carbon model combines data sources on site EUI and total energy for each design with regional emissions data to produce an estimate for the tCO2e emitted annually during the operation of the buildings. Use types labeled as "OTHER" are excluded from emissions calculations, as the energy usage and corresponding emissions can vary widely based on program.

Data sources

Energy use and associated operational emissions are calculated using data from the Google Environmental Insights Explorer, Google's Global Building Energy Capability (which includes data from Model America v2.0), and Climate Action for Urban Sustainability (CURB). Data on grid emissions over time is sourced from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Cambium tool.