👉 During your carbon assessment, we may need more than just monetary emission factors to thoroughly analyze all activities or domains of the client’s organization. Hence, Greenly may need physical data to carry out a specific study.

To do so, the Greenly platform proposes additional features for data gathering, called “modules”, which are defined among several fields of analysis : food, digital, freight, etc...

ℹ️ Note that these modules are complementary with the financial accounting data process.

⚠️ Specific modules are available only when the client signs up for it. Please feel free to contact a Greenly customer representative if you want any additional analyses carried out for your carbon assessment.

Most of the modules are supplementary, and not included in the basic subscription. The basic subscription uses your financial accounting data to measure most of your emissions. If applicable, these modules are submitted at the time of the sales meeting or the end of the first assessment.

Here is an overview of the available modules:

If one of these modules has been unlocked for you, you can access it directly on the platform.

To find the module, go to the "Data" tab > Activity Data".
In this page, you will find several modules (as many as you ordered in your carbon assessment analysis). For each module to be completed, click on Open to access its content.

The modules are designed to manage the process of collecting the various physical data you may need for your Carbon Footprint, in consistent and separate fields.

In most cases, when a specific module is unlocked for a client, our Climate Experts do their best to pre-fill the module with all sections and content related to the study. Here is an example of a ready-to-fill section for the Vehicle Fleet module.

First, when you have to work on a new section, click on the “ADD A SECTION” button in order to create a new data sheet. FYI: a data sheet is useful to categorize your data gathering and visualize more efficiently what's in the platform. Here are a few examples of relevant section structure in data gathering:

ℹ️ Modules are most often already pre-filled but you can adapt them according to your need.

In each section, a line corresponds to a specific emission factor.

For example, in this line, you have to enter the number of cars you own corresponding to the category "Monospace - Electrique".

For most modules, you can fill in your data in each line of a section through 3 main columns :

Fill the Emission source cell

The emission source cell represents the name of the item you want to insert

It can be managed by way of manual data entry. Put the title of the item as you want it recorded in the module. It should be as descriptive and transparent as possible, so the activity or product you are talking about can be understood by anyone.

Fill the Category cell

The category cell is the Greenly database element associated with the “Emission source”

It is managed by way of assisted entry. By typing and searching in this cell, you can access the Greenly database which stores all kinds of products or services useful to categorize the items being collected in the module. Every element associated with emission factors is used to calculate each item's emissions.

➡️ To identify a specific object, double-click on the Category cell (of the specific line) and type different entries until you find the item you are looking for.

After having typed the first letters of your item, the interface proposes some popular results in a list just below.

You can scroll through the suggested list and click on the element you want to select.

Once the element is selected, the “Unit” and “Emission Factor (kgCO2e/u)” are automatically filled.

Good to know: a unit can be associated with different physical representations : weight (kg, ton...), number of items, volumes (liter, m3...), and many more.

ℹ️ The Greenly database is not exhaustive, so some products or services may be missing (even after typing the item name in the category column, you still may find nothing). Additionally, you may be unsure about your selection, especially if the database proposes several items with very similar descriptions. In those cases :

We will determine from there if some elements need to be added in the database or replaced by existing ones, in order to meet your needs.

Fill the Quantity cell

The quantity cell represents the amount of the item to be accounted for

It can be managed by way of manual entry. This amount is multiplied by the emission factor of the previously chosen item category, to calculate the total carbon footprint of the item.

Total emission of an element [kCO2e] = Quantity [units] x emission factor [kCO2e/unit]

⚠️ Depending on the type of item you are working on, the “quantity” number may differ, as the “unit” column changes. If you are not sure about the format to choose, please contact Greenly to get more details.

Here is an example of Quantity calculation, in the case of an Investment module :

When all information is filled in the line, press ENTER to validate your entry. You will notice that the line is stored in the data sheet, and the total carbon emission is automatically computed in the “Total (kgCO2e)” column

Now that you have successfully carried this out, you are ready to continue the data collection on the module :

One last step before we let you go...

Studying the impact of your activities through a specific module in the Greenly platform is a more accurate alternative to the monetary approach used for the analysis of your FEC. It is therefore most of the time a substitute approach to the monetary approach, not a complementary one.

This means that the information you enter in the specific module (for example, your leased fleet of vehicles) is likely to also be present in your accounting file, and therefore also accounted for in the impacts of your FEC (for example, transactions related to the leasing of your vehicles).

This poses a problem of DOUBLE-COUNTING : the emissions of the same activity are both accounted for in the physical approach (specific module) and in the monetary approach (FEC), which must absolutely be avoided 😱

Here are the steps to follow to solve this issue :

▶️ Identify the transactions in the "metrics" tab that correspond to the activities you are studying in your specific modules (example here with Cloud activities)

▶️ Recategorize these transactions as "Already counted".

Once all the recategorizations are done, the impacts by physical approach will only be accounted for in the specific modules. And the other fields of activity (not studied by physical approach in specific modules) will remain analyzed by monetary approach via your accounting file.

In sum, the specific measurement modules allow you to more accurately measure the GHG emissions of your core business, and capture non-transactional aspects. Our climate experts can build specific modules related to your core business or specific areas you would like to dig deeper into.

For any questions or specific requests related to this topic, please contact us.