Documenting VCA price premium investments (QCC)

For several VCA project categories, you must count only the price premium for the preferred input (see Table 5 in the Certification Standard). For these costs, you must provide at least ONE form of documentation demonstrating EACH of the following Required details. This table shows the preferred form of documentation for each required attribute. If the preferred form of documentation is unavailable, an alternative form may be used.

At a minimum, you will likely provide 3-4 pieces of documentation for each VCA investment with a price premium.

Type	Required Information	Preferred Format (PDF)	Alternative Format	Alternative 2
(Q) - Quantity and Proof of Purchase REQUIRED	Date, description of input, and amount purchased	Invoice or PO showing quantity and amount paid See example	Summary report of multiple POs (PDF or spreadsheet), plus 3-5 sample POs* See example	n/a
(C) - Cost Premium REQUIRED	Demonstrates the cost difference between the conventional input and the preferred (lower-carbon) input	Attestation letter from supplier (Tier 1) explaining higher cost compared to conventional input See example	PO with costing document from supplier (PDF) See example	n/a
(C) - Lower Carbon REQUIRED	Demonstrates the emissions difference between the conventional input and the preferred (lower-carbon) input	Custom LCA showing carbon intensity or savings compared to conventional input See example	Reference to credible 3rd party LCA or research study See example	GHGP compliant emissions factor from an approved library (see EPA example)
(C) - Content OPTIONAL	Confirms the characteristics of the input purchased. May provide helpful information for an accurate Lower Carbon calculation.	3rd party material certificate See example	GHG inventory (PDF or link to the BEE) See example	n/a

* What is a sample PO?

If you have hundreds of purchase orders (POs) we recommend providing a summary report to document your proof of purchase. In addition, we ask you to include 3-5 sample POs. These should be a random sample of the individual POs contained in the summary report. These additional documents allow us to cross-check what's in the summary report and confirm that the data correctly reflects actual purchase orders.