Federal GHG Reporting:
Tools, Tools, Everywhere
NDIA Environment, Energy and Sustainability Symposium
May 12, 2011
Jeremey Alcorn and Virginia Bostock
Bottom Line Up Front
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Federal GHG reporting is required at both agency
and, in some cases, facility levels
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Growing need to ensure that agency tools
consistently utilize E.O. 13514 conformant
boundaries, methods, emissions factors, and outputs
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Challenging with inconsistent protocols, rules, and
approaches with separate ad hoc tools
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Expanding number of tools emerging to “help you”
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Opportunities exist to better plan, manage, and use
Agenda
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GHG Drivers and CEQ Guidance
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FEMP Tools and Resources
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Tool Categories and Functions
– Enterprise Tools
– HQ Tools
– Facility Tools
– Category / Source Tools
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Other Key Questions to Ask About a Tool
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Opportunities
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Questions?
Federal GHG Inventory Exploration and Tools
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Federal agencies proactively undertook efforts to
understand GHG emission inventory frameworks and
calculation methods over the last five-years
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Experience provided the foundation for developing
U.S. Public Sector Protocol (PSP) and the later E.O.
13514 Section 9 Guidance
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Several GHG inventory tools are tailored to and
support specific agencies’ efforts, such as:
– EPA Climate Leader GHG Inventory Summary Tool
– NASA GHG Reporting Tool
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EPA’s Mandatory Reporting Rule (MRR)
– Requires GHG accounting for large sources (>25,000 MT)
– Some Federal facilities required to report under MRR
– Federal air quality managers have been working this compliance reporting issue with impacted facilities
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Executive Order (E.O.) 13514
– Mandates Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan
– Mandates to GHG reduction goals and reporting
– All federal departments and agencies included
– FY08 and FY10 Federal GHG inventories were due January 31st, 2011
Federal GHG Reduction Goals
• On January 29, 2010,
President Obama announced that the Federal Government will reduce its GHG emissions (Scope 1 & 2) by 28% by 2020
• On July 20, 2010, the White House released Federal
indirect GHG emissions
(Scope 3) reduction goal of 13% by 2020 for Federal
E.O. 13514 GHG Guidance, TSD, and Reporting
• Spring 2010 – Section 9 of the E.O. required an interagency group to develop GHG reporting guidance recommendations
• October 6, 2010 – Council of Environmental Quality (CEQ) released the Section 9 Guidance and Technical Support Document (TSD)
– Guidance provides the overall GHG reporting framework and process
– TSD elaborates the accepted calculation methodologies, factors, etc. • October 6, 2010 – Federal Energy Management Program
(FEMP) released the GHG and Sustainability Reporting Portal
• January 31, 2011 – Agencies submitted their FY08 and FY10 inventories via the FEMP GHG and Sustainability Reporting Portal
Federal Energy-GHG Tools Status Quo
• Federal agencies report at the Agency level and must use the FEMP GHG Reporting Portal to submit their GHG inventories
• Many agencies use other GHG inventory tools to assist with:
– Data entry and mapping with existing systems
– Emission category calculations
– Data and results aggregation
– Management and analysis
– Reduction planning
• Existing tools likely to have a role in supporting future Federal agency energy and GHG management efforts
Sample of Examples…Tools Everywhere Indeed!
• GSA “Carbon Footprint” Tool
• EPA Climate Leaders
• EPA Mandatory Reporting Rule e-GGRT System (pending)
• EPA ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager (buildings only)
• NPS / EPA Climate Leadership in Parks (CLIP)
• The Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in
Transportation (GREET) Calculator
• EPA LandGEM
• EPA Waste Reduction Model Material Life Cycle (WARM)
• World Resources Institute modules
• Campus Climate Action Toolkit (CCAT)
• (CCAP) Transportation Emissions
• NASA Excel workbook tools
• Sandia National Lab workbook
• The Center for Clean Air Policy
• Numerous Commercial-Off-the Shelf (COTS) tools
Where to Start? (1)
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Things to Ponder- Determine your needs and
requirements
– What was this tool designed for?
– Does this tool consistently utilize:
• Protocols (Sec. 9, MRR, Title V)?
• Conformant boundaries?
• Calculation methods?
• Emissions factors?
– If not, does its architecture credibly address the challenges associated with the differences?
– Does it fit with your existing data call process?
– Can it “roll-up” to the appropriate reporting level?
What should I be considering?
Where to Start? (2)
– Can it be ported into / out of other systems?
– What are the initial and operating costs and benefits?
• You may want to do a study – caveat emptor!
– How comprehensive is the tool’s help desk support?
– Are back-end reports available and can they be customized to answer the questions you want?
– How popular is the tool – is it being continually updated and upgraded as necessary?
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Prioritize what you want your tool to do and use that to guide your selection.
How do I start?
So What Tool to Use?
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Determine your needs and requirements
– What reporting activity requires the most staff time or expense?
– What is your biggest reporting risk?
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Look at the categories of tools
– Enterprise Energy and GHG Information Systems
– Headquarter-level or “Top-down”
– Facility-level or “Bottom-up”
– Emission Category / Source
Enterprise Energy and GHG Mgmt Info Systems
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Characteristic functionality should include:
– Decentralized data entry
– Calculation aids
– Aggregation at multiple levels
– Analysis at multiple levels and
– QA/QC
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Federal examples may include:
– EPA ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager (buildings only
and limited for GHGs)
– GSA Carbon Footprint Tool (into the future?)
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Commercial examples abound
Headquarter-level or “Top-down” Tools
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Capabilities may include:
– Decentralized data entry
– Calculation aids
– Data aggregation at HQ level
– Analysis at HQ level and/or
– QA/QC
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Federal examples may include:
– NASA NETS w/GHG Tool
– EPA Climate Leaders Simplified GHG Emissions Calculator
– U.S. Air Force Air Program Information Management System (APIMS)
Facility-level and “Bottom-up”
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Functional capabilities for site specific
– Granular data entry
– Calculation and/or
– Building and emission source management
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Federal examples may include:
– GSA Carbon Footprint Tool
– NASA GSFC GHG Inventory Tool
– NPS Climate Leadership in Parks (CLIP) Tool
– EPA Mandatory Reporting Rule Reporting Tool
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Bottom-up Inventory
Emission Category and Source Tools
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Standalone applications designed for a specific
purpose
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Typically include detailed data entry, calculations,
and/or analysis options
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Federal examples may include:
– GSA Federal Automotive Statistical Tool (FAST)
– GSA Travel MIS
Opportunity for Streamlining Multiple Reporting
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Identify “low hanging fruit” for streamlining data
collection, aggregation, and analysis in reporting
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Examine opportunities to use tools to integrate and
streamline reporting requirements for:
– FEMP Energy and GHG reporting
– Air quality (e.g., Title V)
– Other GHG requirements (e.g., EPA MRR)
– Contribute to better sustainability and operations management
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Do not let perfect be the enemy of the good!
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Work with your IT enterprise to develop a workable
plan
Jeremey Alcorn LMI 2000 Corporate Ridge McLean, VA 22102-7805 571.633.7993 [email protected]