Operational Boundary

What is an Operational Boundary?

For an organization to accurately report its greenhouse gas emissions, it must first establish its organizational boundary. This refers to the legal composition of the company and whether it has direct control or otherwise over the sources of the emissions. An organizational boundary take into account whether the operation is part of an umbrella company, a subsidiary and also determines whether the operation is in financial control of the assets or operational control as it refers to the gas emissions.

When an organization has determined its organizational boundary it must then establish an operational boundary which will define the scope of both direct and indirect emissions within that organizational boundary. There could be numerous operational levels within an organization and it is up to the directors of the operation to establish operational boundaries for the three emissions scopes. Once the operational boundary has been established it must be applied uniformly within the enterprise.

Within the operational boundary lies the potential for several different types of emissions scope. These are defined as direct, indirect or indirect optional emissions. If the enterprise has direct control over electricity generation or uses fossil fuel within its process it must report these under scope one. In addition, any kind of vehicle transportation that is directly utilized by the organization, cars, trucks or trains, must also be reported here. Accidental leak is a scope one reporting burden.

When energy is consumed an enterprise must report the emissions related to that consumption under scope two. The scope emissions are relatively easy to categorize, often by reference to meters.

Scopes of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Associated with Your Business operations Should Be Identified

When it comes to the third scope, reporting for this is still classified as optional and this can relate to emissions spent as a consequence of employee travel, supplier activities, etc. You will likely have to compose a lifecycle analysis and identify the entire supply chain to identify the scope of emissions associated with your operation in this way.

It is not uncommon to find that a considerable amount of emissions are associated with the production of materials that you purchase for your business. Likewise, end of use disposal emissions should be identified.

Identification of All Emission Scopes Is a Complex Task Which Should Be Burdened by the Highest Levels of Management

Identification and categorization of all emission scopes, be they direct, indirect or optional can be quite a complex task and must be the responsibility of the highest levels of management. It should be understood that whereas reporting requirements may be identified as voluntary, this is very likely to become mandatory in short order. In addition, carbon pollution awareness has become mainstream and has attracted the direct interest of the consumer.

It is in the best interests of the enterprise to ensure that it is entirely transparent and has exercised extreme care and diligence when identifying its operational boundary and the variety of emission scopes that it needs to take responsibility for.

About Verisae

Verisae helps measure, manage and reduce equipment and energy costs including the related business and environmental impacts of carbon emissions. The Sustainability Resource Planning (“SRP”) software platform improves operational efficiency, protects brand integrity and helps ensure regulatory compliance for distributed enterprises across many industries. Verisae delivers a broad range of sustainability solutions to dozens of clients globally with thousands of daily users including an extended network of third-party suppliers. Verisae’s integrated sustainability platform actively tracks millions of assets across thousands of sites worldwide.

RELATED PAGES

Read Recommendations from Sustainability Experts
How to Reduce Costs & Improve Efficiencies
Watch Our 3 Minute Sustainability Overview (video)