Recommended Inventory for Data Center Scope 3 GHG Emissions Reporting

Overview

The paper first defines Scope 1, 2 and 3 under the GHG Protocol and ISO 14064. Scope 1 includes onsite diesel generator operation, Scope 2 covers purchased electricity, heat, steam or cooling, and Scope 3 covers all other value-chain emissions. Two accounting rules apply: scopes are mutually exclusive within one organisation, but the same emissions may be counted again by another organisation in the value chain, as when a manufacturer's emissions become the buyer's upstream Scope 3.

The motivation is CDP 2019 data: supply-chain emissions average 5.5 times an organisation's Scope 1 and 2, and SBTi requires a Scope 3 target once Scope 3 exceeds 40% of the total. The 15 WRI/WBCSD categories are cut to nine: purchased goods and services, capital goods, fuel- and energy-related activities, upstream transport, waste, business travel, employee commuting, upstream leased assets and downstream leased assets. Each is described separately for on-premise, colocation and cloud IT.

Capital goods split into IT, power, cooling and other equipment (rack, fire protection, lighting). Switchgear and transformers last 20-30 years, servers 3-5, and cradle-to-gate emissions are booked in the acquisition year rather than depreciated. Transmission and distribution losses of around 5% (US EIA) fall under Scope 3 Category 3; generator fuel's upstream emissions are Scope 3 while combustion is Scope 1. Organisations without on-premise data centres should prioritise cloud services, leased colocation space and, for providers, multi- or single-tenant data centres.

Key points

1. CDP 2019: supply-chain emissions average 5.5 times Scope 1 and 2; SBTi requires a Scope 3 target if Scope 3 exceeds 40% of total emissions.
2. Scope 1 includes onsite diesel generator operation, Scope 2 purchased electricity, heat, steam or cooling, Scope 3 all other value-chain emissions.
3. Scopes are mutually exclusive within an organisation, yet the same emissions can be counted by different organisations (a manufacturer's emissions as the buyer's upstream Scope 3).
4. The 15 categories are narrowed to nine for IT: goods and services, capital goods, fuel and energy, upstream transport, waste, business travel, commuting, upstream leased assets, downstream leased assets.
5. Switchgear and transformers last 20-30 years, servers 3-5; cradle-to-gate emissions are booked in the acquisition year, not depreciated.
6. T&D losses are around 5% (US EIA) under Scope 3 Category 3; generator fuel purchase is Scope 3, combustion Scope 1.
7. Without on-premise data centres, prioritise cloud services (Cat. 1), leased colocation space (Cat. 8) and, for providers, multi-/single-tenant data centres (Cat. 9).

Using it in design

• Structure embodied and operational carbon outputs by the nine categories of Table 2; map bill-of-materials lines to Category 2 subcategories (IT, power, cooling, other) and building materials to Category 1 core and shell.
• Book each phase's embodied carbon in its installation year without amortisation, and re-book on replacement using the catalogue expectedLifeYears (switchgear/transformers 20-30, servers 3-5).
• Split generator fuel into upstream (Scope 3 Cat. 3) and combustion (Scope 1); for grid power add a configurable ~5% T&D-loss uplift in Scope 3 Cat. 3 on top of Scope 2, and support both location-based and market-based factors.
• For colocation designs, produce per-tenant allocation outputs for Cat. 8/9 reporting.

Who should read it

Engineers and ESG leads building data-centre emissions inventories and embodied-carbon calculations.

Related standards

• GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard
• ISO 14064

Publication details

Authors

Paul Lin; Robert Bunger

Publisher

Schneider Electric

Year

2024

Document number

WP 53

Document language

English

Source type

Manufacturer

Access

Free to read

Licence

Copyright retained; citation only — the publisher’s terms apply to the original document

Citation