Carbon Tracking for Assets: Measuring Environmental Impact
How to measure and track the carbon footprint of your asset portfolio—from embodied carbon to operational impact and end-of-life.
Carbon tracking for assets measures the environmental impact of physical items throughout their lifecycle. This includes embodied carbon from manufacturing, operational impacts during use, and emissions from disposal. Accurate carbon data supports organisational emissions reporting, identifies reduction opportunities, and enables informed procurement decisions.
In This Guide
Understanding Asset Carbon Footprint
Every physical asset has a carbon footprint comprising multiple elements. Understanding these components enables accurate measurement and targeted reduction efforts.
- Embodied carbon: Emissions from raw materials and manufacturing
- Transport: Emissions from distribution and delivery
- Use phase: Energy consumption during operation
- Maintenance: Emissions from repairs and servicing
- End-of-life: Disposal, recycling, or reuse impact
Why Track Asset Carbon?
Asset carbon tracking supports multiple organisational objectives. From regulatory compliance to competitive advantage, understanding asset-level emissions is increasingly important.
- Scope 3 reporting: Assets often fall in supply chain emissions
- Reduction targets: Can't reduce what you don't measure
- Procurement decisions: Compare products on carbon
- Circular benefits: Quantify reuse impact
- Stakeholder demands: Customers and investors want data
Methods for Carbon Measurement
Carbon measurement approaches range from high-level estimates to detailed product-specific data. Choose methods appropriate to your accuracy needs and data availability.
- Product EPDs: Environmental Product Declarations from manufacturers
- Category averages: Published benchmarks by product type
- Spend-based: Emissions estimated from purchase value
- Life Cycle Assessment: Detailed analysis of specific products
- Hybrid approaches: Combine methods for different asset types
Implementing Carbon Tracking
Effective carbon tracking requires integrating emissions data into asset management. This means capturing carbon at acquisition, tracking operational impacts, and calculating end-of-life emissions.
- Add carbon fields to asset records
- Capture embodied carbon at acquisition
- Track energy-consuming assets for use phase
- Calculate disposal vs reuse impact
- Report portfolio-level carbon metrics
How Camio Enables Carbon Tracking
Camio provides built-in carbon tracking across the asset lifecycle. Import product carbon data, track operational impacts, and measure the carbon benefit of reuse and circular practices. Generate reports supporting Scope 3 disclosure and sustainability targets.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about carbon tracking
What is embodied carbon in assets?
Embodied carbon is the total greenhouse gas emissions from raw material extraction, manufacturing, and transport of a product before it arrives at your organisation. For furniture, this typically represents 80-90% of total lifecycle emissions.
How do I get carbon data for assets?
Sources include: manufacturer Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), product-specific carbon data, industry benchmarks by product type, and spend-based estimates. Quality varies—EPDs are most accurate, estimates less so. Start with available data and improve over time.
Does reusing assets really reduce carbon?
Yes, significantly. Reusing an asset avoids the embodied carbon of manufacturing a replacement. For furniture, this can be 30-50 kgCO2e per item. Multiply by reuse volumes and the impact is substantial—organisations report savings of hundreds of tonnes CO2e annually.
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