Uploading activities and activity data

You can find the emission activities and activity data for your organization in the GHG Activities page. Before you can begin adding consumption data for your emissions activity, you must create an activity for each asset or building that is already set up on the system.

Adding an activity

Only Administrators of the system or Site Administrators can add a new activity. If other users want to add new activities, they must contact the administrators of the account.

1. Select Data Management and select GHG Activities.

2. Select Add New Activity, and in the Create New Activities tab, select the activity source category for the activity you want to create. For further information about the scopes and activity source categories, go to Overview of Diligent ESG.

3. In the table on the next screen, select the checkbox beside the building or asset for which the new emissions activity applies and then select Confirm building selection and go to next step. You can also select multiple checkboxes to add an activity to numerous locations, buildings or assets. This can be useful if you need to create activities for multiple locations in a large organization.

Note

If you select Purchased and Used Electricity from the Scope 2 - Indirect Energy Emissions and a building located in the United States, then you must select the corresponding Electricity Grid Region for the region you are creating the electricity activity for.

4. (Optional) In the Electricity Grid Region dropdown, select the electricity grid region for the building locations you choose in Step 3. You can determine the electricity grid region using the zip code of the address where the electricity activity is being created and checking the Power Profile on the US EPA website. The emission rates for these zip codes are averages of sub region rates. For further information about the power profiles, go to https://www.epa.gov/egrid/power-profiler#/

5. In the General Settings tab, in the Activity Name field, enter a descriptive name for the activity.

6. In the End Use dropdown, select the activity end use type.

7. (Optional) In the Account Code / Reference ID field, enter a reference ID for the activity. A Reference ID is a unique reference number from the document or source from which the piece of data that is being inputted into the system was obtained. Examples include the invoice number, MPAN number, MPRN number, ticket number, and receipt number. If you do not have a numerical identifier, input meaningful text that allows all users and administrators to understand the origin of the data.

8. Add the mapping ID for the activity. If you do not add a mapping ID here, then this can cause issues later. For further information about mapping IDs, go to Adding a mapping ID to an activity.

9. (Optional) If you are adding Waste or Water activities under the Sustainability (CSR) category in Step 2, select the Greenhouse Gas Emissions tab, and in the Select preferred reporting framework dropdown, select DEFRA/DECC or United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Note

If you do not select DEFRA or US EPA here then the system will not accept your data.

10. Select Save to finish adding the activity.

Note

Other tabs, such as Data completeness test, are optional at this time. You can also configure these settings in bulk across activities at a later stage. For further information, go to Uploading activity data in bulk.

Adding a mapping ID to an activity

A mapping ID is applied to a GHG activity and is the unique link between a row of data within your spreadsheet and the GHG Activity you want to upload the data to. If you do not add a mapping ID to an activity, then you can face issues later when bulk uploading data. You can only add a mapping ID to an activity for one site at a time. You cannot bulk add mapping IDs.

GHG activities can have more than one Mapping ID, for example, a meter number and its unique code or GHG activity ID. Use only one mapping ID when uploading data to the system because the system will reject your data if you combine or include more than one.

If you do not have a meter number, internal code or other code to use for the mapping ID, it is advised to use a combination of the building name and activity name to create a unique mapping ID.

If there is more than one mapping ID, a comma (,) is used to separate the individual mapping ID's. The mapping ID looks like one long unified ID however these are separate individual Mapping ID's for an activity.

For example, a user can input 18933765333 or CorkWarehouseElectricityMeter for the Mapping ID in the spreadsheet for this activity which corresponds to the data which will be uploaded.

1. Select Data Management and select GHG Activities.

2. Use the Organisation and Geographic tabs or the column filter fields to search for an activity.

3. Select Select beside an activity to open its settings.

4. Select Config, and select the Mapping IDs tab.

5. In the User Defined Unique Activity ID field, enter the new mapping ID and then select the right arrow icon > to add the mapping ID.

6. Select Save. The mapping ID is added to the activity. You can now upload data to the activity using an Excel file and this new mapping ID.

7. (Optional) If you want to remove a mapping ID, select the mapping ID in the field on the right, select the left arrow icon < and select Save.

Changing a mapping ID

There is no impact on historical data if you want to change the Mapping ID from one ID to another. When you add a second or third Mapping ID to the activity and use this new Mapping ID in your template for the next upload, this won't affect reporting. However, there may be an issue if the Mapping ID is already linked to another GHG Activity in the system. You cannot bulk update mapping IDs in the system, this must be done on an activity-by-activity basis by the system administrator.

Checking a mapping ID for activity data

1. Select Data Management and select GHG Activities.

2. Select the Export to CSV icon and search the CSV file for the mapping ID. This CSV report displays all the mapping IDs for your respective sites.

3. In the Upload Mapping IDs column field, enter the existing mapping ID and press Enter. If a result of No Activities found is returned then the ID is not in use by an existing activity and can be added if you wish.

Adding a data item to an activity

1. Select Data Management and select GHG Activities.

2. Use the Organisation and Geographic tabs or the column filter fields to search for an activity.

3. Select Select beside an activity that you want to add the data entry to.

4. Select Add New Data Item to add new data to the activity. If you are adding data to specific activities, select the Add New Data Item dropdown, and select From Invoice, From Supplier Statement, From Meter Reading, or From Other Source to add data from those sources. Different data entry screens appear depending on the data type you choose.

5. In the Add Record window, enter the start and end dates, reference type and ID, and other data type specific information for the new data item or record. Depending on the data type, you can enter different information related to that specific data type. For example, if it is a metered data item, gas, electricity or water, you can enter a reading from the meter or when adding data for certain fuel types, you select a calorific value. For further information about calorific values, go to Gross Calorific Value and Net Calorific Value.

Note

All fields which are marked with an asterisk '*' are mandatory. These fields provide the minimum data required to generate the emission calculations and are necessary to satisfy auditing requirements.

6. (Optional) In the Reference Documents field, you can attach reference document to serve as an audit trail. For further information about attaching documents, go to Attaching a reference document to a data entry.

7. Select Save. The new piece of data appears in the activity data chart.

Gross Calorific Value and Net Calorific Value

When adding data for certain fuel types, you will be asked to select a calorific value. There are three options to choose from:

• Gross Calorific Value
• Net Calorific Value
• Not Applicable

If a user is uploading their fuel using a weight or volume unit e.g. gallons, litres, etc. then the only available option will be Not Applicable. This option should be selected when uploading data using a weight or volume unit.

If a user is uploading their fuel using an energy unit e.g. kilowatt-hour, gigajoule, terajoule, etc. then the only available options will be Gross Calorific Value or Net Calorific Value. The most appropriate of these options should be selected when uploading data using an energy unit.

Users should get the calorific value from their invoice/bill or energy supplier, if you cannot find this information select a default value of Gross Calorific Value.

Definition:

Calorific value represents the amount of heat or energy in a given volume of gas. An average calorific value is calculated monthly by the transporter and allows for any periodic or regional variations in the quality of natural gas.

Gross Calorific Value (GCV) is the amount of heat released by the complete combustion of a unit of natural gas. It is also known as Higher Heating Value (HCV).

Net Calorific Value (NCV) also known as lower heating value (LHV) or lower calorific value (LCV) is determined by subtracting the heat of vaporization of the water vapour from the higher heating value. This treats any H20 formed as a vapor. Natural gas prices are decided on the basis of GCV and NCV.

Extrapolating data for an activity or meter

Extrapolation is a statistical technique of inferring unknown data from known. You can use the extrapolation feature to infer data from another similar activity, another period, or from a cost value. This is beneficial to organizations when data is not available for a certain location or period. You cannot bulk extrapolate data for activities or meters in the system, this must be done on an activity-by-activity basis.

There are three extrapolation methods:

1. Cost Using the cost from the electricity bill or supplier statement and the unit of cost to fine the quantity.
2. Model Activity Calculating the quantity from a similar activity.
3. Previous Period Calculating the quantity from a previous period.

1. Select Data Management and select GHG Activities.

2. Use the Organisation and Geographic tabs or the column filter fields to search for an activity.

3. Select Select beside an activity that you want to extrapolate data for.

4. If you are extrapolating a new item, select Add New Data Item and select Other Source. If you are extrapolating an existing item, select Edit beside that item.

5. If you selected Add New Data Item in Step 4, enter the start and end dates, the activity type, units, and any other information for the data item that you want to extrapolate and then in the Quantity field, select Extrapolate. If you selected Edit on an existing item in Step 4, select Extrapolate.

6. In the Extrapolations window, in the Method Selection section, select one of the following options:

   • Cost Uses the cost from the electricity bill or supplier statement and the unit of cost to find the quantity.

     1. If you select the Cost method, in the Total cost field, enter the value that you want to use to find the kWh figure. You can find this cost value in the supplier statement or electricity bill.

     2. In the Unit cost field, enter the unit cost from the supplier statement or electricity bill.

     3. (Optional) In the Comment field, add a comment explaining the figures and the reason for the extrapolation.

     4. Select Apply. The two figures, Total cost and Unit cost, will be used to get the kWh value.

   • Model Activity Calculates the quantity from a similar activity.

     1. If you select the Model Activity method, in the Select model activity dropdown, select the model activity that you want to use to infer the quantity from. The dropdown provides a list of similar activities, for example, if you are trying to extrapolate an electricity activity/meter, it shows a number of other similar electricity meters from the organisation.

     2. In the From and To fields, enter the dates that you want to model this quantity from.

     3. Select Get Data. The Unit and Quantity taken from the model activity for the requested period appears. If you are not happy with the quantity, you can choose another activity/meter or date period. If there is no data in the model activity for the relevant period an error message appears.

     4. In the Multiplier field, enter a multiplier value. This is a modifier that is used to convert the real quantity data from the model activity into the quantity for this activity you are extrapolating. For example, if the building of the activity you are extrapolating for is 1000 sq feet and the building for the modeling activity is 2000 sq feet, enter a multiplier value of 0.5 to ensure accuracy. You will need to determine what multiplier value to use.

     5. (Optional) In the Comment field, add a comment explaining why you used that multiplier and model activity.

     6. Select Apply.

   • Previous Period Calculates using a quantity from a previous period.

     1. If you select the Previous Period method,

     2. In the From and To fields, enter the dates that you want to model this quantity from. You must select a previous period with the extrapolation activity that you want to model the quantity on.

     3. Select Get Data then the Unit and Quantity taken from that period appears. If you are not happy with the quantity, you can choose another date period. If there is no data in the activity for the relevant period an error message appears.

     4. In the Multiplier field, enter a multiplier value. This is a modifier that is used to convert the real quantity data from the previous period into the quantity for this activity you are extrapolating. For example, since the previous period CO2 values have been dropping year on year by 5%, so to take into account this trend, you could use a multiplier of .95. You will need to determine what multiplier to use.

     5. (Optional) In the Comment field, add a comment explaining why you used that multiplier and model activity.

     6. Select Apply.

7. (Optional) After the quantity is extrapolated, you return to the Data Entry Form window where you can finish entering and editing the other details about the data item. For further information about the fields and dropdowns, go to Adding a data item to an activity. In the Quantity field, there is a summary of how the quantity figure was calculated for audit and user purposes.

8. Select Save to finish extrapolating a quantity.

Editing an activity data item

At any time, you can edit the source details of an emissions activity.

1. Select Data Management and select GHG Activities.

2. Use the Organisation and Geographic tabs or the column filter fields to search for an activity.

3. Select Select beside an activity that you want to edit.

4. Select Edit beside the data item you want to edit.

5. Edit the fields and dropdowns of the data item. For further information about the fields and dropdowns, go to Adding a data item to an activity.

6. In the Reason for change field, you must enter a reason for the change for audit and transparency purposes.

7. Select Save.

   After you save the activity, a change log appears for the item. The change log stores a record of all changes to the data item. You can select View Change Log to see the audit trail of the data item.

Attaching a reference document to a data entry

If required, you can upload and attach any document or image to serve as an audit trail using the Add New Documents feature within the General Settings of a data entry. This is usually done when manually entering the data entry, but you can also add them later.

You can upload the following file types:

• Excel Document for example meter data.
• Word Document for example a receipt or invoice.
• PDF Document for example scanned PDF documents of invoices or photos of odometers, or refrigeration unit information plates.
• JPEG, GIF, TIFF and PNG for example photos taken on mobile phone of meter reading.

1. In the GHG Activities page, select Select beside the activity that you want to attach a reference document to.

2. After you select the activity, select Edit beside the data entry you want to add a reference document to.

3. In the Reference Documents field, select Add New Documents and select Browse.

4. Select the document to attach from your computer and select Open.

Note

The maximum size of a reference Document that you can attached is 11.09 Mb. If any files are larger than this, you need to compress them before attaching.

5. Select Save and in the Reference Documents field, select the checkbox beside the newly attached document. It is usually selected by default.

6. (Optional) In the Notes field, enter a note detailing what the attachment contains.

7. Select Save to finish attaching the document. The document is now attached to the activity for auditing.

Deleting an activity

1. Select Data Management and select GHG Activities.

2. Use the Organisation and Geographic tabs or the column filter fields to search for an activity.

3. Select Select beside an activity that you want to delete.

4. Select the bin icon in the final column of the data item you want to delete and select OK.

Closing an activity

You can close an Activity or meter in the GHG Activities and Meter sections. You can give an activity a set of dates for Date Opened and Date Closed, ensuring the activity and its data do not appear in reports, charts, and the data completeness screen outside its start and end date.

1. Select Data Management and select GHG Activities.

2. Use the Organisation and Geographic tabs or the column filter fields to search for an activity.

3. Select Select beside an activity that you want to close and in the selected activity page, select Config.

4. In the Activity Config window, select the General Settings tab.

5. In the Date Opened and Date Closed fields, enter an opening and closing date for the activity.

6. Select Save. The Activity is now closed and appears in the GHG Activity and Data Completeness pages with a (Closed) tag beside it . You will be unable to add data to this activity past the closure date.