Custom factors

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You can create and manage custom emissions factors and use the custom factors instead of the default set of managed factors that are provided in IBM® ESG Suite.

The Scope 1 & 2 GHG Accounting modules provide the option to create custom factors. The option is available from the Admin > Custom Factors menu. If you purchased Scope 1 & 2 GHG Accounting and the menu is not available to your administrator or you do not have a custom factor set configured, contact IBM Envizi support.

You must be a system administrator to create custom factors. An administrator can add custom factors in several ways:
  • Start with a copy of a single, existing factor and update it. You can update the fields but must make sure that the effective or published dates do not overlap with existing factors in your custom factor set. This is the recommended approach of creating custom factors.
  • Create a single factor from scratch.
  • Create or update custom factors in bulk by using a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. This is the recommended approach if you are creating or updating 10 or more factors.
For a description of each custom factor field and an indication of the fields that are used in factor validation, see Custom factor fields.
Note: Custom factors in your custom factor set take precedence over the managed emission factors in Envizi ESG Suite.

Recalculating using new factors

When new factors are added or existing factors are updated or deleted in Envizi ESG Suite, a recalculation is scheduled to take place at the weekend.

Factors are applied to your data at the weekend to avoid placing unnecessary strain on the database which might result from large emissions recalculations.

Factor dates

Factor dates define the validity period of a factor. This is especially important for factors where emissions rates change annually, such as electricity. Generally, factors that are used in regulatory reporting are published ahead of a reporting period, such as NGERs and CRC. In these instances, the published date of a factor is the same its effective date. However, in voluntary reporting, emission factors are often published many years after their effective periods, for example, IEA, eGrid, New Zealand Dept. for Environment. To avoid recalculating historical emissions when new factors are published with effective periods that apply to the past, Envizi ESG Suite records both factor effective and published dates. When calculating emissions, effective dates apply to historical activity data and published dates apply to activity data captured in the future.

Envizi ESG Suite provides an option to disable the factor logic that uses published dates. In your organization, if you want to calculate emission factors solely based on the effective dates of a factor, contact the IBM Envizi team.
Note: When you disable the use of published dates, historical emissions might be recalculated as new factors are published and loaded.

Duplicate factor logic

No two factors can share the same data type, sub type, factor set, and region for the same overlapping time period for both effective and published dates. The fields that are used in the validation logic are identified in Custom factor fields. Table 1 presents an example of factors in conflict.
Table 1. Examples of factors in conflict
Factor name Data type Sub type Factor set Region Effective from Effective to Published from Published to Conflict?
Factor A Electricity None Custom factor set Australia Jan 2022 Jul 2023 Jul 2023 Jun 2024 Yes
Factor B Electricity None Custom factor set Australia Mar 2023 - Jul 2024 - Yes
Factor C Electricity None Custom factor set New South Wales - - - - No
Factor D Petrol 95 Custom factor set Earth - Dec 2022 - Jun 2023 No
Factor E Petrol 95 Custom factor set Earth Jan 2023 - July 2024 -  
In Table 1, the follow following conflicts are found:
  • Factor A and B are in conflict. The effective to date of Factor A extends 5 months past the effective from date of Factor B. Factor A is effective to July 2023 and Factor B is effective from Mar 2023.
  • Factor C is not in conflict with Factor A or B because Factor C applies to a different region.
  • Factors D and E are not in conflict. Despite sharing the same data type, sub type, factor set, and region, the effective and published dates do not overlap.

An error is displayed if you save a factor and it conflicts with existing factors. The following error is displayed when you try to save the factor:

This creates a conflict with 1 or more existing factors in the database. Please check that the effective and published dates do not overlap with any factors that share the same data type, sub type, factor set and region.

The conflicts with an existing factor are based on the following criteria for the same effective or published time period:
  • Data type
  • Sub type
  • Factor set
  • Region
Important: If the published date is unknown or you would like to calculate emissions according to the factor effective period, set the published dates to equal the effective dates.