Applying the Project Management Cost Estimating Standard to Carbon Footprinting

Anthropogenic emissions have a significant effect on Earth’s atmosphere and contribute to changes in the global climate. These emissions and their impacts need to be tracked in order to understand their potential consequences and to be able to determine how these impacts can be eliminated or reduced by changes in methods, behaviors, and tools. A carbon footprint is the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions generated by an entity over a specific time period or lifecycle. Developing a consistent and clear approach to determining the sources and quantities of these emissions is important due to the emerging demand to account for carbon impacts. Unfortunately there are very few approaches that can accurately estimate and track carbon to determine the climate change impacts of organizations, businesses, and activities. In this paper we propose an approach to carbon footprinting in which the amount of one or more types of carbon gas emissions can be estimated. We propose that by adapting cost estimation standards to carbon footprinting practices, a standard approach can be developed, thus providing a clearer and more focused approach to carbon footprinting. In this study, we have adapted the cost estimation standard of the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK). This adaptation results in a new methodology for carbon footprint quantification that provides more clarification and robustness to carbon footprinting processes. By breaking down the whole process into three key steps, i.e., inputs, tools and techniques, and outputs, and by introducing relevant steps to take, the methodology can function as a guideline for carbon footprinting studies.