Autodesk develops comprehensive emissions reductions software
C-FACT methodology addresses direct emissions as well as indirect emissions such as business travel, leased facilities, employee commuting, major conferences, and data center vendors.
David Greenfield -- Control Engineering, 11/23/2009
Autodesk, Inc., a provider of 2D and 3D design, engineering and entertainment software, has developed a new methodology for corporate greenhouse gas (GHG) target setting, called the Corporate Finance Approach to Climate-Stabilizing Targets (C-FACT). The software was initially designed to align Autodesk's own GHG reduction targets with global scientific and policy climate stabilization targets.
C-FACT is said to be more science-driven, business-friendly, and transparent than current methodologies being used by most companies in that it accounts not just for direct emissions, but also for a wide range of indirect emissions including business travel, leased facilities, employee commuting, major conferences, and data center vendors.
Autodesk's C-FACT takes the 2008 BT Climate Stabilization Intensity model a step further by changing the measure of added value to be universally acceptable by any accounting system, and it introduces new mathematical principles that allow it to be:
- Proportional, replicable and verifiable: Corporate commitments should be proportional to the company's value to the economy, while holding performance accountable with replicable and verifiable information.
- Non-prescriptive, flexible, and predictable: Allows individual business units to make decisions and commit to targets; adapts to short-term deviations from the target trajectory; provides predictable forecasting for incorporation into business planning and optimization of cost-savings.
- Compatible and fair: Compatible with generally accepted corporate finance principles and fair to companies of all sizes, GHG footprints, and growth prospects.
Autodesk has committed to C-FACT through 2020, as well as performance reports against the stated target at the close of each fiscal year (FY). Using the new methodology calculation to set targets for FY10, Autodesk will aim to reduce its absolute emissions by 4.52% compared to FY09, translating to 3,756 metric tons of GHG.
Between FY08 and FY09, Autodesk's total GHG footprint increased by 1%. This absolute increase in emissions was accompanied by a significant increase in contribution to gross domestic product (GDP), so Autodesk's carbon intensity per unit of added value dropped. Carbon intensity also dropped per employee (9%) and per square foot (5%) between those two years.
Access other Control Engineering content related to emissions monitoring:
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- Raytheon reveals new greenhouse gas reduction goal
- Edited by David Greenfield, editorial director
Control Engineering Sustainable Engineering News Desk
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