How to Manage Sustainability Data

SET UP BOUNDARIES AND SYSTEMS OF RECORD STEP 01: PROCESS

Whether you have a sustainability team and data collection systems or not, it always comes back to understanding and refreshing the scope of your obligations. That means the first step is setting your organizational boundaries, and you can do this by considering some simple questions:

What is the ownership structure of the assets in my portfolio, which locations do I occupy, and who pays for energy bills?

What utilities do I have at each location, whether electricity, gas, diesel, or renewables-powered, and have I documented things like supplier account numbers? Which suppliers have I requested information from, and what is its status? What data is automatically provided or manually collected? Do I have contact details for everyone?

Do I know how many data sources should be listed in the information provided to me, for example, the number of meters and corresponding IDs?

What parts of my business or operations should be excluded from reporting, such as tenants or joint ventures? What justifies their exclusion, and does that align with your reporting framework?