Four Years of Measuring Our Carbon Footprint

A few years ago, our ESG task force set out to understand the environmental impact of our business. We were very clear on the fact that what is not measured cannot be improved, and therefore one of the key questions that emerged at that time was:

How many tons of carbon do we generate each year?

This question, of course, posed the challenge of not having the relevant information in an organized and accessible way, as well as a lack of experience in how to analyze it once collected.

In 2021, with the help of ClimatePartner, SimScale was able to achieve its goal of measuring its corporate carbon footprint for the first time. With this first milestone achieved, we knew this was just the beginning: we now had to continue measuring ourselves and set reduction and optimization targets, understanding that emissions are an unavoidable part of running a business.

Today, four years after that first milestone, we have measured our corporate carbon footprint for the fourth time, which allows us to better understand our progress, the impact of our decisions, and the areas that still need improvement. 

SimScale’s per employee carbon footprint per team member in the range of 2021 to 2024

Emission sources	CCF 2021	CCF 2022	CCF 2023	CCF 2024
Scope 2	26.83	37.49	33.04	32.18
Purchased heating, steam and cooling for own use	24.24	33.65	28.06	20.89
Purchased electricity for own use	2.59	3.84	4.98	11.29
Scope 3	109.21	268.32	277.8	254.92
Business Travel	26.35	125.64	147.51	146.39
Employee commuting	52.81	83.11	98.7	81.15
Purchased goods and services	16.41	41.28	16.23	14.04
Fuel-and energy-related activities	13.64	18.29	15.36	13.34
Overall results	136.04	305.81	310.84	287.1
Average tonnes per team member	1.41	2.54	2.42	2.24

The general data clearly shows that our highest consumption falls under the category of business travel, which we are constantly trying to mitigate (for example, through the creation of corporate travel guidelines and recommendations for sustainable travel practices). Fortunately, this category has shown a slowdown in the most recent measurement for the year 2024.

Additionally, when analyzing the carbon footprint per employee, we see that it continues to decrease from its peak in 2022, entering a stable range that allows us to continue introducing optimization measures.

Looking ahead, and with all of this experience, we are working on introducing artificial intelligence innovations to support data collection and processing, contributing to a scalability plan for our corporate footprint evaluation project.

For those who want to follow our journey, stay tuned for more insights into SimScale’s sustainability efforts and other exciting updates on our @lifeatsimscale Instagram feed. Want to start your own SimScale story? Make sure to keep an eye on our careers page for possible openings!

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