We have designed ACE to help you estimate the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions arising from your household or business activity, working on the theory that "you cannot manage what you cannot measure".

To download a free copy of ACE click here (Excel; 373KB).

ACE was first launched in 2006 with updates released in May 2008, April 2009, and most recently March 2010.

The latest version of ACE (ACE 2010) includes the following new features:

• Latest emission factors and vehicle efficiency rates
• Addition of New Plymouth as a departure/destination city in the flight calculator
• Addition of R22 as a refrigerant gas in the refrigerant calculator
  

ACE is simple to use. All you have to do is enter activity data into a separate sheet for each month. Results are displayed in:

1. Tables and a bar chart of emissions by source each month;
2. Graph of cumulative annual emissions
   

Activities for input into ACE include:

• Electricity usage
• Gas consumption
• Coal consumption
• Petrol consumption
• Diesel consumption
• Waste disposal
• Taxi travel
• Airline travel
• Refrigerant data
  

Standard emission factors are used to convert activity to emissions. Most emissions factors incorporate non-CO₂ gases and hence units are given in terms of CO₂ equivalent (CO₂e) emissions. More information on emission factors and how they are calculated can be found here. This page also has information on other conversion factors used and the assumptions used in the methodology. We recommend that you read it.

It is important to understand the concept of scope when determining your emissions, especially if you plan to report on them publicly. GHG emitting activities fall into one of three scope categories. If you are unfamiliar with the concept of scope feel free to contact us for information.

Once you have measured your emissions you are in a strong position to manage them through reducing them where you can and offsetting some or all of the remainder. There are a number of ways to reduce emissions:

• Energy audits can help to identify energy savings by avoiding waste and improving efficiency;
• Fuel switching can be an option to reduce emissions intensity.
  

We are happy to help you work through options and identify solutions to suit your situation and objectives. We welcome your feedback on any aspect of ACE.

Have ACE customised to your requirements

We recognize that "one size doesn't fit all" and that every business will have different circumstances. If you would like the calculator customised to your requirements we would be pleased to undertake this. Popular customisations are listed below. For an estimate on cost contact us.

Personalisations

Have ACE personalised with your logo and other company details.

Activity customisations

Have energy categories added or removed. For example replace coal with kerosene as a fuel or add biomass as a category if you routinely burn woody material (e.g. fireplaces, outdoor burnings, furnaces).

Customise the waste function to more accurately fit your waste profile.

Incorporate different emission factors

Specify the emission factors you would prefer to use and have them set up in ACE. You may consider this for historical analyses pre 2007 where emission factors specific to a certain period exist (e.g. a 2006 analysis).

Change the period

ACE works on a standard fiscal year (Apr – May). If your business works to a different financial year have ACE customised to present data applicable to that year (eg June – May), or customise ACE to analyse a calendar year.

Multiple year presentations

ACE can be customised to analyse and present data for more than one year to allow year-by-year comparison.