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  4. Measure your climate impact

How to measure your climate impact

6 minute read • Last updated: 25 February 2025

Understanding and managing your carbon footprint is essential in today's increasingly eco-conscious world. The VisitScotland climate impact guide is a first step, providing a comprehensive framework for tracking emissions in key areas such as energy consumption, waste management, and business travel.

This guide will help you establish a baseline so that you can identify cost-saving opportunities and monitor your progress. It's a good starting point for those new to carbon accounting or looking to enhance their current practices, serving as a vital tool in your roadmap towards better sustainability.

In this article:

  • Why measure your climate impact?
  • How to use the climate action workbook
  • Tracking your energy usage
  • Waste management
  • Staff travel
  • Suppliers and products
  • Fixtures and fittings

Why measure your climate impact?

Sustainability is vital for Scottish tourism businesses. Travellers are become increasingly eco-conscious and embracing sustainability is an opportunity to attract these customers, while helping preserve the environment and even increase your profits.

Logging data in the climate action workbook helps your business:

  • Establish a baseline

    Understand your current climate impact and identify areas for improvement.

  • Make informed decisions

    Target high-impact areas, like energy use or transportation, to make adjustment which will yield maximum energy savings.

  • Track progress

    Measure the effectiveness of your sustainability efforts over time.

  • Save costs

    Identify inefficiencies to reduce waste and operating expenses.

  • Enhance reputation

    Attract customers by demonstrating environmental responsibility.

  • Meet net zero targets

    Contribute to combating climate change and align with local and global sustainability targets.

How to use the climate action workbook

The climate action workbook will help you record your current emissions so that you can create a plan to reduce your impact. It guides you through assessing your energy consumption to identify areas for improvement so you can enhance your energy efficiency and reduce your costs.

  • How does it work?

    The workbook has three steps:

    1. Record your emissions across energy, travel and waste.
    2. Review your results with emissions across each category and a total figure for your business.
    3. Create an action plan of next steps.

  • What does it cover?

    The plan calculates your carbon footprint by focusing on three main areas. By inputting data about these areas, the plan provides a detailed breakdown of your emissions, helping you prioritise where to act. The plan allows you track data over time, providing space for the year’s current data alongside the previous year and so on.

    We look at usage across three areas:

    1. Energy consumption - through electricity and gas.
    2. Business travel - from vehicles and staff travel.
    3. Waste management - impact of waste disposal and recycling.

    Read more about our calculator methodology.

  • How long does it take?

    • Initial setup: 2–4 hours to gather and input data for the first time.
    • Ongoing updates: 1–2 hours per month or quarter to refresh data and monitor progress.
    • Annual review: use the plan yearly to generate a comprehensive report to compare results and evaluate trends.

  • What will the results tell me?

    The plan’s results will provide:

    • A breakdown of emissions by category (eg, energy, waste, transport).
    • Insights into areas with the highest environmental impact.
    • Benchmarks for tracking your progress over time.
    • Clear opportunities for targeted sustainability actions.

    The calculator is optimally effective for a period of three years. Beyond this timeframe, businesses should consider more advanced options.

  • Download the workbook

    Fill in your details on this form for the climate action workbook and you will get an email with a link to download the file.

Step-by-step guide to using the climate action workbook

  • Gather key data

    To ensure accurate results, gather information from the following sources throughout the designated tax or calendar year:

    • Energy use – electricity and gas bills (in kWh), sources of energy (both renewable and non-renewable), and regular meter readings. 
    • Transportation – vehicle mileage logs and fuel receipts, employee travel records, including mode of transport and distances covered. 
    • Waste management – waste collection invoices, recycling records, and results from periodic waste audits.

  • Input your data

    • Download the climate action workbook.
    • Follow the prompts to input your data in each category. The plan is user-friendly, with clear instructions for data entry.

  • Analyse your results

    • Review the calculated carbon footprint by category.
    • Identify high-emission areas (eg, energy use or waste) to concentrate on first.

  • Act

    • Develop a plan to reduce emissions. This might include switching to renewable energy, improving waste management, or encouraging sustainable travel among staff and guests.

Tracking your energy usage

Once you've filled out your climate action workbook and got it up and running, there are a few more ways to take it further from a walk-around your business to check on appliances and processes to hiring an energy assessor.

Walk around your business – energy audit checklist

Do a walk-around of your business and grade it against an energy audit checklist. Download a free energy usage tracker and audit checklist from Business Energy Scotland.

Check for things such as:

  • Lights on in unused spaces
  • Equipment running that doesn’t need to be
  • Temperatures on heating or cooling systems
  • Timers for lights or other equipment that needs adjusted seasonally

Get an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)

Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) rate a building's energy efficiency from A (most efficient) to G (least efficient). They outline potential heating and lighting costs, carbon dioxide emissions, and offer recommendations for improving energy efficiency. Valid for 10 years, these certificates are essential for managing rising energy costs effectively.

Check whether your property already has an EPC by visiting the Scottish EPC Register. If an EPC is not available, you will need to arrange for a certified energy assessor to conduct a survey of your property. This assessment typically involves a detailed examination of:

  • the age and type of the building
  • the construction methods and materials used in the property
  • the size and layout of each room
  • insulation levels in the walls, roof, and floors
  • the type and efficiency of fixed lighting and heating systems, including any control mechanisms like thermostats and radiator valves
  • a visual inspection of loft spaces for insulation quality and thickness

The cost for an EPC can vary but generally goes up to £150 – so get a few quotes to ensure a competitive price. The assessor may also inquire about recent renovations, such as loft conversions or the installation of double-glazing windows, to accurately assess the property.

Legally, you must display the EPC prominently within your property, typically in a place like the boiler or meter cupboard. It's also required to include the EPC rating in any property advertisements, whether online or in print. Maintain a copy of the EPC with your property's legal documents for reference.

Hire an energy assessor

To help you with identifying longer-term changes, it can be useful to hire an energy assessor. Request a fast-track energy assessment from Business Energy Scotland.

Tips for measuring your energy usage

  • Take regular meter readings for your climate action workbook.

  • Submit readings to your energy supplier regularly to ensure an accurate bill.

  • Track any rises or falls with explanations such as an increase in the number of customers or the weather.

  • Investigate any discrepancies which don’t have an obvious explanation to see if it could be faulty equipment or user error.

  • Consider using a wireless energy monitor for real-time information on energy use, or an automatic meter reading system that provides half-hourly data and more accurate billing.

  • Use a submeter for kitchens or offices to track specific energy consumption there.

  • Check your water meter regularly to identify early any issues such as leaks.

Other ideas

Check awards and certification criteria

You might not be ready to apply for an award for your sustainable practices, but this could be a useful way to get ideas. Look at the criteria for the awards or certifications to see what targets or initiatives they expect you to follow. Check out the information on applying for awards for ideas on where to look.

Waste management

Monitor how much waste you are producing and putting into your bins.

Get a picture of how much waste your business is contributing by looking at:

  • The number of bins you have for each type of waste
  • How often each bin type is emptied
  • How full each bin type is when they are empty

You should also check how much recyclable waste is going into your general bins. Try to schedule a quick five-minute check each week whilst the bins are at their peak or before the waste is removed. After one or two months, you can use your data to take appropriate measures.

Increase your knowledge of your current recycling procedures and processes as well. Look at your invoices and bills and check for hidden surcharges for not recycling properly, and try to stabilise the amount you spend on waste management. Reach out to your supplier for extra materials, bin labels / stickers, and information guides if needed.

Tips:

  • Research shows that clearly labelled bins with icons and associated colour coding, have the most success.
  • Your waste contractor may measure your waste already – see if they can share that data with you.

Check out Zero Waste Scotland for advice on how to measure and monitor your business waste.

Food waste

Measuring your food waste allows you to get a better picture of how much your business is generating, where it’s generated, the amount, and why.

You can measure your food waste by:

  • Weighing your food waste
  • Counting the number of food waste bins
  • Noting how often the food waste bins are emptied

Think about what your main source of food waste might be – is it spoilage of produce, excess waste from preparing produce, or leftovers from customers?

Sign up to the one month food waste challenge and get free resources from Zero Waste Scotland.

Staff travel

How do your staff travel around on business? How do they travel to and from your business? Conduct a travel audit to identify the main modes of transport used, and the emissions created using the climate action workbook. Make sure you keep details of the miles and fuel used where applicable for your yearly carbon audit.

You can then make choices and create policies about how your staff travel on business – such as allowing time for them to use public transport and claim expenses.

Suppliers and products

Choosing sustainable suppliers and products is crucial to reducing your business's environmental footprint and satisfying eco-conscious customers. Check out your current suppliers and their practices:

  • Do you buy local and support local businesses?
  • Do your suppliers have any green credentials or net zero policies which are meaningful to your business?
  • Are they backed by climate-conscious investors?
  • Do they offer sustainable packaging (upon request)? Do they encourage you to bring back materials rather than binning them?

Create a sustainable procurement checklist

A checklist can help set a baseline for procuring goods and services. Identify your starting point, set a baseline of criteria such as sourcing local goods and services in the first instance. Set sustainable baseline criteria for each purchase. If you already have a procurement method or guidelines in place, perhaps consider expanding this to consider sustainability.

Single-use plastics

Replace single-use plastic items with reusable or biodegradable alternatives. Single-use plastic contributes to plastic pollution, particularly in the oceans, which affects local wildlife and tourism. Choosing to have reusable cutlery may increase energy consumption through washing, but it is effectively offset by the reduction in plastic waste.

Your first step is to do a walk-around of your business, and identify where you use single-use plastics. You can then brainstorm with staff what alternatives you could use, and what processes you might need to manage this.

Find out more on how to move away from single-use plastics with Zero Waste Scotland.

Fixtures and fittings

Take a walk-around your business and identify any opportunities where you could reduce your energy usage. This could be:

  • changing the lightbulbs you use
  • upgrading the light fittings
  • choosing energy-efficient appliances
  • minimising draughts around doors and windows
  • choosing energy-efficient windows and dressings
  • setting the heating or cooling to the right temperature
  • reviewing your boiler settings and maintaining it regularly

It may not be cost effective to implement all these changes right away, but by identifying what you have right now and when you last purchased these things, you can plan now for what you may choose as a replacement when the time comes.

Create a climate action plan

Now you've begun to measure your climate impact, how do you turn this into an action plan? Walk through the six steps of setting targets, choosing actions and sharing your progress.

How to create your climate action plan

Related pages

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