Tag Archive for: GHG

When looking for a GHG reporting program, there is one element that is typically overlooked. This short video gives us more insight.

When looking for a GHG reporting program, there is one element that is typically overlooked. This short video gives us more insight.

When looking for a GHG reporting program, there is one element that is typically overlooked. This short video gives us more insight.

Scientific calculations are an essential aspect of many fields of study, including physics, chemistry, and engineering including environmental engineering. These calculations involve complex formulas and equations that are often too time-consuming and challenging to solve by hand. Fortunately, programming languages and software have made it easier for scientists and researchers to carry out scientific calculations quickly and accurately. Software plays a vital role in environmental calculations, as it provides scientists and researchers with a powerful tool for analyzing and interpreting complex data related to the environment. Environmental engineers need to deal with vast amounts of data that must be analyzed to draw meaningful conclusions. The environmental field encompasses a wide range of disciplines, including climate science, ecology, and environmental engineering, and each of these areas requires specific types of calculations that can be performed more efficiently and accurately using computers.

In recent years, many programming languages have been developed that are specifically designed for scientific computing. These languages, such as MATLAB, Python, and R, are powerful tools for numerical analysis and data visualization. However, programming for environmental calculations poses some challenges. One of the primary challenges is ensuring that the code is accurate and reliable. Even small errors in the code can lead to significant errors in the results, which can have serious consequences for environmental decision-making.

Collections of environmental data in an enterprise pose another set of challenges, including gathering data from all business units and ensuring the accuracy, accessibility, interoperability, and privacy of data. Addressing these challenges requires careful planning, collaboration, and the adoption of standardized data formats and protocols.

Software applications developed at Locus like Environmental Information Management (EIM), Greenhouse Gas, Air Emissions and Sustainability address these challenges by offering tailored solutions for environmental scientists. One of the key advantages of using these applications is that it allows scientists to automate many of the tedious and time-consuming tasks involved in data collection, scientific calculations, analysis, and regulatory reporting. These applications have gone through extensive testing ensuring accurate and reliable results and the automation can make regulatory reporting a breeze when time is of the essence.

In conclusion, scientific calculations are an essential aspect of environmental engineering, and Locus offers powerful tools for performing these calculations quickly and accurately. By using Locus software, scientists and researchers can automate tedious tasks, process large datasets, and extract valuable insights from the environmental data of the organization.

 

Have Questions? Contact us to learn more.

    Name

    Company Email

    Phone

    Tell us about your company's needs

    Locus is committed to preserving your privacy.

    [sc_vimeo width=”640″ height=”360″ aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_id=”834111151″ style=”default” position=”right”]

    When looking for a GHG reporting program, there is one element that is typically overlooked. In a short video Locus Technologies President, Wes Hawthorne, gives us insight into what that missing piece is. If your company needs better GHG reporting solutions, Locus Technologies has the expertise and software to complete your reporting efficiently and accurately.

    Click to learn more.

    [sc_button link=”https://www.locustec.com/applications/sustainability/greenhouse-gas/” text=”Learn more” link_target=”_self” color=”000000″ background_color=”52a6ea”]

     

     

    Request a demo

    Send us your contact information and a Locus representative will be in touch to discuss your organization’s needs and provide an estimate, or set up a free demo of our enterprise environmental software solutions.

      Name

      Company Email

      Phone

      Tell us about your company's needs

      Locus is committed to preserving your privacy.

      air-quality-laptop

      Locus’ Air Quality app is designed to integrate with data sources to seamlessly calculate air emissions monthly or annually. Our application can then produce XML, CSV and other emission reports which can be uploaded directly to regulatory sites. 

      emissions-charts-air-quality

      Assets are compiled based on configurable templates. Each asset type has its own form with input values, and the associated emission factors and calculations are shown to transparently display the model used to calculate the asset’s emissions. To build out the model, data for every asset may be uploaded from Excel or migrated from legacy systems.   

      Once created, the asset presents a self-contained, transparent view of the asset properties, data, emissions factors, calculations, results, with the capability to add more information. 

      data-air-quality

      emissions-calculations-air-quality

       

      The current asset-types available include: 

      • Pumps 
      • Compressors 
      • Boilers 
      • Generators 
      • Scrubbers 
      • Pipelines 
      • Engines 
      • Tractors, Trucks 
      • Storage  
      • Fugitive sources 
      • Grain Terminals 
      • Flares 
      • Thermal Oxidizers 
      • Heaters 
      • Digesters 

      Locus Technology’s flexible configuration tool makes reporting your organization’s Air Quality straightforward. 

      Request a demo

      Send us your contact information and a Locus representative will be in touch to discuss your organization’s needs and provide an estimate, or set up a free demo of our enterprise environmental software solutions.

        Name

        Company Email

        Phone

        Tell us about your company's needs

        Locus is committed to preserving your privacy.

        One of the most frequent questions we get asked when it comes to ESG is, “Where do I begin?”. For many companies, the process of getting started with a new ESG program is the most difficult step. With nearly 1,700 frequently evolving ESG reporting protocols available, it can be daunting just to determine where to begin. This uncertainty associated with ESG reporting can unfortunately paralyze any progress for several organizations. The good news is that ESG doesn’t have to be an ‘all or nothing’ effort. In fact, getting started is a simple and straightforward process.

        Get started with ESG

        Regardless of what ESG reporting program you choose (or eventually choose), there are many common elements that can form the basis of your organization’s ESG program. Although social and governance KPIs have been undergoing rapid evolution recently, environmental KPIs have been comparatively stable. Environmental KPIs tend to be quantitative with established calculation methodologies, whereas the definitions and determinations as to what is important regarding societal and governance factors and how to measure them are still being evaluated globally. Considering this, many companies elect to start their ESG reporting program using monitoring and collecting environmental data.

        Additionally, almost all reporting programs include the concept of a baseline, or a time period against which future ESG metrics are compared. Developing the baseline requires a good understanding of your organization’s current ESG performance, which of course requires a good set of data. Universal data that is required for any ESG reporting program includes data on greenhouse gas, water quality and consumption, waste, and energy consumption. The bedrock of an ESG program starts with the collection, management, and reporting of these data. This information can also help to inform further decisions for your ESG program, including which framework is most appropriate for your organization.

        Locus Sustainability Metrics

        As part of this effort, you should make sure you are collecting and calculating your ESG metrics with software that supports the required complexity of environmental data. Often the companies who suggest a turnkey solution to ESG reporting are not only lacking in social and governance data, but are woefully underprepared and unequipped to handle environmental data as well. With over 25 years of experience in creating software for environmental reporting, Locus Technologies is equipped to help organizations collect and report ESG data in a way that others aren’t.

        Contact Us to Get Started Today

          Name

          Company Email

          Phone

          Tell us about your company's needs

          Locus is committed to preserving your privacy.

          Simplify your air quality data management and reporting with Locus’ unified software solution. Our Air Quality application resolves most common issues with managing and submitting your site emissions data. Locus handles all required regulatory data from your facilities in one centralized platform and makes it possible to streamline your tracking and reporting requirements for programs such as Title V, GHG, Fenceline, and LCFS.

          Title V Compliance Infographic

          Environmental compliance software screenshot of Locus Platform Air Quality Title V dashboard with iPad for air quality monitoring samples

          Contact us to see a demo of the Air Quality app

            Name

            Company Email

            Phone

            Tell us about your company's needs

            Locus is committed to preserving your privacy.

            ESG Reporting has Become a Business Requirement

            In today’s world, organizations must measure and report their environmental performance and adherence to corporate social responsibility (CSR) and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles. Stakeholders, including regulators, investors, customers, rating agencies, research analysts, NGOs, and the public, are all starting to evaluate non-financial criteria in addition to companies’ financial health and performance. Companies also must comply with EHS regulations in the jurisdictions in which they operate. While most environmental regulations have been around for half a century, the gathering and reporting of sustainability, CSR, and ESG data is relatively new and is becoming an essential part of corporate annual reports.

            Companies are increasingly discovering that data-driven ESG reporting has gone from a “nice to have” to a business requirement. But it’s challenging to keep up with such reporting when a company’s data is in spreadsheets or numerous unconnected silo applications. Companies suffer when their domain experts and others rely on manual and outdated processes to accomplish ever-increasing reporting requirements.Locus ESG Reporting Software

            It appears imminent that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will in near future regulate ESG disclosure as a requirement by using some kind of universal reporting framework.

            Wouldn’t it be nice to have a single enterprise and cloud-based software system to perform all EHS, ESG, and CSR reporting from a single software platform? That is what this article is about.

            Sustainability vs ESG

            Until recently, it was common to refer to sustainability and ESG interchangeably. But over time, their meanings have grown apart. Sustainability can mean many different things, depending on the discussion context, whereas ESG has become the preferred term for capital markets and has frequently appeared in the headlines. The transition from sustainability to ESG performance indicates a maturation of business practices leading to more precise measurements of a company’s performance, its impact on the environment, and the risk it carries for investors when there is a low environmental performance or spotty compliance with EHS regulations. As a result, companies need to improve the way they collect and track metrics for ESG reporting.

            Holistic Approach

            To compare companies relative to their impacts on the planet’s climate or well-being, one must take a holistic approach that includes many factors. Among those to consider when assigning a score to a company are:

            • The magnitude and quality of its overall and coupled emissions to natural media
            • The efficiency of its operations in water and energy usage
            • Carbon footprint
            • Recycling, waste management, treatment, and disposal operations
            • The transparency and impacts of its supply chains

            This holistic approach requires new, integrated, and interactive software tools. Such software, equivalent to the ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software that made its appearance in the early nineties, should provide complex tracking of all kinds of emissions linked to company-owned assets and services in real-time (Scope 1 emissions). It should also include emissions attributable to its supply chain, known as Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions. Old ERP software applications integrate the processes needed to run a company in a single system: planning, purchasing inventory, sales, marketing, finance, and human resources. However, they do not typically integrate any technical information or activity related to emissions, waste, climate, environmental compliance, etc. Never mind that much of the ERP software in the market today is obsolete, running on the outdated technology of the seventies and eighties, and hard to integrate with anything.

            The traditional approach of bolting-on another application to an existing software infrastructure is not the road to go down concerning ESG data collection and to report. Emissions tracking, sustainability, and other environmentally related verticals are typically “heavier” and more resource-intensive than antiquated ERP systems can handle without significant investment. Many legacy ERP systems, caving in under their weight, are hugely and unnecessarily complicated and are slowly being deprecated. New, cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS) technologies hold more promise as they allow for the fast deployment and easy integration and sharing with third-party applications, suppliers, consultants, and even regulators. One such example is the Locus Platform or only LP. It is a SaaS that automates data collection, management, and reporting. It is of financial-grade, auditable, available, and actionable 24/7 from anywhere. This platform integrates EHS compliance and ESG reporting applications under a single system of record, giving users all necessary tools to optimize their compliance, sustainability management, and reporting.

            All-in-one solution for Sustainability, EHS Compliance, and ESG Reporting

            To kill two birds with one stone! Or perhaps a friendlier version for bird-lovers is a German version, “mit einer Klappe zwei Fliegen schlagen” – which means to kill two flies with one swat. Or kill two mosquitoes with one slap! This English language idiom is not to be taken literally but instead refers to a single activity or action that accomplishes two (or more) goals or tasks. And that is precisely what any advanced EHS/ESG software should do.

            Over the last twenty or so years, companies have spent considerable resources (in both time and money) buying and installing such EHS compliance-related verticals as permit management, waste, incident reporting, water quality, air emissions, greenhouse gases (GHG), sustainability, and so on.

            More than one acquisition is often needed to cover their reporting needs, resulting in an assortment of tools that may or may not be compatible with one another.

            Locus Platform Sustainability

            As I mentioned at the beginning of this blog, a new acronym, ESG, has recently shot to prominence. C-level executives are asking their EHS managers a question “Do we need more software to manage our ESG reporting? Smart companies should not rush and start searching Google for “ESG Software.” Instead, they should take a hard look at what they have on EHS compliance and sustainability management and augment it with ESG reporting. After all, everything that needs reporting or is worth reporting under the ESG acronym probably already exists and is hidden in their EHS compliance software, provided they selected the right one. Companies that have implemented integrated EHS compliance and sustainability management systems may already have most of the ESG data they need to report within their existing applications. If they do not, or if they have a “mutual fund” portfolio of EHS software already installed in unconnected silo applications, this is the time to clean house and switch to a unified reporting platform that integrates EHS and ESG into a single system of record and reporting. Companies that head down this path would not just be “killing two birds” but more: they would lower their costs, meet their new reporting needs, gain a better understanding of their environmental impacts, and potentially enhance their ESG reputation.

            Locus Platform

            Locus specifically built its configurable Locus Platform to unify many current and future applications on a single SaaS platform. The LP offers a wide range of features and functionality to power sustainability measurement, management, and reporting across the entire corporation. But it also provides a launching pad for EHS-related and unrelated apps that are interoperable and share relevant information, thus avoiding any double input. Among its features are the following:

            • It offers Integrated IoT streaming of data from sensors, smart meters, mobile phones, or any physical device with an IP address.
            • It is AI-ready and Blockchain-ready to help with data analyses.
            • It offers built-in workflows and rules.
            • It has robust business analytics tools and powerful reporting engines.
            • It has a fully integrated GIS system.
            • It has a pre-built library of entities and modules that allows users to quickly assemble all new applications without software developers’ help.

            While EHS compliance applications are more comprehensive and dive deeper into the root causes of contamination and emissions, ESG reporting is much less complicated and requires fewer data to report and less scrutiny of such data. For example, federal and state standards such as Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMRs) require detailed water quality reporting, requiring companies to prove that their releases fall within allowable quantities (flow volume) and that chemicals in discharge samples do not exceed regulatory limits for the chemicals of concern. Consequently, the software to manage water quality for EHS reporting needs to provide automated tools to prove that: samples were collected correctly, sample holding time was not exceeded, the receiving laboratory tested samples using proper protocols, lab equipment, etc. Labs also must maintain calibration logs for equipment used in testing, testing details, and so forth.

            None of these QC results and associated metadata are necessary for ESG reporting under voluntary reporting protocols such as the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), The Climate Registry (TCR), or GRESB, the leading ESG benchmark for real estate and infrastructure investments. Those protocols mainly require information to be assembled on volumes (quantities) of clean water used, water sources, and contaminated water discharge volumes. They may also include some identification of chemicals in releases but with no details and no testing protocols required. The GRI 303 standard on water and effluents, for example, requires companies to collect information on water use from withdrawal to consumption and discharge and to report on associated impacts on people and ecosystems, including at a local level. This standard enables investors to assess a company’s overall exposure to water risk, as it addresses the whole supply chain.

            Locus GHG Exports

            There are plenty of overlaps in this undertaking. Smart software like the Locus Platform can help avoid any double input between EHS compliance data and ESG reporting. For example, once inputted, facility information is instantly available to all apps, whether the final output of the app is for EHS or ESG reporting. If a spill incident is created and recorded in the EHS Incident App, another app for waste or groundwater contamination can track and manage that spill’s consequential emissions. Even a small spill could become costly if the spill creates long-lasting contamination of soil and groundwater below it. Reporting for spill under EHS compliance regulations is very different from reporting for ESG, yet the two can use the same database. Examples like this are numerous.

            Locus continuously adds new features to its Locus Platform to expand EHS, Sustainability, and ESG interoperability and avoid and minimize data’s double input. Companies need a single system of record to house their sustainability data, EHS Compliance, and ultimately report ESG information across multiple reporting standards. Locus’ ESG SaaS delivers in this regard. Moreover, it can grow with customers’ needs thanks to its off-the-shelf configurability.

            In short, the Locus Platform is an all-in-one sustainability management software tool that helps companies streamline data collection, improve data quality, benchmark performance, and communicate more effectively with internal and external stakeholders. Locus’s software automates collecting, reducing, and managing data to monitor and track critical metrics around EHS, CSR, and ESG performance. Once the data is in the Locus Platform, the software creates ESG, sustainability, and other reports adhering to multiple reporting standards to improve communications with stakeholders and show greater transparency.

            Software Tools for Reporting to Multiple Regulatory or Voluntary Bodies

            Many large companies must report to various regulatory or voluntary bodies. A company’s software of choice should support all the major reporting requirements to avoid double input or separate calculations for some jurisdictions. This is particularly true for GHG reporting.

            When selecting its software system of record for EHS and ESG reporting, a company should strive to “enter once, report many times.” The gold standard is to have a system configured to report to multiple agencies from a single dataset. Before selecting software, companies should review their reporting requirements to see if their software handles them. Essential reporting requirements include state or federal regulations, internal CSR, and ESG based on whatever standard their organization adheres to, such as CDP, GRI, or more recent World Economic Forum (WEF) attempt to standardize many voluntary standards.

            Companies also must consider export formats. For example, when selecting a GHG management software, the company must ensure their software of choice includes exports to XML, a standard format for Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and California Air Resources Board (CARB) reporting, and an option for reporting to other agencies. Having such outputs easily generated from the software will save time and money during the reporting season. The XML report generation capability allows facilities to directly upload their GHG data instead of completing the complex web forms found in the EPA Electronic Greenhouse Gas Reporting Tool (e-GGRT) and CARB reporting worksheets (Cal e-GGRT).

            Locus provides direct XML exports to the GHG application in its Locus Platform software. Locus is the only software vendor that is an approved GHG verifier by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) under AB 32, the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. Since the program’s inception, Locus has performed more GHG verifications than any other company and learned much by observing GHG reporting practices at many companies. As a result, Locus has prioritized enhancing its GHG software to make it easier for customers to manage GHG emission inventory tracking and reporting requirements. Locus’ GHG application is fully integrated with compliance tracking, asset management, and IoT automation (including remote sensing). This ability to generate XML reports further streamlines customers’ report submission process to the EPA and CARB.

            Locus Platform XML export

            For example, data entry for EPA and CARB is consolidated in the GHG application, eliminating the need to maintain separate agency spreadsheets and software. This supports robust trend tracking and reporting, reducing data entry, reporting time, and error opportunities. For many greenhouse gas subparts, including Subparts C, D, W, and NN, the software automatically generates XML reports. These can be easily configured for any greenhouse gas industry segment.

            From our experience, many of our customers have experienced frustration with the speed and difficulty of entering their data into the state and federal GHG reporting tools. The Locus Platform XML reporting tool lets customers bypass those clumsy interfaces completely. This saves time, helps companies avoid transcription errors, and ensures consistency with GHG data submitted to multiple reporting programs. As more and more regulatory and voluntary programs embrace automated report submittal through the XML format, Locus continues to expand this functionality to simplify reporting for our customers.

            Conclusions

            ESG reporting and EHS compliance are inherently cross-functional and coupled activities. Managing them together rather than separately is better. Locus built its platform on a highly secure, scalable, configurable, and efficient multi-tenant software platform. The traditional approaches to using a separate app or a spreadsheet for EHS compliance, sustainability management, or ESG reporting were ripe for digital transformation to a single platform of record. This is the main reason that we built the Locus Platform from scratch to take advantage of the latest cloud technologies and flexible and domain-driven reporting requirements.

            Quality of data and standard protocols remain one of the biggest challenges to evaluating companies’ ESG performance. Such data are only credible if they come from the existing sources of EHS compliance data that are much more scrutinized and verified by regulators. Any potential conflict between two sets of the same data can spell disaster for the reporting entity. The perceived value of sustainable investments and practices is inevitably linked to data accuracy, consistency, and reproducibility.

            The Locus Platform empowers companies to gain a holistic view of their sustainability performance by providing the means for them to assemble and report their EHS and ESG data from within a single system. Sustainability managers need comprehensive digital tools and real-time, AI-driven insights to keep up with the latest ESG disclosure requirements, trends, and stakeholder requests for information. Whether an organization is just getting started with sustainability initiatives or doing it for a while, Locus Technologies combined EHS and ESG software, explicitly tailored for multi-jurisdictional and multi-media reporting, can help companies make better and faster decisions and reduce the reporting cycle time. By quickly transforming corporate EHS compliance to ESG reporting, companies can improve their ESG score while lowering operational risks and costs. Locus software breaks down silos and provides a stable platform to work collaboratively with diverse teams of experts across the customer organization, its consultants, and its suppliers.

            Contact us to learn more and get a quote on Locus ESG solutions

              Name

              Company Email

              Phone

              Tell us about your company's needs

              Locus is committed to preserving your privacy.

              Time management is an ever-present struggle. With expanding air quality monitoring and regulatory programs, more is expected from air quality professionals without compromising work quality. Locus Technologies offers the tools to ease your workload. Here’s how Locus transforms your air quality data and reporting management:

               

              Integration

              Integration can save you a great deal of time and stress with the most cumbersome air quality data management duties. Our air quality software has a unique point and click integration application enabling connection with major databases and third-party systems that have open API (access privileges). Some integration, database, and communication standards and methods that are supported include OLE compliance, SOAP, COM, Java, XML, web services, DBC/ODMA/SQL/Oracle, AWS, VIM, and MAPI.

              Locus also provides a powerful two-way synchronization with MS Excel, allowing users to download to Excel, then work, edit, verify, or append data on their local copy of Excel. Any revisions they perform to the downloaded data can be automatically synchronized back to the Locus Platform application. During the process, a complete audit trail will be preserved. This is a great time saver, especially if you are sending large volumes of valid values in a database or if you are migrating any historical data.

               

              Dashboards Tailored to Your Needs

              Your air quality data management software should have built-in dashboards to meet your needs. With other software providers, when you need a new report, chart, or other visualization of your air quality data, it usually incurs a custom software development charge. Locus allows you to assemble the information you want in your chosen format (bar or line charts, maps, tables, treemaps, diagrams, etc.) and share your custom dashboards and real-time information/data with your team or regulators without the fees. In addition, the views and dashboards export to Excel, so you can easily integrate with commonly used tools and further mine the data.

              Environmental compliance software screenshot of Locus Platform Air Quality Title V dashboard with iPad for air quality monitoring samples

              With Locus, powerful dashboards will help you understand the status of single of multiple facilities in an air quality program based on a matrix you design. With the the flexibility of Locus, facility information can be automatically populated based on the user credentials, saving you and your team time and frustration.

               

              Simplified Reporting

              Locus Platform’s air quality application and calculation engine supports simultaneous calculations using multiple methods for various reporting programs including EPA, State, or Local, CDP, TCR, DJSI, Title V, e, and others. Our software also assists in streamlining your emissions tracking and reporting requirements for programs such as GHG, Fenceline, Title V, and LCFS. Locus air quality software is fully integrated with our compliance/asset management and remote sensing systems, making digital transformation more efficient. In addition, Locus’ vapor intrusion and indoor air management application will easily organize, manage, and report indoor air and vapor intrusion data.

              GHG and Title V Exports

              This allows users to input data only once and utilize it to report to multiple federal, state, and voluntary reporting programs, according to your required format. The application will also support direct electronic reporting formats for many reporting programs, so that additional manual transcription and submittal of data are no longer necessary. This is a very powerful tool and a huge advantage to customers in terms of improving efficiency, while reducing costs.

               

              Mobile

              Locus’ Mobile application allows you to sync with your server to create in-field data collection profiles on a mobile device, whether it’s your phone or a tablet. It will allow you to click through and enter field inspection data on the device even when you are offline. Air quality field operations data validation is performed in real-time and is stored locally on the device when you are out of service range, with data will automatically being updated in Locus’ cloud when you have connection.

              Locus Mobile

              Locus gives the benefits of data entry directly on the mobile device, with immediate data availability on the cloud when you reach an internet signal. Other advantages of using Locus Mobile includes location metadata and mapping integration, bar-code/OR code scanning, voice recognition, and form customization.

               

              Easy to Use Calculation Library

              To alleviate the effort in researching complex air emissions calculations ranging from GHG to Tank emissions, Locus has designed a Java Library, Curta, for complicated scientific computing on our software. Curta contains a collection of built-in functionality, unit conversions, periodic and hierarchical calculations that can be used to solve mathematical models of problems in Science and Engineering.

              Curta can be used directly as API (Application Program Interface) in the UI (User Interface) design, or implicitly combined with the Locus Platform Sustainability application with clear break down into calculation indicators and sources. It offers an integrated solution to work with different data types, continuously changing inputs and large set of unknown variables.

              Curta features include:

              • Calculation engine suite Independent code base for Curta only, safe and stable for any applications and platform.
              • Sequential calculation steps Curta can construct multi-step calculation structure where formulas can build on each other without knowing the exact values at the initiation of the calculation.
              • Conditional calculation logics Calculation steps can be set with conditions and logic for example effective date, input units, tank type etc.
              • Hierarchical calculation results Calculations can be designated to sources with hierarchy with Curta able to acknowledge the parent-child relations of the sources and present it as a calculation tree.
              • Execute parallel calculations for periodic data Curta can repeatedly conduct complicated calculation structure on a periodic base.
              • Execute parallel calculations for multiple sources Curta can repeatedly conduct complicated calculation structure for multiple linked sources for example facilities, tanks etc.

              Contact us to see Locus’ Air Quality App in action

                Name

                Company Email

                Phone

                Tell us about your company's needs

                Locus is committed to preserving your privacy.

                Tag Archive for: GHG

                MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Dec. 19, 2023Locus Technologies, (Locus)— an industry leader in environmental compliance and ESG software, has been accredited by the Washington Department of Ecology to provide verification services for mandatory greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting. Locus is the first of a select few to receive approval for Washington’s first year requiring verification services.

                The accreditation allows Locus to provide verification services for GHG emissions reports, which are now mandatory for facilities in the State of Washington. The verification team at Locus consists of experts in all reporting requirements. Locus’ in-house Lead Verifiers are certified in all reporting types, including general stationary combustion sources, transactions (electricity, fuel, and natural gas suppliers), oil and gas systems, and process emissions.

                In May 2021, the Climate Commitment Act (CCA) was signed into law for the state of Washington. The CCA established a state-wide Cap-and-Invest Program to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and address climate change. As part of the Program, entities are required to report their emissions and have those emissions verified for accuracy and conformance with the regulation, using accredited third-party verification bodies such as Locus.

                “Locus is excited to continue our expansion of GHG services to include verification in the state of Washington, as we have done in California and Oregon since the inception of those programs. We continue our commitment to stay informed on new and updated ESG reporting frameworks, leading with our expert staff and domain expertise. Our years of experience and industry knowledge allow us to provide a vital service, while also leveraging this experience to further expand our ESG software functionality to support these new reporting programs,” said Wes Hawthorne, President of Locus.

                Building on over a decade of GHG verification experience, Locus remains the only software provider for collecting, managing, and reporting GHG emissions that is also an accredited verifier.

                About Locus Technologies

                Locus Technologies, the global environmental, social, governance (ESG), Sustainability, and EHS Compliance software leader, empowers companies of every size and industry to be credible with ESG reporting. From 1997 Locus Technologies pioneered enterprise software-as-a-service (SaaS) for EHS Compliance, water management, and ESG credible reporting. Locus apps and software solutions improve business performance by strengthening risk management and EHS for organizations across industries and government agencies. Organizations ranging from medium-sized businesses to Fortune 500 enterprises, such as Chevron, Sempra, Corteva, DuPont, Chemours, Port of Seattle, The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and Los Alamos National Laboratory, have selected Locus.

                Locus Technologies’ headquarters is in Mountain View, California.

                Locus EHS/ESG Cloud will streamline Foster Farms EHS Compliance, ESG Reporting, and Water Quality Management.

                MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., May 2, 2023Locus Technologies, the leading EHS Compliance and ESG software provider, today announced that Foster Farms, a top US provider of fresh, frozen, and prepared poultry products and the leading brand of fresh chicken in the Western U.S., selected Locus’s award-winning enterprise Software as a Service (SaaS) to organize and manage their EHS compliance and ESG reporting.

                Foster Farm subscribed to an integrated set of apps offered in the Locus Cloud Platform. Some apps include EHS Compliance Management, ESG and Sustainability, GHG Emission Factor and Calculation Management, Inspections, Configuration Workbench, Air Emissions Management, Storm Water, Wastewater, and well data management and reporting.

                Locus Cloud is the first fully integrated multitenant platform created from the ground up to allow organizations to manage their environmental, energy, water, waste, carbon, air, health and safety, remediation, water quality, and compliance information in one place. The Locus Platform allows companies to configure their own management, tracking, visualization, and reporting through a graphically driven user interface. This feature enables organizations to configure the software to their needs without worrying about the expensive programming outlays usually associated with customization and single-tenant deployments.

                When designing integrated EHS/ESG SaaS, Locus sought to make the complicated workflow and management of environmental data as simple as possible and to make it manageable from a single platform with shared components. The resulting platform offers immense flexibility and endless capabilities with minimal training thanks to the new, intuitive, user-friendly interface design.

                “The accurate tracking and reporting of critical environmental resource usage is a necessary part of our compliance responsibilities, and a major component of our efforts to ensure that we are a sustainable producer. The Locus application software will make a significant contribution to our resource management capabilities,” said Don Hill, Foster Farms Director of Environmental Affairs.

                “We are delighted that Foster Farms recognized the power of the Locus Cloud platform. Businesses do not want to shop for point solutions from different vendors only to be left with the nightmare of integration, security, synchronization, and vendor management. They want one-stop shops and to avoid having to deal with vendors that don’t integrate well with one another or have spotty service and limited support. Locus will provide Foster Farms single platform through which they can accomplish all their environmental and compliance management needs on a single, fully customer-configurable platform,” said Neno Duplan, President, and CEO of Locus. “Keeping the end user’s perspective in mind, we’ve packed the same 26-plus years of domain expertise that Locus has been offering all along into a highly configurable and scalable software platform built from the ground up on the latest web technologies,” remarked Duplan.

                ABOUT FOSTER FARMS

                Foster Farms is dedicated to providing families across America with great food. From ready to cook chicken and turkey, to chicken nuggets and corndogs, Foster Farms portfolio of fresh, frozen, and prepared foods, are always welcome whether it’s dinner time or snack time. Since its founding in 1939 Foster Farms has gone on to become one of the largest quality poultry producers in the United States. Headquartered in Livingston, Ca with facilities in California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Arkansas, Alabama and Louisiana, the company has nearly 12,000 Team Members, and is committed to building a “culture that nobody wants to walk aways from.”

                Environmental Business Journal (EBJ) recognized Locus for ESG software growth and innovation.

                MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., 2 March 2023 — Locus Technologies, the leading EHS Compliance and ESG software provider, received their 17th consecutive award from Environmental Business Journal (EBJ) for growth and innovation in the field of Information Technology in the environmental software with particular focus on EHS, compliance, sustainability, and ESG.

                Locus continues to expand its ESG SaaS solution, including built-in business intelligence tools for interactive, actionable insights into unified EHS compliance and ESG data, forecasting tools predicting future ESG reporting, APIs for utility data sources, and interfaces with third-party systems that house ESG data. Locus’s ESG solutions focus on “enter once, report to many.” enabling companies the efficiency of reporting to multiple organizations and numerous standards from a single dataset. Essential built-in reporting includes state or federal regulations and ESG based on standards, including CDP, GRI, SASB, TCFD, and many others.

                “Locus’s pioneering work in integrated ESG reporting and EHS compliance software is paying off. As one of the early SaaS leaders in net-zero digital solutions for ESG reporting, Locus continues to provide value to companies that want to be credible with their carbon reporting and sustainability software.” said Grant Ferrier, president of Environmental Business International Inc. (EBI), publisher of Environmental Business Journal.

                “With energy transition, climate resilience, and new federal programs driving business, as well as traditional environmental market drivers in infrastructure, air quality, remediation, water and wastewater it is understandable that companies that offer integrates SaaS platform like Locus has advantage.” added Ferrier.

                “As Locus continues to expand our EHS and ESG software we would like to thank EBJ for recognizing Locus again for a 17th consecutive year and for noting the new functionality and growing customer base we achieved in 2022. Locus will continue this trajectory into 2023 with new tools designed to simplify EHS and ESG management in our award-winning Locus software, which offers a single system of record and truth for our customers. Locus SaaS platform enables our customers to manage their carbon transactions and inventory with the same rigor, confidence, and transparency as their financial ones.” said Neno Duplan, the Founder and CEO of Locus Technologies.

                MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., 1 March 2022Locus Technologies, the leading EHS Compliance, and ESG software provider, today announced the industry-first visual calculation engine for ESG reporting. Locus’s visual calculation engine helps companies easily set up and view their entire ESG data collection and reporting program, enabling full transparency throughout the entire process.  Through an interactive branching interface, ESG professionals can quickly identify areas where to focus efforts to improve their ESG performance. Companies that set goals in line with the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) can use Locus’s ESG software to track progress to reach those goals in a transparent and credible manner. 

                Having a visual calculation engine reduces the burden, time, and potential inaccuracies associated with ESG reporting. The environmental portion of ESG reports includes complex calculations, factors, and numerous data inputs. The visual calculation engine goes beyond GHG (Greenhouse Gas) and addresses any calculations that are part of ESG reporting such as waste generation, resources, and water consumption. Through the visual hierarchical tree, companies can easily get to the sources of any raw data, factors, and formulas used to generate reported ESG metrics. 

                With an increased focus on ESG reporting and transparency, ensuring accurate reporting is more important than ever. Locus’s award-winning ESG data tracking, analysis, reporting, and visualization software aims at helping organizations plan, implement, and accelerate net-zero strategies. Choosing the right calculation engine plays a crucial part in remaining compliant with rapidly evolving requirements and regulations. In the US, the SEC’s proposed rules expected this year will likely require public companies to report emissions from their operations, energy usage, and resources they consume. The SEC requirements are being driven by the fact that many investors are considering ESG disclosures in their investment decisions. With those requirements, there is an expectation that these reports will be subject to some form of auditing to ensure accuracy.  Locus’ accredited GHG verifier designed the visual calculation engine to support this impending requirement. It provides a single consolidated view of all input data, referenced factors, and calculations that went into the ESG report. Through the calculation engine, raw data can be traced back to the user input, integrated external database, utility API, supplier attestation, or any other data source. 

                Locus’s visual calculation engine supports simultaneous calculations using multiple methods so that users can input data once and report to federal, state, and voluntary reporting programs according to each proper protocol. Once raw data is in the Locus ESG app, reporting can be performed to several different reporting standards such as U.S. EPA Mandatory Reporting Rule, European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) or GRI, SASB, CDP, DJSI, GRESB, and DNSH.  

                “Locus’ visual calculation engine builds upon over a decade of experience performing verification of ESG data for many companies. Coupled with Locus SaaS Platform it provides all necessary tools to simplify data management, reporting, and visualization of necessary carbon and other calculations in real-time. It provides full transparency for calculations, which become part of an organization’s ESG reporting. As financial-grade audits are applied to ESG reporting, this becomes a critical feature for organizations needing a reliable ESG reporting tool.,” said Wes Hawthorne, President of Locus. 

                Environmental Business Journal (EBJ) recognized Locus for ESG software growth and innovation.

                MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., 24 February 2022 — Locus Technologies, the leading EHS Compliance and ESG software provider, was awarded a 16th consecutive award from Environmental Business Journal (EBJ) for growth and innovation in the field of Information Technology in the environmental software with particular focus on ESG.

                EBJ is a business research publication providing strategic business intelligence to the environmental industry. Locus received the 2021 EBJ Award for Information Technology by growing and innovating its unified EHS compliance and ESG software platform.

                In 2021 Locus took a leading market position in the fast-growing space of ESG software. Locus’s ESG SaaS covers carbon data aggregation via a powerful visual calculation engine, investor-grade emissions calculations audit capabilities, reporting to multiple standards from a single data set, integration APIs, dashboards, and carbon reduction goal setting and tracking. This separates Locus from competitors as customers demand integrated net-zero ESG software that supports investor-grade data in disclosure rules such as the EU’s corporate sustainability reporting directive, mandatory TCFD reporting, and anticipated SEC action on climate disclosures.

                In 2021 Locus continued to expand its ESG SaaS to include built-in business intelligence tools allowing for interactive, actionable insights into EHS and ESG data, forecasting tools to predict future ESG reporting, APIs linking to utility meters, and interfaces with other Locus and third-party systems that house ESG data. Locus’s ESG application is focused on “enter once, report many times.” The gold standard for multinational enterprises with many locations worldwide is to have a system configured to report to multiple organizations and many standards from a single dataset. Essential built-in reporting in the Locus ESG app includes state or federal regulations, internal CSR, and ESG based on whatever standard their organization adheres to, such as CDP, GRI, SASB, TCDF, or more recent World Economic Forum (WEF) attempt to standardize many voluntary standards.

                Locus also expanded its ESG consulting expertise by becoming the first and only software provider to offer accreditation services under new Oregon DEQ guidelines requiring third-party verification for GHG and CFP programs.

                Besides strong growth in ESG space, Locus also continues to lead the software for water quality management market with the addition of new SaaS customers in 2021, such as the City of Hillsboro, Oregon for water quality management and Westinghouse Electric Company for control of environmental and radionuclides data, cementing Locus’s market leader position in the space of nuclear facilities.

                “Locus’s investment in integrated carbon management software and EHS compliance is paying off. As one of the early SaaS leaders in net-zero digital solutions for ESG reporting, Locus continues to provide value to companies that want to be credible with their carbon reporting and sustainability software.,” said Grant Ferrier, president of Environmental Business International Inc. (EBI), publisher of Environmental Business Journal.

                “We would like to thank EBJ for recognizing Locus for a 16th consecutive year and for taking note of our industry-leading ESG software. We aim to continue expanding our software offerings to customers in 2022,” said Wes Hawthorne, President of Locus Technologies.

                Locus Technologies has received accreditation by Oregon DEQ for GHG and CFP verification services.

                MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., 21 December 2021 — Locus Technologies (Locus), industry leader in environmental compliance and ESG software, has been accredited by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to provide verification services for mandatory greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting and the Clean Fuels Program (CFP). Locus is the first of a select few to receive approval for verification services. 

                The accreditation allows Locus to provide verification services for GHG emissions reports, which are now mandatory for facilities in the State of Oregon. The verification team at Locus consists of experts in all reporting requirements. Locus’ in-house Lead Verifiers are certified in all reporting types, including air contamination stationary sources, electricity suppliers, fuel suppliers, natural gas suppliers, natural gas systems, and process emissions. Locus verifiers are also certified for all report types under the Oregon CFP. 

                The Oregon Environmental Quality Commission (EQC) updated their rules in May 2020 to enhance the data collection of Oregon’s greenhouse gas emissions. The adopted rules incorporate existing reporting and emissions accounting protocols into rule and improve the specificity of how emissions data are calculated, reported, and verified. The regulation requires mandatory reporting and verification of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by third-party verifiers like Locus, starting in 2022. 

                “Locus is proud to become an accredited GHG and CFP verification body for the state of Oregon, as we have been in California since the inception of that program. We are continually committed to staying informed on new and updated ESG reporting frameworks, which we accomplish first and foremost through domain expertise. Our field expertise and industry knowledge allow us to provide a vital service, while also further expanding on our ESG software to support these new reporting programs” said Wes Hawthorne, President of Locus. 

                Building on over a decade of GHG verification experience, Locus remains the only software provider for collecting, managing, and reporting GHG emissions that is also an accredited verifier. Using this expertise, the software includes unparalleled tools for transparent and auditable calculations for GHG programs.  

                The Locus ESG reporting application provides a comprehensive, integrated system for managing companies’ energy, water, and other sustainability metrics throughout their facilities worldwide.

                MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., 20 April 2021 — Locus Technologies (Locus), the leader in multi-tenant SaaS EHS compliance and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting software, introduces the new ESG reporting application on its award-winning Locus Platform. The new ESG reporting application is integrated with other Locus SaaS applications and calculation engine. It is built to redefine how companies organize, manage, and calculate their key performance indicators (KPIs), greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories, water, energy, and waste management.

                Today, organizations must measure and report their ESG performance for corporate social responsibility (CSR) and other initiatives. The transition from sustainability to ESG performance indicates a maturation of business practices and better definitions of KPIs. Most ESG metrics originate from EHS regulatory and voluntary reporting programs, but now include more precise measurements of a company’s performance, its impact on the environment, and the risk it carries for investors. As a result, companies need to improve the way they collect, track, and verify metrics for ESG reporting. The information feeding into the ESG reports must be accurately quantified, calculated, and supported. To address this industry challenge, Locus developed the new ESG reporting application on the versatile Locus Platform to unify EHS compliance and ESG reporting from a single set of data.

                The Locus ESG application was designed with input from auditors who understand the need for full transparency and documentation for this type of reporting. This resulted in an unparalleled set of software tools that enable rapid visualization of ESG trends, as well as the analytics and supporting data needed to improve organizational performance.

                The ESG application includes built-in support for many voluntary programs, including GRI, CDP, DJSI, SASB, GRESB, and DNSH. Within the greenhouse gas emissions segment, ESG reporting also includes more than 50 US EPA Mandatory Reporting Rule (MRR) subparts, state-specific reporting, eGRID, and other calculation protocols such as The Climate Registry and the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. Similarly, multiple reporting and calculation protocols exist for water, waste, social, and governance metrics. Locus can handle all related calculations and reporting requirements in one application, with all the required documentation.

                “For over 20 years, Locus has led the industry with applications to simplify data management and reporting for water, air, energy, waste, and health and safety, with tools capable of handling these entire processes from start to finish,” said Wes Hawthorne, President of Locus.

                “The ESG application builds on this functionality and provides full transparency for these metrics, which ultimately become part of an organization’s ESG reporting. As the importance of ESG reporting continues to rise, Locus customers benefit from having all their supporting documentation and calculations assembled and audit-ready.”