Transparency

 
 

Details of GHG measurements and mitigation

*In compliance with California legislation AB1305, all methodology details for voluntary carbon offsets provided by Offset Alliance for business client and consumer programs, can be found by navigating to a carbon offset project’s respective registry, e.g. Verra, Climate Action Reserve, Gold Standard, UN CDM, American Carbon Registry, Canada CSA Details about specific voluntary carbon offsets used to mitigate benchmarked / measured Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions via Offset Alliance programs and offerings can be found via the program / offering page hosted on www.offsetalliance.co Details of permanent voluntary carbon offset retirements, including links to detailed project information, can be viewed at the bottom of this web page, except for retirements made on behalf of Offset Climate Certified® clients and Offset Partner program clients, which can be viewed from their respective landing page. Please contact us for more details if needed.

Offset Climate Certified®

Covers Scope 1, Scope 2, and the following Scope 3 emission categories, as defined by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol: Category 1: Purchased goods & services, Category 2: Capital goods, Category 3: Fuel & energy related activities, Category 4: Upstream transportation & distribution, Category 5: Waste from operations, Category 6: Business travel, Category 7: Employee commuting, Category 8: Leased assets (when applicable), Category 9: Downstream transportation & distribution, Category 13: Downstream leased assets. Uses a hybrid-operational approach, and leverages certifying company’s self-reported activity data for a specified time period (Jan 1-Dec 31 of a calendar year), and published emission factors from the United States EPA, UK DEFRA, UN ICAO (United Nations International Civil Aviation Organization) plus a Radiative Forcing factor of 1.9, and CHSB (Cornell Hotel Sustainability Benchmarking) index. Specific measurement results and up-to-date factors used are provided to certifying companies upon completion of annual certification. Offset Climate Certified® is NOT a claim of carbon neutrality or net zero emissions. Rather, it is a standard, streamlined benchmarking and mitigation of the most common operational emissions that result from running a service based business primarily in the United States. Public records of retired voluntary carbon offsets are available via each certifying company’s respective landing page, hosted on www.offsetalliance.co

Green Circle Salons Carbon Neutral Benefit 

Covers Scope 2 emissions (electricity purchased from grid). Uses a location based method, and applies specifically to Green Circle Salons’ furnished list of active member salons included in the “Carbon Neutral Benefit” program on an annual basis, throughout the United States and Canada. “Carbon Neutral Benefit” does NOT imply that a detailed emissions inventory has been performed on behalf of individual member salons. Rather, it leverages company’s self-reported physical addresses and estimated square feet areas of included member salons’ to benchmark estimated annual Scope 2 emissions, published energy intensity by facility type data from US Energy Star Portfolio Manager Energy Use Intensity (EUI)–leveraging Source Energy EUI factors, US EPA Power Profiler Zip Code Tool to identify which eGrid subregion a member salon should be assigned to, and grid-specific CO2e emissions intensity from energy generation data published by the US EPA eGrid and Canadian Government. Public records of retired voluntary carbon offsets are available via the Green Circle Salons Carbon Neutral Benefit program page, hosted on www.offsetalliance.co

Kayak Adventures Worldwide - Guest Flights Offset Program

Covers estimated air travel CO2 emissions per guest / passenger traveling round-trip from throughout the mainland United States to Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC). Uses guest / passenger selected geographic region starting point (West, Central, East)–which is an average calculated CO2 emission for a coach class commercial fare on a major air travel carrier, via common regional departure and transfer airports in each defined geographic region and leveraging the UN ICAO (United Nations International Civil Aviation Organization) Carbon Emissions Calculator plus a Radiative Forcing factor of 1.9. Public records of retired voluntary carbon offsets are available via the Kayak Adventures Worldwide Flight Offset program page, hosted on www.offsetalliance.co

Responsible Adventures - Company Flights Offset Program

Covers estimated air travel CO2 emissions per company reported air travel events (departure-arrival cities) for coach class commercial fares on major air travel carriers. Leverages the UN ICAO (United Nations International Civil Aviation Organization) Carbon Emissions Calculator plus a Radiative Forcing factor of 1.9 . Public records of retired voluntary carbon offsets are available via the Responsible Adventures program page, hosted on www.offsetalliance.co

Consumer Offerings (monthly climate action / gifts)

Covers the selected amount of verified GHG reduction as defined by the offering published on www.offsetalliance.co. Consumer offsets are “bundled” and retired in aggregate on their respective carbon registry. Public records of voluntary carbon offsets retired on behalf of consumers are available on this web page (below).

Events (Corporate, Leadership, etc.)

Covers the most relevant and accessible GHG (greenhouse gas) data for emissions related to hosting offsite events (e.g. customer / community gatherings, corporate retreats, board meetings / off sites)–including attendee round-trip air travel (commercial / coach class), ground travel via private auto or ride share, and hotel room night stays (standard room, single-occupancy), event space rental and support activities paid for by event host, food & beverage paid for by event host, and physical product give-aways paid for and provided by event host. Uses a hybrid-operational approach, leveraging event host’s self-reported activity data, and published emission factors from the United States EPA, UK DEFRA, UN ICAO (United Nations International Civil Aviation Organization) Carbon Emissions Calculator plus a Radiative Forcing factor of 1.9, and CHSB (Cornell Hotel Sustainability Benchmarking) index. Specific measurement results and up-to-date factors used are provided to the event host upon completion of event measurement and reporting. Public records of retired voluntary carbon offsets are available via event host’s respective landing page (when opted by event host to be included), hosted on www.offsetalliance.co

Voluntary Carbon Offset Credits

GHG reduction claims made through voluntary carbon offset projects are most credible when they are third-party verified against the world’s most rigorous and recognized GHG emissions reduction protocols, published and maintained by Verra, Climate Action Reserve, Gold Standard, UN CDM, American Carbon Registry, and the Canada CSA .

When making GHG reduction claims with voluntary carbon offset credits, they must be retired in their respective registry–meaning they are permanently removed and can not be claimed by anyone else for emissions reduction, including serial numbers. Some projects require a minimum number of offsets to be included in a retirement, which is why you will see gaps in retirement dates.

Voluntary carbon offset retirements completed by Offset Alliance:

(click project name for project details | click numbers for retirement details)