The ERA Equipment CO2 Calculator (equipmentcalculator.org) is free to use and determines the carbon footprint of construction equipment over its entire lifecycle. Machines covered range from mini excavators and wheeled loaders to generators and access platforms.
The calculator has six steps, requiring basic information about the characteristics and use of a piece of equipment – equipment production, transportation, lifetime and utilisation, energy consumption, maintenance and end-of-life – and the users are guided through the process step-by-step.
The user information is combined with background data to estimate the carbon footprint of the equipment over its lifecycle, presenting a total carbon footprint per hour of use and a breakdown of the carbon footprint per parameter.
The calculations were developed by the independent research consultancy CE Delft, who first developed the tool for the ‘Carbon Footprint of Construction Equipment’ study released in 2019. The online tool was built by Alias, a digital services provider.
Development of the ERA Equipment CO2 Calculator follows on from the ERA TCO Calculator that came out last year to provide calculations for total cost of ownership.
ERA secretary general Michel Petitjean said: “The ERA Equipment CO2 Calculator is the first of its kind and a much-needed tool to help bring down emissions in the construction sector.
“By enabling equipment users to see the carbon footprint of their machinery for every hour of use, they can make the most environmentally sustainable choices when deciding whether to rent, lease or purchase equipment, evaluate areas for improvement and, ultimately, reduce their carbon footprint.”
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