Help with assessment
Online assessment should take you through the process step by step but we know it helps to know what to expect.
Click on the following links for useful guidance:
Who is it for?
Online assessment is currently available for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with:
- An annual energy spend of approximately £50,000 or less
- Only UK-based emission sources
- 'Simple' emission sources: utilities, owned/leased vehicles, on-site fuel consumption
- Not covered under the government's new carbon trading scheme for large organisations - the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme
What to expect
- 1. Firstly, register and create an account
- 2. Once you are signed in, you can begin to input information about your organisation and your footprint (including details of your energy consumption)
- 3. Answer a series of questions about your carbon management policies and procedures, uploading evidence to support your responses
- 4. You can save your information and return to the tool at any time to continue with your assessment
- 5. Submit your assessment for initial review and pay your assessment fee - don't worry, you'll have the opportunity to revisit your responses if required
- 6. After final submission, you will be informed of the certification decision and, if successful, join our growing list of Standard Bearers!
You can download a short walkthrough of the online assessment process here.
If you have a question at any time during your assessment you can contact us any time.
Assessment criteria
To achieve the Carbon Trust Standard you will need to meet three criteria:
- 1. Provide an accurate footprint measurement including all required emission sources
- 2. Demonstrate an absolute reduction of your footprint (or equivalent relative efficiency improvement) over 2 years or a single year's footprint with evidence of implemented reduction project(s)
- 3. Demonstrate good carbon management to our standard including carbon governance, accounting, reduction methods and targets.
Useful documents and example evidence
The following documents may provide you with the necessary information to help you complete your submission. They may also provide the necessary evidence to support your application. Please note that this is not a definitive list; depending on the size and circumstance of your organisation, you may not have every one of these items or you may find that you have other items that are more compelling.
For a downloadable copy click here.
Key documents
- Annual energy consumption tracking spreadsheets or reports
- Monthly or annual utility meter readings (preferred)
- Monthly electricity bills
- Monthly gas bills
- Monthly vehicle records including either fuel consumption (preferred) or mileage
- A copy of your corporate low-carbon/energy/environmental policy
- Evidence of your carbon emission reduction projects implementation (photos, scopes of work, etc.)
- Sample training material from energy efficiency-focused courses or training sessions for staff, or evidence of attendance of conferences or seminars about the same
- Minutes of meetings or internal communications (e.g. emails) where you have discussed or actioned carbon/energy issues
Additional documents
- Energy/carbon reports or communication to a parent company or organisation
- Sample carbon footprint reports from carbon footprinting systems or software
- Analysis of product footprints and reduction actions
- Examples of low-carbon product development
- Examples of using organisational influence/marketing to educate and influence customers on low-carbon activities
- Examples of using organisational influence/purchasing to educate and influence suppliers on low-carbon activities
- Evidence of involvement in wider community on carbon/energy
- Examples of external stakeholder communication material relating to energy or carbon reduction
How much does it cost?
The assessment costs £500 and if you meet the criteria, the certification is valid for two years from the day after your submitted data set. Price excludes VAT and applies to the UK only.