atmosfair is a German-based non-profit climate protection organisation with focus on emission offsetting which has a fun to use CO2 event calculator. The online-tool is available free of charge and takes into account event-related data on mobility, catering, accommodation, location and the transportation of goods.
It is most suitable for indoor events held in a single venue, based in Germany, and where the event owns all the GHGs and does not want to distinguish between stakeholder groups.
If data is missing, the calculator uses German statistical averages, so that a calculation is possible with just three basic event data.
mice.atmosfair.de/events | atmosfair.de
www.atmosfair.de/en/
www.atmosfair.de/en/corporate_services/co2-offset-events/
| ✅ | DEMO TOUR: provides insights into the atmosfair CO2-Eventcalculator before starting the initial calculation |
| ✅ | HELP: provides information on how to use the tool, FAQs about offsetting and an info e-mail address for personal support |
| ✅ | USERS: Create an account to overview current and past event calculations and be able to save, duplicate and edit calculations. |
| ✅ | CUSTOM CATEGORIES: The more detailed the data input, the more accurate the calculation. |
| ✅ | COMPARE: Save calculations to compare past and current events |
| ✅ | DASHBOARD: total GHGs are added up and displayed when ‘save and reload’ |
| ✅ | REPORTING: PDF-report lists calculated emissions |
| ✅ | REDUCTIONS: Guidelines for sustainable event planning provide guidance on how to reduce emissions during events |
| ✅ | EVENT TYPE: live/hybrid/digital |
| ✅ | ATTENDEES: Origin and number. Who event is aimed at: Local, Regional, National, International |
| ✅ | PARTICIPANTS: Number of participants (people involved with the event) |
| ✅ | STAFF DAYS: Number of organiser work days, supplier upstream and onsite work days. |
| ✅ Energy | ✅ Water | ✅ Waste | ✅ Transport | ❌ MHE & Site Vehicles |
| ❌ Materials | ✅ Food & Beverage | ✅ Travel | ✅ Accommodation | ❌ Digital |
| ✅ | GERMAN: Currently designed for German-based events as has German Emissions factors |
| ✅ | UPDATING: Going through an update to include more than Germany and additional measures |
| ❌ | STAKEHOLDERS: Does not distinguish between crew/staff/participants, versus event attendees |
| ✅ | REPORTING: PDF-report lists calculated emissions |
| ✅ | VENUE: Size and type of venue, including heating type and building age (to use for energy estimates) |
| ✅ | PARTICIPANTS: Number of participants (people involved with the event) |
| ✅ | DATES: Event dates or number of days |
…
| ✅ | ENERGY: Estimated on venue configuration |
| ✅ | ENERGY: Actual kWh usage measurement |
| ✅ | RENEWABLE ENERGY: Asks if this is used |
| ✅ | HEATING: Estimate or actual heating kWh |
| ❌ | ENERGY: Does not allow for fuel use in mobile power generators |
| ❌ | TRAVEL: Does not distinguish between crew/staff/participants, versus event attendees |
| ✅ | TRAVEL: Percentage of people by travel mode, using predefined distance groups, or enter actual distance as a custom entry |
| ✅ | FLIGHTS: Percentage of people, predefined distance group, or actual distance, class of travel |
| ✅ | ACCOMMODATION: Room nights, hotel star rating |
| ❌ | ACCOMMODATION: Does not distinguish between crew/staff/participants, versus event attendees |
| ✅ | TRANSPORT: Number of pallets, weight of pallet, distance transported. |
| ❌ | TRANSPORT: Does not allow choice of mode of transport |
| ❌ | MATERIALS: Not included |
| ✅ | F&B: Number of meals |
| ✅ | F&B: MEAL TYPE: Percentage Vegetarian |
| ❌ | F&B: BEVERAGES: Does not include beverages |
| ✅ | F&B: SUSTAINABILITY: Percentage local or organic |
| ✅ | WASTE: By weight of all waste waste |
| ✅ | WASTE: Does not distinguish between waste material types or processing option (e.g. recycling or composting) |
| ✅ | WATER: Consumption |
| ❌ | WASTE WATER: generated |
| ❌ | MHE: Plant, machinery, equipment |
| ❌ | DIGITAL: Websites, search engine queries, servers, virtual events |
If you want a quick and quite precise measurement, and are based in Germany, the atmosfair tool is terrific. atmosfair uses German emissions factors for hotel nights, public transport, and mains electricity. They are doing a considerable update over the next few months and I’ll include a review on their new features separately.
Venue: Within Venue, is entered Energy, Waste and Water. Waste is not distinguished between material type or end of life/processing.
Energy: This is done within the ‘venue’ master category. It has a complex approach to work out energy consumption estimates, which is helpful for those events with venues that won’t or can’t provide kWh. It asks building type and age, venue size, number of days used, what type of heating, and if renewable energy is used. You can also choose to input actual data (kWh). It doesn’t take into account the use of mobile power generators and the fuel these use.
Travel: The overall approach to travel measurement is to enter the percentage of people that travel by various mode of transport, plus choosing a distance category.
Accommodation: The tool asks for number of nights and people (accounting for more than one person in a room). It also includes the choice of hotel star rating.
