Custom emission factors for regulatory, compliance and Scope 3 reporting
Custom emission factors (EFs) — Reliable, bespoke EFs to calculate the footprint of your product or service
Built for your value chain. Not borrowed from someone else’s.
What are custom emission factors?
Custom emission factors are bespoke values developed for your specific operations, replacing the generic industry averages that most carbon accounting relies on. They reflect your actual materials, products, processes, components or activities of a standard unit of measure — so your emissions data tells the truth about your business, not an approximation of your sector.
Lifecycles specialises in building high-quality, customised emission factor datasets grounded in rigorous life cycle assessment. Not generic outputs. Not one-size-fits-all. Not one-off assessments. Data that stands up to scrutiny from auditors, regulators, and investors. To be used for longer-term use to support better decision making.
Why this matters now?
Scope 3 emissions are shifting from voluntary to mandatory. AASB S2, the EU's CSRD, SBTi and the ISSB's global baseline (IFRS S2) are all converging on the same requirement: granular, defensible emissions data across the value chain.
These frameworks may not apply to your organisation directly — but your customers' frameworks might. Companies are increasingly required to align with supply chain partners' emission reduction targets, and generic industry averages are no longer enough to satisfy auditors, investors or procurement teams.
The common thread: accurate emissions data is becoming a commercial and regulatory necessity. Organisations that rely on generic data are increasingly exposed.
Emission factor development
The right emission factor approach depends on data availability, materiality and your reporting requirements. We work across three tiers — each suited to different stages of your Scope 3 program.
Spend-based factorsSpend-based emission factors A top-down approach that calculates emissions per dollar spent (kg CO₂e/$AUD), based on economic sector and region. Derived from EXIOBASE, spend-based factors are a practical starting point for mapping Scope 3 categories where activity data isn't yet available — giving you coverage across your full procurement profile while you build toward more granular data.
Australian life cycle inventoryProcess-based emission factorsThe bottom-up approach. Our consultants model emissions from first principles using LCA methodology, calculating emissions per physical unit of a product or activity. These factors are drawn from AusLCI — Australia's national life cycle inventory database — for local datasets, or ecoinvent for global supply chain activities. Process-based factors deliver the accuracy and specificity that regulatory frameworks like AASB S2, CSRD and SBTi increasingly require.
International life cycle inventorySupplier-specific emission factorsDerived from primary data provided directly by your suppliers — actual materials, energy inputs and production processes rather than industry averages. Supplier-specific factors reflect what's happening in your supply chain rather than what's typical across a sector, and are particularly valuable for high-impact categories where the gap between your suppliers and industry averages is likely to be significant.
How we build your custom emission factors
Step 1: Scope and prioritise
Scope and prioritise We confirm the products, processes or supply chain activities to be covered, identify which reporting frameworks the data needs to serve (AASB S2, CSRD, SBTi, Climate Active, CBAM), and prioritise categories based on materiality and data availability.
Step 2: Data collection
We work with your operations and supply chain to gather primary data — filling gaps with AusLCI, ecoinvent or supplier-specific inputs. For Scope 3 programs, this often includes structured supplier engagement to move high-impact categories from spend-based to activity-based or supplier-specific factors.
Step 3: Modelling
We build your emission factors in SimaPro using ISO 14040/44-compliant methodology, drawing on AusLCI and ecoinvent as the underlying LCI databases. Every factor is traceable back to its data sources and calculation assumptions.
Step 4: Documentation and delivery
You receive the emission factors, the calculation file, a methodology statement, and — where required — documentation ready for critical review, audit or third-party verification. The dataset is built as a repeatable system so it can be maintained and updated as your business evolves, without starting from scratch each reporting cycle.
Where custom emission factors are used
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(Australian Sustainability Reporting Standards) — Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions for mandatory climate-related disclosure.
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The EU’s corporate sustainability reporting regime, including Scope 3 value chain emissions.
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Target-setting and progress reporting against validated science-based targets.
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Carbon neutral certification for organisations, products and services.
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Environmental Product Declarations (ISO 14025 / EN 15804) and Product Carbon Footprints (ISO 14067).
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Green Star, ISCA IS Rating, Responsible Wool Standard, Textile Exchange, and similar.
FAQs
What's the difference between custom and generic emission factors?
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Generic emission factors are sector-wide averages — a broad approximation of emissions for a given activity or material, regardless of where, how, or by whom it was produced. They’re useful as a starting point, but they don’t reflect your supply chain, your geography, or your production processes. Custom emission factors are developed for your organisation using primary data and ISO-compliant LCA methodology. They capture the actual emissions profile of your operations and value chain — which means more accurate reporting, more credible disclosures, and stronger positioning with customers, auditors and regulators.
Key benefits include:
Higher-quality data grounded in primary inputs, not broad averages
Flexibility to adapt datasets across different products, markets, and reporting needs
Standards alignment with relevant carbon and LCA frameworks
Maintainable datasets with full IP ownership retained by your organisation
Traceability through transparent, referenceable data and clear audit trails
Cost-effective alternative to EPDs for many reporting & disclosure use cases
What regulations are driving demand for custom emission factors?
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Several frameworks are converging on the same requirement — high-quality, granular Scope 3 data:
AASB S2 — Australia's first mandatory climate-related disclosure standard, effective January 2025. Reporting is phased across three tranches by entity size. Scope 3 reporting is required from the second year for each tranche (from 30 June 2027 for the first group) and will be subject to independent assurance.
CSRD — the EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive requires in-scope companies to report Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. European value chain partners will require emissions data from their suppliers — including Australian businesses — to meet their own CSRD obligations.
SBTi — requires validated emissions reduction targets with mandatory five-year reviews. Scope 3 targets are required when value chain emissions exceed 40% of total — which applies to most organisations.
ISSB / IFRS S2 — launched in 2023 as a global baseline for climate-related reporting, now adopted by Australia (AASB S2), Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Canada and others. The UK, China and Qatar are in the process of adopting. The direction is clear: increased scrutiny of value chain emissions globally.
Can LCA-based emission factors be used directly for CBAM?
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Not directly. The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism has its own prescribed methodology — product-based, calculated per tonne of goods at the Combined Nomenclature (CN) code level, with specific rules for direct and indirect emissions (Annex IV of the CBAM Regulation). Data must be verified by an accredited CBAM verifier. An LCA, EPD or Product Carbon Footprint does not satisfy CBAM reporting by itself.
What an LCA does do is build the foundation a CBAM declaration needs: primary activity data, supplier engagement, documented calculation rules, and governance that stands up to third-party verification. Once that foundation exists, adapting to CBAM’s specific boundaries and templates is a much smaller lift. The commercial payoff is material: supplying importers with verified actual values instead of EU default values, which are set deliberately conservatively and become progressively more expensive through 2026–2028.
What are the benefits for developing a custom dataset?
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Four benefits. Accuracy — your emissions reporting reflects what’s actually happening in your operations, not an industry average. Cost — under schemes like CBAM, default values are set conservatively, so verified actual data from custom factors typically results in lower certificate exposure. Credibility — CSRD disclosures, Climate Active claims and SBTi target submissions backed by bespoke, ISO-compliant datasets carry more weight with auditors, investors and regulators than those built on generic factors. And ongoing capability — we build datasets as part of a repeatable system (using SimaPro, AusLCI and ecoinvent) so your data can be maintained internally as your business evolves, rather than requiring a fresh consulting engagement each reporting cycle.
What standards do your datasets align to?
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All datasets are developed in line with ISO 14040/44 (the international standards for life cycle assessment) and are compatible with the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard and Scope 3 Standard. Where relevant we align to ISO 14067 (product carbon footprint), ISO 14025 and EN 15804 (EPDs), and sector-specific Product Category Rules (PCRs). This alignment is what makes the data usable across AASB S2, CSRD, SBTi, Climate Active and supplier engagement for CBAM.
How does a custom emission factor project typically run?
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Most engagements follow four stages. Scope — we agree the product, process or activity boundaries and identify the reporting framework(s) the data needs to serve. Data collection — we work with your operations and supply chain to gather primary data, filling gaps with AusLCI, ecoinvent or supplier-specific inputs. Modelling — we build the factors in SimaPro using ISO-compliant methodology. Documentation — you receive the factors, the calculation file, a methodology statement and, where required, a critical review ready for auditors or verifiers. Timelines range from four weeks for a single-product footprint to several months for a full Scope 3 dataset.
How do I get started?
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Reach us via our contact page or email — we aim to respond within one business day. Most engagements start with a 30-minute scoping call to confirm what data you need, which schemes it will be used for, and the fastest credible path to delivery.
What’s your pricing model?
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Flexible, based on project type and complexity. After an initial scoping conversation we’ll provide a transparent quote with no hidden costs. For organisations building ongoing capability, we also offer combined packages across SimaPro licensing, AusLCI access and training.
Built for your value chain. Not borrowed from someone else’s.
Ready to get started? Get in touch for a quote today.