Utilidex’s Carbon Reduction Plan
Utilidex is an SME with approximately 30 employees with strong carbon credentials.
We are software as a service (SaaS) company that provides customers with a platform called the Energy.Hub that has tools to measure carbon foot-printing for scope 2 emissions for approximately 110,000 gas and power meters throughout the UK (United Kingdom). Our software is used to measure energy and carbon intensity per building size and type (in square meters) and monitor out of our hours consumption energy usage when everything should be turned down.
Our product is also used to for energy trading including the application of renewable energy guarantees of origin. The platform supports the importation of these volumes and rates in a billing platform as well as creating renewable energy statements and bills.
Utilidex is a member of the Tech Zero. Tech Zero is a group for tech companies committed to climate action. Tech Zero was started in the UK by a group of leading tech companies. It constitutes companies of all sizes from around the world making their Tech Zero commitments and taking action to reduce their emissions.
Utilidex’s goal is to reach net carbon zero by 2030. This includes both scope 1 and 2 emissions as well as scope 3 where our suppliers will apply environmental measures to reduce their carbon footprint too. This has the full support of the Directors at Utilidex.
Scope 1 and 2 emissions
Our current status is that we do not incur scope 1 emissions, but we do incur scope 2 and 3 emissions, mainly from the offices we work from and approximately half of our employees work from home on a day-to-day basis (scope 3). We have on average an occupancy of 4.5 people per day.
In the UK we work at a co-working office space called Level 39 in Canary Wharf, London. This building has been supplied by green power since 2012 and is owned by the Canary Wharf Group who also have the identical aim to be net carbon zero by 2030. They also want to move from Band rating D to B within this time horizon.
Currently, we have one office in Delhi, India which like the UK office is a co-working space and is attended by up to 8 employees at any one time. We are reviewing the status as part of our CRP and looking for opportunities to reduce our scope 2 emissions and meet our zero-carbon target. We have made the working assumption for now that carbon emissions per employee is the equivalent to that in the UK.
Scope 3 emissions
Utilidex staff incur transportation emissions for getting to and from work. In the UK as we are based in London our employees go to and from work by public transport. Whilst all the team can work from home some choose to work from the office daily and incur transport emissions.
Where possible we encourage walking for those located nearby or taking local transport electric bus or rail. Part of our plan is to review this aspect of carbon either by exploring offsets or reviewing the carbon footprint of public transport. Currently, the of Office of Rail and Road, publish normalised emissions of carbon per passenger km. For 2021-2022, this is 47.49 g/CO2e. This means we are using approx. 0.5 tonnes of carbon emissions for our transportation.
With regards to business travel including travelling to northwest Europe and Scotland it is the company’s policy to encourage rail travel. In 2022, there was one exception where we took a two person flight.
For those working from home we will look to review the carbon footprint incurred and if they live in non-rented accommodation review if they have green energy supply and if we can support the process to move to clean energy.
We think our average employee incurs about 9 tonnes of a carbon per year, the equivalent could be offset for a fee of £18 a month through a voluntary carbon scheme. We will also explore if there are carbon reduction opportunities which Utilidex can assist with that reduces our employees carbon footprint.
Scope 3 Supply chain
Our principal supplier is Microsoft who have made a commitment to be negative carbon emissions by 2030. Also, we have approximately eight additional suppliers ranging from Aviva, Google and external consultants supporting Info Security and Audits. From 2023, we will review their respective carbon footprints to understand their CRP.
The table below outlines the current annual carbon emissions for employees in the UK and India.
| Emission type | Activity | No. of FTE impacted | Annual CO2 equivalent |
| Scope 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Scope 2 | Work in office (including business travel) | 12.5 | 55 tonnes* |
| Scope 3 | Working from home, traveling to work, and employees emissions outside of working hours (i.e. meals, lifestyle, and domestic energy supply) | 28 | 250.5 tonnes |
*Indian carbon footprint is estimated with a small reduction of 5 tonnes
Our Plan for 2023-2024
In 2023-24 we will undertake a deeper audit of our current carbon footprint and identify a number of quick wins that lower carbon emissions at low cost.
| Emission Type | Activity | Remediation |
| Scope 1 | NA | |
| Scope 2 |
1. Review carbon footprint for the office in India as the team is back at work 2. Asses UK carbon footprint and understand more precisely where carbon footprint has incurred |
Create an action plan to reduce carbon emissions for “business as usual” activities. |
| Scope 3 |
1. Review latest statistics on transportation carbon footprint and work from home to assign more precisely carbon footprint per employee 2. Review and mandate CRP for supply chain |
Collect data and review options to offset or reduce carbon footprint for scope 3. |
Our plan beyond 2023
It appears that if we remain at Level 39 in Canary Wharf and continue to utilise Microsoft as a supplier a large part of scope 2 and our supply chain will be carbon zero or negative by 2030. That said there are other aspects which we should review alongside basic carbon offsetting. We are conscious that as we grow so might our carbon footprint and supply chain. So as part of our commitment in 2023-24 and beyond we will start investing in direct carbon footprint reduction and measure these improvements by employee year on year.
Declaration
Declaration and Sign Off This Carbon Reduction Plan has been completed in accordance with PPN 06/21 and associated guidance and reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans.
Emissions have been reported and recorded in accordance with the published reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans and the GHG (greenhouse gases) Reporting Protocol.
Utilidex Directors
Date: 26th February 2023
