When you’re striving for net-zero, the most important emissions are the ones that don’t occur at all. But how do you measure them? 

Avoided emissions refer to reductions in greenhouse gas emissions that occur outside a product’s life cycle or value chain but are a direct result of its use. Currently, there is no international standard or consistent terminology to define or describe avoided emissions.

In 2019, the World Resources Institute (WRI) published a detailed working paper and neutral framework to help estimate and report the comparative emission impacts of products. This guidance is available on the GHG Protocol website (www.ghgprotocol.org).

Following the WRI recommendations, Recticel calculated its avoided emissions using the attributional Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach. This well-established method assesses the environmental impacts of a product or service throughout its entire life cycle, from raw material extraction to end-of-life disposal.

To determine the avoided emissions from all products sold in 2024, we used the framework outlined below. PwC has provided limited assurance over the methodology and calculations performed.

For a fair comparison with other companies reporting avoided emissions, it is important to highlight that the full scope of our insulation activities was included, along with all associated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (scopes 1, 2, 3), as recommended by the WRI. This approach considers more than just emissions from our own operations.

We encourage the building materials industry to adopt this methodology and use the attributional LCA approach to ensure consistency and transparency.
 

The table below summarizes the 2024 parameters made for the calculation of the avoided emissions.

Assumptions

Our calculation considered only natural gas as the energy source. We also assumed that insulation would be installed in cases where none previously existed.

* Excl. Cat. 3.15, Investments