New and improved CO2 Calculator from ERA

The European Rental Association (ERA) has released a new and improved Equipment CO2 Calculator, providing a comprehensive and easy-to-use tool ‎for making sustainable choices when using equipment.‎

The updated Equipment CO2 Calculator – version 2.0 – includes an ‎expanded scope, enhanced functionality and improved navigation to provide a more ‎comprehensive, easier to use and more practical tool for equipment stakeholders, including ‎rental companies, contractors, OEMs, public authorities and other equipment users.

What’s new

‎3 Calculators in 1: In addition to the original construction equipment calculator, there are now calculators for handheld tools and modular space, with the calculations ‎tailored to each category of equipment across the parameters of production, transportation, ‎lifetime and utilisation, energy consumption, maintenance and end-of-life. ‎

Single equipment and group calculations: The new version adds the option for group calculations for a ‎specific project, task or jobsite, or an entire equipment fleet. ‎Users can group all categories of equipment into a single calculation, with the results showing ‎the total carbon footprint for all the equipment.‎

This is on top of calculations of the carbon footprint of a single piece of equipment in a specific use ‎scenario (with the addition of handheld tools and modular space) in the original version.

Improved navigation: Users can navigate to the correct calculator by choosing the equipment type from 5 categories – ‘construction machines and equipment’, ‘powered ‎access, forklifts and telehandlers’, ‘power and temperature control’, ‘modular and sanitary space’ ‎and ‘smaller equipment and tools’. This provides an easy navigation and ‎better user experience.‎

Background

The Equipment CO2 Calculator was first released in January 2021 to enable equipment ‎stakeholders to determine the carbon footprint of construction equipment over a defined period of time or its entire ‎lifecycle, with the results providing an estimate of the CO2e emissions per hour of use.

It was ‎updated in March 2021 to enable comparisons between different user scenarios and include ‎alternative fuel choices. ‎

Version 2.0 of the Equipment CO2 Calculator remains an independent and free-to-use tool for ‎all equipment stakeholders to make more sustainable choices when using equipment.

It is ‎available at https://equipmentcalculator.org/. In ‎addition to being available in English, a further update will translate it into French, German, Italian, ‎Spanish and Dutch.‎

The calculations are provided by the independent research consultancy CE Delft, who first ‎developed the tool for the ‘Carbon Footprint of Construction Equipment’ study released in 2019, ‎and the online tool was built by Alias2k, a digital services provider. ‎