Equipment > Equipment you own > Heavy equipment

You produce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from this activity if your organization owns gas-powered heavy equipment. Heavy equipment are tools that run on fuel and stay on the ground while they’re in use. This is a Scope 1 (direct) emission.

Note: If your equipment is mostly used to transport goods or people, you’ll need to add the activity to your inventory as Transporting goods or Transporting people instead.

Enter data about your heavy equipment into Climate Smart to calculate the emissions from your inventory period.

On this page:

• Examples of emission sources
• Prepare the data you need
  • Option 1: Actual consumption (most accurate)
  • Option 2: Estimate by cost (least accurate)
• Find your emissions data
• Enter data into your inventory

Examples of emission sources

Not sure if you should report this emission source? Common types of heavy equipment are:

• Forklift
• Boom truck
• Sweeper
• ATV
• Printing press

Prepare the data you need

To get your emissions data ready for Climate Smart, choose one of the following options based on the information that’s available to you. This will be the method you use to calculate the GHGs emitted by your organization’s activities.

Remember to collect information for the relevant inventory period.

Option 1: Actual consumption (most accurate)

You’ll get the most accurate results if you enter the actual amount of fuel your equipment used during the year. This means you’ll need to know:

• Amount of fuel consumed (litres or gallons)
• Fuel type (for example, gasoline or diesel)

Option 2: Estimate by cost (least accurate)

If you don’t know how much fuel you used during the year, but you know how much it cost, you can use this amount to estimate your emissions.

Find your emissions data

Not sure where to find the data you need? Try the following suggestions:

Ask your accounting department

Your accounting department might already have the information you need! Ask your accounting team about collecting data for your emissions inventory.

Get a report from your building maintenance team or contractor

Your building maintenance team or contractor might be able to give you a report with the amount of fuel used per hour for your equipment. 

Check fuel monitors

Some large types of equipment have fuel consumption monitors on the dashboard where you can check the amount of fuel used. Ask your equipment operator to provide the amount of fuel used and the size of the fuel tank. 

Enter data into your inventory

When you’re ready to track emissions from this activity, you can start entering the data you’ve collected into Climate Smart. 

Add this activity to your inventory

Before you can enter information about your emissions, you need to add this activity to your inventory. Learn how to add new activities to your inventory.

Add an entry to your inventory

To enter your data into Climate Smart:

1. Choose a calculation method based on the data you have:
   • If you have the amount of fuel you used during inventory period, select Actual Consumption and enter your information into Climate Smart.
   • If you need to estimate based on the cost of fuel, select Estimate by Cost and enter your information into Climate Smart.
2. Enter the start and end dates of the activity you’re measuring. These dates will usually match your inventory period.
3. Enter the cost of the fuel you purchased (including taxes). If you’re estimating the amount, select the checkbox next to Cost is estimate. Tell us if you paid in Canadian Dollars (CAD) or United States Dollars (USD) from Currency the drop-down list. 
4. Under Description, enter what the fuel was used for (for example, operating forklifts to move large objects at a warehouse).
5. In the Note box, enter optional information including any details that might be helpful for you (or your Climate Smart Advisor, if applicable) in the future.  
6. When you’re done, click ADD ENTRY. Your entry will appear in the table below.