Alternative Fuels Data Center: Tools
The Alternative Fuels Data Center offers a large collection of helpful tools. These calculators, interactive maps, and data searches can assist fleets, fuel providers, and other transportation decision makers in their efforts to reduce petroleum use.
Building Energy Software Tools Directory
Hosted by IBPSA-USA, this directory has vendor-driven content and supports images, video, ratings, reviews, and search, sort, and filter functions.
Buildings Performance Database
Users can compare performance trends among similar buildings to identify and prioritize cost-saving energy efficiency improvements and assess the range of likely savings from these improvements. Registration required.
Calculating Environmental Costs, Benefits and Impacts
The flip side of the hidden costs and impacts of waste generation is the hidden benefits resulting from actions taken to improve the environmental performance of your facility. This page includes links to calculators which can help you determine the positive outcomes of pollution prevention measures. Use these results to motivate your fellow employees to maintain good practices at your facility and to inspire further actions. From the Maryland Dept. of Environment.
Campus Carbon Calculator
Track, analyze and reduce your campus's contribution to climate change. Includes a downloadable Excel spreadsheet and a web-based tool.
CAPE-OPEN to CAPE-OPEN Simulation Environment
COCO is a free-of-charge CAPE-OPEN compliant steady-state simulation environment consisting of several components, including COFE - the CAPE-OPEN Flowsheet Environment. COFE is an intuitive graphical user interface to chemical flowsheeting. It has sequential solution algorithm using automatic tear streams and displays properties of streams, deals with unit-conversion and provides plotting facilities. COFE flowsheets can be used as CAPE-OPEN unit operations; so you can use COFE Flowsheets as unit operation inside COFE (flowsheets in flowsheets) or inside other simulators.
Chemical Substitution Tools
Tools and guidance to support substitution are provided either by authorities, industry associations, by scientific bodies or NGO's. Guidance is general and does not go beyond basic principles of substitution. Tools supporting substitution are mostly focussed on taking one step after the other (e.g. decision criteria, assessment of alternatives, implementation planning).
ClearPath
ClearPath is an all-in-one suite of online tools to complete GHG inventories, forecasts, and climate action plans at the community-wide or government operations scale. It allows multiple users to collectively: develop baseline and subsequent inventories; track emissions progress over time; forecast multiple scenarios for future emissions; analyze benefits of emissions reduction measures; visualize alternative planning scenarios; receive guidance and training.
Compilation of Air Pollutant Emission Factors (AP-42)
AP-42, Compilation of Air Pollutant Emission Factors, has been published since 1972 as the primary compilation of EPA's emission factor information. It contains emission factors and process information for more than 200 air pollution source categories. A source category is a specific industry sector or group of similar emitting sources. The emission factors have been developed and compiled from source test data, material balance studies, and engineering estimates.
EIO-LCA: Free, Fast, Easy Life Cycle Assessment
The Economic Input-Output Life Cycle Assessment (EIO-LCA) method estimates the materials and energy resources required for, and the environmental emissions resulting from, activities in our economy. Results from using the EIO-LCA on-line tool provide guidance on the relative impacts of different types of products, materials, services, or industries with respect to resource use and emissions throughout the supply chain. Thus, the effect of producing an automobile would include not only the impacts at the final assembly facility, but also the impact from mining metal ores, making electronic parts, forming windows, etc. that are needed for parts to build the car.
Energy & Materials Flow and Cost Tracker (EMFACT)
EMFACT™ is a software tool designed to be used within companies for systematically tracking materials and energy use; releases, discharges, and wastes; and associated costs in ways that can create value for their business. The tool can provide a comprehensive picture of resource use and its relation to production and planning that can help improve both business and environmental performance.
Energy Star Portfolio Manager
Portfolio Manager is an interactive energy management tool that allows you to track and assess energy and water consumption across your entire portfolio of buildings in a secure online environment. Whether you own, manage, or hold properties for investment, Portfolio Manager can help you set investment priorities, identify under-performing buildings, verify efficiency improvements, and receive EPA recognition for superior energy performance.
Fieldprint Calculator
The Calculator is a free and confidential tool developed for corn, cotton, rice, wheat, potatoes and soybean growers. It allows growers to better understand and communicate how management choices affect overall sustainability performance and operational efficiency.
The Calculator estimates field level performance on the following sustainability indicators: Land Use; Conservation; Soil Carbon; Irrigation Water Use; Water Quality; Energy Use; and Greenhouse Gas Emissions.
GHG Inventory Guidance for Low Emitters
For most small businesses the majority of their GHG emissions will come from their purchased electricity and vehicles. For others, especially small manufacturers, additional emissions will result from use of refrigerants, waste gases, or onsite combustion. The three tools on this page are designed to help small businesses develop a corporate wide inventory and establish a plan to ensure GHG data consistency as they track progress towards reaching an emissions reduction goal.
Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator
Did you ever wonder what reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 1 million metric tons means in everyday terms? The greenhouse gas equivalencies calculator can help you understand just that, translating abstract measurements into concrete terms you can understand, such as "equivalent to avoiding the carbon dioxide emissions of more than 208,000 cars annually." This calculator may be useful in communicating your greenhouse gas reduction strategy, reduction targets, or other initiatives aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Greenhouse Gas Protocol
The Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) is the most widely used international accounting tool for government and business leaders to understand, quantify, and manage greenhouse gas emissions.
Greenhouse Gas Protocol Calculation Tools
These tools enable companies to develop comprehensive and reliable inventories of their GHG emissions. Each tool reflects best practice methods that have been extensively tested by industry experts. Every tool is comprised of an Excel workbook and a PDF guidance document. Each PDF provides step-by-step guidance on the use of a tool and should be consulted first. Most companies will need to apply more than one tool to cover their emissions.
P2 Calculators (EPA)
P2 Calculator spread sheets are designed to help measure the environmental and economic performance results of P2 activities. These calculators can demonstrate the unique multi-media perspective that P2 brings to reduce GHG reductions and cost savings. Archived training webinar also available.
Petroleum Reduction Planning Tool
This planning tool helps your vehicle fleet reduce petroleum consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Create a comprehensive plan for your fleet by using several savings methods. If your fleet includes multiple vehicle types, add more vehicles to each method.
Pollution Prevention and Assistance Tracker
This software application, built in Microsoft Access, contains sections for tracking program activities including: working one-on-one with clients (such as on-site visits and research); producing educational and outreach materials; sponsoring workshop/training events; responding to information requests; managing sector-based initiatives. The database application also tracks the outcomes associated with many of these program activities, including environmental, behavioral, and economic outcomes. Because each state's pollution prevention and compliance assistance program is somewhat different in the scope of its activities and its structure, the software can be customized so the programs can use only those components and the level of detail that suit their needs.
Re-nourish
The Re-nourish Project Calculator helps you minimize waste on any print project, reducing your environmental impact and saving your client money by using less paper.
Roof Savings Calculator (RSC)
The Roof Savings Calculator was developed as an industry-consensus roof savings calculator for commercial and residential buildings using whole-building energy simulations. It is built upon the DOE-2.1E engine for fast energy simulation and integrates AtticSim for advanced modeling of modern attic and cool roofing technologies. An annual simulation of hour-by-hour performance is calculated for the building properties provided based on weather data for the selected location. Annual energy savings reported are based upon heating and cooling loads and thus this calculator is only relevant to buildings with a heating and/or cooling unit.
Steam Calculators
There is often flexibility in the operational conditions and requirements of any steam system. In order to optimize performance, the impacts of potential adjustments need to be understood individually and collectively. The Properties and Equipment Calculators allow you to input the metrics of your system, generate a list of detailed system specific steam properties, and test a variety of adjustments on individual equipment. The accompanying Steam System Modeler allows you to create up to a 3-pressure-header basic model of your current steam system. A second model can then be created by adjusting a series of characteristics simulating technical or input changes. This allows you to see how each component and adjustment impacts the others and what changes may be most beneficial to increasing the overall efficiency and stability of the system. An interactive diagram is provided for each model and includes comprehensive steam properties and operational details for clarity and ease of use.
Superior Energy Performance
Facilities or organizations that achieve sustained excellence using their energy management systems (EnMS) may get certified to the Superior Energy Performance 50001™ (SEP 50001™) program and achieve elevated levels of DOE recognition.
Sustainable Apparel Coalition Higgs Index
The Higg Index 2.0 is a suite of sustainability assessment tools that anyone can get started with right away. These assessments, called modules, evaluate impacts through our three different lenses: Facility, Brand, and Product. We encourage companies to get started with whatever module(s) makes the most sense to them, and encourage them to branch out and use other Higg Index tools when appropriate. There is no requirement to use all of the modules.
Toxic Trends Mapper
This web map visually represents industrial air pollution information to citizens across the United States by mapping the relative risk from air pollution that industrial facilities pose to the human health of their communities and how those risks might change over time. Facility pollution information comes from the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI). TRI facilities are depicted as circles with colors that correlate to a risk screening value that is based on modeled output data from the EPA's Risk Screening Environmental Indicators (RSEI) model for assessing TRI data.
Waste Reduction Model (WARM)
EPA created the Waste Reduction Model (WARM) to help solid waste planners and organizations track and voluntarily report greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions from several different waste management practices. WARM is available both as a Web-based calculator and as a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet (284K WinZip archive). The Excel-based version of WARM offers more functionality than the Web-based calculator.
Data Observation Network for Earth (DataONE)
DataONE is a community driven program providing access to data across multiple member repositories, supporting enhanced search and discovery of Earth and environmental data. DataONE promotes best practices in data management through responsive educational resources and materials.
EarthCube
For nearly a decade, the EarthCube community has been transforming the conduct of geosciences research by developing and maintaining a well-connected and facile environment that improves access, sharing, visualization, and analysis of data and related resources.
Doing Industry Research: A Resource Guide
This Library of Congress guide is designed as a starting point for those looking to do research on industries. It includes links to U.S. Census Bureau data sets related to industry.
Learn About TRI in Your Community
Search box at the bottom of the TRI main page allows users to locate toxics information based on address, state, metro area, watershed, tribal land, or facility name.
National Centers for Environmental Information
NOAA OneStop can be used to search for any NOAA data with a metadata record. It is an interoperable tool designed to explore data from across scientific disciplines, formats, time periods, and locations. OneStop’s wide range of filtering options can pinpoint specific collections or granules that may not be discoverable in other mediums.
National Geothermal Data System
The National Geothermal Data System (NGDS) is a distributed data system providing access to information resources related to geothermal energy from a network of data providers. Data are contributed by academic researchers, private industry, and state and federal agencies.
North American Industry Classification System
The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is the standard used by Federal statistical agencies in classifying business establishments for the purpose of collecting, analyzing, and publishing statistical data related to the U.S. business economy.
Re3Data.org
Re3Data is a directory of research data repositories. Records include information on metadata and file format requirements as well as who can deposit and access data. There are currently 343 repositories described, and users can browse by subject or search by keyword. (DataBib recently merged with Re3Data.org to create a single directory.)
State of the Climate
The State of the Climate is a collection of monthly summaries recapping climate-related occurrences on both a global and national scale.
U.S. EPA Facility Level Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Data
FLIGHT provides information about greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from large facilities in the U.S. These facilities are required to report annual data about GHG emissions to EPA as part of the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP).
U.S. EPA Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program
EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program will help us better understand where greenhouse gas emissions are coming from and will improve our ability to make informed policy, business, and regulatory decisions. With EPA’s GHG data publication tool, you can review information quickly and easily by filtering GHG data in a variety of ways, including by facility, industry, location, or gas.
USGS Biodata Retrieval System
Provides access to aquatic bioassessment data (biological community and physical habitat data) collected by USGS scientists from stream ecosystems across the nation.
National Minerals Information Center
Statistics and information on the worldwide supply of, demand for, and flow of minerals and materials essential to the U.S. economy, the national security, and protection of the environment.
Water Quality Portal
The Water Quality Portal (WQP) is the premiere source of discrete water-quality data in the United States and beyond. This cooperative service integrates publicly available water-quality data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and over 400 state, federal, tribal, and local agencies.
Easel.ly
A WYSIWYG infographics development platform. Users can select from a set of "vhemes" -- fully developed and color-coordinated themes than can be edited to suit information -- or simply create their own from scratch using Easel.ly’s database of shapes and icons.
TRI is a database containing data on disposal or other releases of over 650 toxic chemicals from thousands of U.S. facilities and information about how facilities manage those chemicals through recycling, energy recovery, and treatment.
Exploring the Toxics Release Inventory’s Pollution Prevention (P2) Information: A New Resource and a P2 Provider’s Perspective
This webinar provides an overview of the pollution prevention and waste management data collected by the TRI Program and introduce participants to a new search tool that makes this information easy to access, visualize, and use. Additionally, participants will hear about the Minnesota Technical Assistance Program (MnTAP), how they use the TRI information, and how they plan to integrate the new pollution prevention tool into their outreach activities.Includes a link to the archived webinar; speaker slides; and a webinar transcript.
Pollution Prevention (P2) and TRI
Under the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 (PPA), TRI collects information to track industry progress in reducing waste generation and moving towards safer waste management alternatives. When providing this information, many facilities choose to describe the measures they have taken to prevent pollution and reduce the amount of toxic chemicals entering the environment. As a result, TRI serves as a tool for identifying effective environmental practices and highlighting pollution prevention successes.