Carbon Footprint Calculator.

Do you have any questions? FRED answers

• What is FRED?

  FRED (Footprint Reduction Tool) is a web-based application. With FRED you can calculate the Product Carbon Footpring (PCF) of products manufactured from any material in any production chain. You can also calculate the Company Carbon Footprint (CCF) in FRED. The calculation methods in FRED for the PCF and CCF are certified in accordance with the ISO EN DIN 14067 (PCF) and ISO EN DIN 14064-1 (CCF) standards

• When do I need FRED

  You need FRED when

  • your customer asks you for the PCF of products
  • you need to be able to determine a PCF or CCF as part of official requirements, the approval of public funding or from your financing partners
  • you want to use a PCF or CCF as a basis for projects to reduce CO₂ emissions

• How do I get FRED (3 steps to FRED)?

  • You attend one of the regular live demos (online)
  • You book a FRED demo license and test FRED free of charge for 14 days. Send any questions you may have to FRED by e-mail via info@fred-footprint.de
  • If you are convinced, book a FRED permanent license

• Which sectors are already using FRED?

  The industries in which FRED is used and for which specific FRED modules have been set up can be found here: https://www.fred-footprint.de/en/community/. FRED can also be used in many other sectors.

• How do I get started with FRED?

  Depending on the industry, FRED provides more or less data on specific emissions from materials, processes and other input data for a PCF or CCF calculation in a general or industry-specific database. However, you calculate a PCF or CCF that is as accurate as possible using data that you have recorded in your own production or that you have requested from your suppliers. As soon as this data is available, proceed as follows:

  • If you are logged in to FRED as an organization administrator (go to the user icon in the top right-hand corner and your current role will be displayed), you can enter the following data in the “Data management” menu.
  • For companies, there is also the “Calculator” role. Calculators can read but not change data provided by the administrator
  • Electricity / Gas
    Ask your electricity and gas supplier for the specific CO₂ emissions (i.e. in relation to the kWh of energy you purchase). For electricity, please not only ask about the CO₂ emissions that were generated during the conversion of the form of energy used (solar, wind, gas, coal, …) into electricity, but also ask about the “Scope 3” per kilowatt hour supplied. This value refers to the CO₂ emissions that your electricity supplier does not emit itself, but which were emitted by its suppliers. This value must also be included in the balance for electricity consumption for the manufacture of your products
  • Processes
    You will find “PCF processes” in the database. Here you can create a tree that branches up to a maximum of the third level, in which you can enter all your manufacturing processes in a nicely sorted order so that they can be found and selected quickly in the PCF calculation. The data record then contains the specific consumption values (e.g. electricity, compressed air, other auxiliary and operating materials, …) that are used in a particular process
  • Input material
    In FRED, “input material” refers to the material that is pushed through the process chain and processed from the delivered material to your finished product. The specific CO₂ emissions associated with the input material are best obtained from your suppliers

• How do I generate values for PCF processes?

  • Decide on a representative period in which a machine is operated in a typical way (e.g. a quarter without major vacation periods, but possibly also a whole year or even several years)
  • Determine (from energy management, as well as in cooperation with purchasing) how much energy the machine has consumed during this period
  • Determine (from logistics data) how many products this machine has produced in the selected period
  • Calculate the specific value “kWh/kg of product produced” and enter this value as a data record in the FRED database
  • Proceed in the same way to determine the consumption of operating and auxiliary materials, compressed air, etc.

• Who can see which data and how can they edit it?

  • The data you enter in FRED can only be seen by members of your organization
  • Only the organization administrator can enter and change company-specific data – users do not see the “Data management” menu at all, but can perform calculations based on the data created
  • Once data has been used in a PCF, it can no longer be edited. However, it is then possible to deactivate data so that existing PCFs continue to be calculated, but the data is no longer used in a new PCF
  • The files in the data management are marked by color, italics or strikethrough regarding their editability. What each form means is explained in the data management at the top of the screen

• Are there ERP connection options?

  If you use an ERP or a costing system in which your process chains, the masses used and other data relevant to costing are already available, you do not need to enter them into FRED again. With the help of your API, your control system can request PCFs from FRED via the Internet. Please contact prosimalys GmbH to obtain the API

• Data security?

  • The FRED server is operated in a professional and commercial data center in Germany, which meets all professional standards in terms of data security, access control, backup and reliability
  • The following principles apply to FRED’s internal data management:
    • The data is stored in a MySQL database that is configured so that it is only accessible via localhost.
    • In addition, the MySQL port (3306) is blocked via iptables
    • Within the application, the data is separated according to the organization of the logged-in user
    • Login is secured with username/password and (optional) 2FA tokens, all data is sent/encrypted via SSL

• Can FRED results be used for

  • EU Taxonomy?
    • The calculation of product and corporate carbon footprint plays a crucial role in classifying the sustainability of an industrial activity according to the EU Taxonomy Regulation. This enables investors to assess the sustainability of their investments. Some aspects of this are:
      • Climate neutrality: A central aspect of the EU Taxonomy is the contribution to climate neutrality. Both the Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) and the Corporate Carbon Footprint (CCF) provide information on the greenhouse gas emissions generated along the entire value chain of a product or company.
      • Transparency: Calculating these footprints creates transparency about the environmental impact of an activity. This enables companies to identify their emissions and take measures to reduce them.
      • Comparability: Standardized calculation methods make it possible to compare companies and products. Investors can thus better assess which companies are actually on a sustainable course.
    • What are the specific effects of PCF and CCF?
      • Classification as sustainable: Companies with a low PCF and CCF have a better chance of being classified as sustainable.
      • Identification of hotspots: The calculations help to identify emission-intensive areas in the value chain.
      • Setting targets for emission reductions: Companies can set specific targets for reducing their emissions and measure their progress.
      • Risk assessment: Investors can use the footprints to better assess the climate risk of companies.
    • What else should be considered?
      • Holistic view: The EU taxonomy takes into account not only greenhouse gas emissions, but also other environmental impacts. A low carbon footprint alone is not enough to be classified as sustainable.
      • Data quality: The accuracy of the calculations depends on the quality of the underlying data.
    • Conclusion:
      • The calculation of product and corporate carbon footprints is an indispensable tool for companies to assess and improve their sustainability. It helps to achieve the objectives of the EU Taxonomy Regulation and promote a more sustainable economy. FRED provides professional support for this calculation.
  • CBAM reports (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism of the EU to assess the CO₂ impact of imported goods)
    • Yes, FRED can be used to calculate PCF values for CBAM reporting
  • ESG reports
    • PCF and CCF results can be used in the relevant sections of ESG reports

• Does my customer accept FRED results?

  • The calculation methods in FRED are certified in accordance with ISO 14067 (PCF) and ISO 14064-1 (CCF). This is a very good basis for ensuring good acceptance by the recipient of the reports. In the automotive supply chain in particular, FRED is already known and recognized by many OEMs and system suppliers.
  • FRED is becoming the quasi-standard for the small and medium-sized supplier industry. To our knowledge, FRED is currently the most widely used tool for calculating PCF and CCF for components and systems. This also contributes to the acceptance of FRED calculation results, as the recipients know the quality of the results.