How do I calculate the carbon footprint of a CCTV camera?
Most of the footprint is in bought-in electronics: use supplier figures for the image sensor board, lens and housing. Add surface mount and assembly energy, then divide the plant's energy by cameras made.
Bought-in parts
- Image sensor, processor board and IR LEDs.
- Lens assembly.
- Plastic or aluminium housing, cable and bracket.
Making
- Surface mount assembly if done in-house.
- Camera assembly and focusing.
- Testing and packing.
Per camera
Report per camera by type, since a metal-bodied outdoor camera carries more housing than an indoor dome.
Worked example: plant energy per camera (one month)
- Electricity: 30,000 kWh x 0.710 = 21,300 kg CO2
- Cameras made: 40,000
- Plant total: 21,300 / 40,000 = 0.532 kg CO2 per camera
- Add boards, lens and housing for the full figure
Inputs are illustrative; use your own bills and production records.
What Senseible does here
Senseible reads the plant's electricity bills (CEA grid factor 0.710 kg CO2 per kWh, CO2 Baseline Database version 21.0) and fuel invoices (IPCC 2006 defaults) into a fingerprinted Scope 1 and 2 record, the plant-level input to a per-unit figure. Bought-in materials go to the supplier evidence trail; product reports are self-declared drafts.
- Product carbon footprint calculator
- PCB assembly footprint
- Aluminium die casting footprint
- Automobile industry
Sources: GHG Protocol Product Standard, ISO 14067:2018, Carbon footprint of products (iso.org), IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Volume 2 Energy (fuel defaults), CEA CO2 Baseline Database, version 21.0
Last reviewed 2026-10-21.