I have 160 franchise outlets and cannot get data from all. How does the Greenhouse Gas Protocol say to sample and scale up for Category 14?

Group franchises with similar expected emissions intensity, such as by country, building type, floor space or turnover. In each group, divide the total emissions of the sampled franchises by the number sampled, multiply by the number of franchises in the group, then add the groups. The Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol gives this as formula 14.3.

Grouping ideas the guide lists

The guide says the grouping should put together franchises with similar anticipated emissions intensities. The list is not exhaustive.

• Location, for example country, particularly where electricity factors differ a lot.
• Building type: free-standing, leased shop space in a shopping centre, or a shop-front at the base of a larger building.
• Floor space.
• Financial turnover.
• Product volume.
• Customer numbers.
• Distinctive characteristics, such as gyms with saunas or hotels with pools.

The two steps

For a sampled franchise in a shared building with no sub-meter, the guide says to use formula 14.2 first: its floor area divided by the product of the building's total area and the building's occupancy rate (for example 0.75), times the building's total energy use.

1. Within each group: total emissions of the sampled franchises, divided by the number of franchises sampled, times the total number of franchises in the group.
2. Across groups: add the Scope 1 and 2 emissions of every group.

What can go wrong (our reading)

• A group with one sampled outlet scales that outlet's quirks to the whole group. Sample more than one where you can.
• Mixing big and small outlets in one group makes the average meaningless. Split by floor space or turnover first.
• Say in your method note how many outlets were sampled and how many were scaled.

A 160-outlet network in three groups, with example numbers

• Mall kiosks: 40 outlets, 5 sampled, sampled total 500 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). 500 / 5 x 40 = 4,000 tonnes
• High-street shops: 100 outlets, 8 sampled, sampled total 240 tonnes. 240 / 8 x 100 = 3,000 tonnes
• Highway outlets with kitchens: 20 outlets, 4 sampled, sampled total 360 tonnes. 360 / 4 x 20 = 1,800 tonnes
• Network: 4,000 + 3,000 + 1,800 = 8,800 tonnes CO2e from 40 + 100 + 20 = 160 outlets, with 17 outlets measured

The outlet counts and tonnes are our example numbers. Only the formula and the grouping ideas come from the guide.

What Senseible does here

Senseible reads fuel invoices and electricity bills into monthly records, which covers your own Scope 1 and 2. It does not collect franchisee data or sample outlets for you.

• Collecting franchisee energy data for Category 14
• Category 14 from floor space alone
• Sampling methods for Scope 3
• Floor share with an occupancy rate

Sources: Greenhouse Gas Protocol Technical Guidance for Calculating Scope 3 Emissions, Category 14 (Calculation formulas 14.2 and 14.3, "Using Samples")

Last reviewed 2026-11-05. Formula 14.3 was read from the guide's page, where the sampled total is divided by the number sampled and multiplied by the group size.