How do I calculate the carbon footprint of gypsum board per square metre?

Gypsum board needs heat twice: calcining the gypsum and drying the wet board. Divide the plant's fuel and electricity by square metres made, then add the facing paper and additives with supplier figures.

Materials

• Natural or FGD gypsum by weight.
• Facing paper on both sides.
• Starch, foam agents and fibre.

Process

• Calcining gypsum to stucco.
• Mixing and forming the board.
• Drying kiln, cutting and stacking.

Per sq m

Report per square metre by thickness. FGD gypsum from power plants replaces mined gypsum but the energy steps stay.

Worked example: gypsum board unit per sq m (one month)

• PNG: 150,000 SCM x 2.05 = 307,500 kg CO2
• Electricity: 80,000 kWh x 0.710 = 56,800 kg CO2
• Board made (sq m): 300,000
• Plant total: 364,300 / 300,000 = 1.214 kg CO2 per sq m
• Add gypsum, paper and additives 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.

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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 2026-10-20.