How do I calculate emissions per kg of linen in a hotel's own laundry?
Add the laundry's steam or boiler fuel, washer, dryer and ironer electricity at 0.710 kg CO2 per kWh, and any LPG for dryers, then divide by kg of linen washed. A sub-meter or the boiler log shows the laundry's share of hotel energy.
What to count
- Boiler fuel for steam or hot water used by the laundry.
- Electricity for washer extractors, tumble dryers and the flatwork ironer.
- LPG or gas if dryers burn it directly.
Getting the laundry share
Use a sub-meter where one exists. Otherwise share boiler fuel by steam demand and label the split an estimate in your method note.
Per kg
Report per kg of linen washed, from the laundry's weighing log. Outsourced laundry is Scope 3 instead.
Worked example: hotel laundry (one month, illustrative inputs)
- PNG: 1,200 scm x 2.05 = 2,460 kg CO2
- Electricity: 6,000 kWh x 0.710 = 4,260 kg CO2
- LPG: 150 kg x 2.98 = 447 kg CO2
- Kg of linen washed: 30,000
- Total: 7,167 / 30,000 = 0.239 kg CO2 per kg of linen
Inputs are illustrative; use the laundry sub-meter or boiler log.
What Senseible does here
Senseible reads electricity bills (CEA grid factor 0.710 kg CO2 per kWh, CO2 Baseline Database version 21.0) and diesel, LPG and gas invoices (IPCC 2006 defaults) into a dated, fingerprinted Scope 1 and 2 record for each site. Intensity per unit uses the activity count you enter, and estimates are labelled as estimates.
Sources: GHG Protocol Corporate Standard, CEA CO2 Baseline Database, version 21.0, IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Volume 2 Energy (fuel defaults)
Last reviewed 2026-10-21.