Our clinic or office is in a building where the landlord runs a central boiler and rooftop solar and we pay one lump rent: do we report that heat and power?
Yes, under operational control. The Greenhouse Gas Protocol Scope 2 Guidance says an on-site boiler typically falls under the landlord's operational control, so tenants would report it as Scope 2, and the consumer of energy sold from on-site generation reports it in Scope 2 too. A lump rent with no separate bill does not remove it.
What the Scope 2 Guidance says
- "On-site heat generation equipment, such as a basement boiler, typically falls under the operational control of the landlord or building management company. Tenants therefore would report consumption of heat generated on-site as scope 2."
- For energy "produced within a multi-tenant leased building (by a central boiler, or on-site solar) and sold to individual tenants who do not own or operate the building or the equipment", section 5.4 adds that tenants "may pay for this energy as part of a lump rental cost and the tenant may not receive a separate bill".
- In these scenarios, "the company with operational or financial control of the energy generation facility would report these emissions in their scope 1, following the operational control approach", while "the consumer of the energy reports the emissions in scope 2".
- A footnote to Chapter 5, about electricity, says that where tenants do not pay for electricity individually, "this should not exempt tenants from reporting the emissions from that energy use".
Who reports what in your building
- Landlord or building manager, running the boiler: fuel burnt is its Scope 1 under operational control.
- You, the tenant: the heat or power you consume is your Scope 2.
- If the solar array is owned and run by a third party on the roof, the guidance says only the equipment operator reports the generation in Scope 1 under operational control. Your use of that power is still Scope 2.
Getting a number when there is no bill
The guidance says that where consumption occurs in a shared space without metering, estimates may be used, and gives the Area Method for electricity: allocate the whole building's electricity "on the basis of the reporter's square footage and the building's occupancy rate". The same area and occupancy split for boiler fuel is our extension, not a rule in the guidance. Label it an estimate and replace it when the landlord gives you metered heat.
- Ask for the boiler fuel bought in the year and the total area it serves.
- Ask whether there is a heat meter or a hot water meter on your floor.
- Keep the landlord's reply with your records.
Diagnostic centre on two floors (example figures)
- Building boiler fuel for the year: 12,000 litres of diesel (example).
- Your area 600 square metres in a building of 6,000 square metres, 75 percent occupied: 600 / (6,000 x 0.75) = 600 / 4,500 = 0.1333
- Your litres: 12,000 x 0.1333 = 1,600 litres
- Emissions: 1,600 x 2.645 kilograms (kg) of carbon dioxide (CO2) per litre = 4,232 kg CO2, reported as an estimate
The area and occupancy split applied to boiler fuel is our extension of the guidance's electricity method. Use the fuel and factor your landlord actually runs.
What Senseible does here
Senseible reads fuel invoices and electricity bills into monthly records. Upload your own electricity bills for the space you rent. Heat from a landlord's boiler has no bill of yours to read, so Senseible cannot fill that line without figures from the landlord.
- Rent-inclusive power in an IT park
- Sub-metered power in a rented unit
- Solar on the roof run by a developer
- Free calculators
Last reviewed 2026-11-06. Quotes are from the Scope 2 Guidance. The area split for boiler fuel is our extension. Re-check if the Scope 2 Guidance is revised.