Our lease says the landlord runs the building and our rent includes power: can we leave that electricity out of our carbon report?
Not by default. For a tenant using the operational control approach, the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Scope 2 Guidance says all leases confer operational control to the tenant unless otherwise noted, so energy it acquires is Scope 2. A tenant that can demonstrate it does not exercise operational control in its lease shall document and justify the exclusion.
The rule, in the guidance's words
- "All leases confer operational control to the lessee or tenants, unless otherwise noted."
- So a tenant that uses the operational control approach reports "any energy purchased or acquired from another entity (or the grid)" in Scope 2, and the guidance words it as "shall".
- "If a tenant can demonstrate that they do not exercise operational control in their lease, they shall document and justify the exclusion of these emissions."
- A footnote: where tenants do not pay for electricity individually, "this should not exempt tenants from reporting the emissions from that energy use".
What a documented exclusion needs
The guidance does not list the evidence. This is our suggestion for a file a verifier could follow.
- The lease clauses showing the landlord, not you, sets the operating hours, the air conditioning and the lighting.
- Who holds the meter and the electricity connection.
- A note of the approach you use, so the reader sees you apply operational control to every lease in the same way.
- Where the emissions go instead is your call and the Guidance does not say. Some firms use Category 8 (upstream leased assets), others Category 1 (purchased services) for a bundled service. Pick one, say which, and do not count it twice.
How it fits other pages here
A hot desk in a shared office is the usual case where the operator controls the space, and that page usually puts it in Category 8, or Category 1 for a bundled membership. A floor you rent and run yourself, with your own air conditioners, is the usual Scope 2 case. In between, the lease wording decides, and the burden to show it sits with the tenant.
If you cannot get a meter reading
Missing data is not a reason to drop the line. Our suggestion: ask for sub-meter readings, ask for your share of the building bill, or use an area and occupancy split and label it an estimate.
Two tenants in one building (example)
- Tenant A rents a floor, sets its own working hours and runs its own split air conditioners. Lease is silent on control. Operational control applies, so the floor's electricity is Scope 2.
- Tenant B has a desk pass. The lease says the operator sets hours, cooling and access. Tenant B writes down those clauses and reports its share in Scope 3 Category 8 or Category 1, with a note on the estimate.
Both cases are examples. The Scope 2 Guidance leaves the judgement to the facts of the lease.
What Senseible does here
Senseible reads fuel invoices and electricity bills into monthly records. If your lease gives you the control, upload your own electricity bills or the landlord's invoice with units, and Senseible keeps the monthly figure. It does not read your lease or decide who controls the space.
- Shared desks and coworking space
- Rented warehouse: Scope 2 or Scope 3
- Shop tenant in an airport
- Leased factory: which scope
- Free calculators
Sources: GHG Protocol Scope 2 Guidance, section 5.2.1 (leased assets) and endnote 2 of Chapter 5
Last reviewed 2026-11-06. Quotes are from section 5.2.1 of the Scope 2 Guidance. The evidence list is our suggestion. Some buyers set their own boundary rules; check theirs.