# How do I calculate the carbon footprint of aluminium composite panel per square metre?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/aluminium-composite-panel-carbon-footprint-per-sq-m

Weigh the two aluminium skins and the polyethylene or mineral core per square metre and multiply each by its supplier figure. Add coil coating, lamination and line energy, then divide the plant's energy by square metres dispatched.

## Material

- Aluminium coil for the two skins, by weight.
- Polyethylene or fire-rated mineral core.
- Paint, adhesive film and protective film.

## Process

- Coil coating and curing.
- Core extrusion and lamination.
- Cutting and packing.

## Per square metre

Report per square metre with skin thickness and core type. The aluminium skins usually carry most of the footprint.

## Worked example: ACP unit per sq m (one month)

- Electricity: 50,000 kWh x 0.710 = 35,500 kg CO2
- PNG: 8,000 SCM x 2.05 = 16,400 kg CO2
- Square metres dispatched: 100,000
- Plant total: 51,900 / 100,000 = 0.519 kg CO2 per sq m
- Add aluminium skins and core 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.

- [Product carbon footprint calculator](https://senseible.earth/calculators/product-carbon-footprint)
- [Aluminium sheet footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/aluminium-sheet-carbon-footprint-per-tonne)
- [Aluminium window footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/aluminium-window-carbon-footprint-per-sq-m)
- [Aluminium industry](https://senseible.earth/industries/aluminium)

Sources: [GHG Protocol Product Standard](https://ghgprotocol.org/standards), [ISO 14067:2018, Carbon footprint of products (iso.org)](https://www.iso.org), [IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Volume 2 Energy (fuel defaults)](https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/vol2.html), [CEA CO2 Baseline Database, version 21.0](https://cea.nic.in/cdm-co2-baseline-database/?lang=en)

Last reviewed 2026-10-20.