# How do I calculate the carbon footprint of an LT electrical panel?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/lt-panel-board-carbon-footprint-per-panel

Weigh the sheet steel enclosure, copper or aluminium busbars and the bought-in breakers, meters and cables per panel, and multiply each by its supplier figure. Add cutting, bending, powder coating and wiring energy, divided by panels built.

## Bought-in parts

- Sheet steel for the enclosure.
- Copper or aluminium busbars.
- Breakers, contactors, meters, relays and cables.

## Making

- CNC punching, bending and welding.
- Pretreatment and powder coating.
- Busbar fabrication, wiring and high voltage testing.

## Per panel

Report per panel with its rating and enclosure weight, since panels range from a small distribution board to a large main panel.

## Worked example: LT panel unit per panel (one month)

- Electricity: 15,000 kWh x 0.710 = 10,650 kg CO2
- PNG: 1,500 SCM x 2.05 = 3,075 kg CO2
- Panels produced: 120
- Plant total: 13,725 / 120 = 114.4 kg CO2 per panel
- Add steel, busbars and switchgear 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)
- [MCB footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/mcb-circuit-breaker-carbon-footprint-per-piece)
- [Sheet metal stamping footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/sheet-metal-stamping-carbon-footprint-per-kg)
- [Copper cable footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/copper-cable-carbon-footprint-per-km)
- [Steel industry](https://senseible.earth/industries/steel)

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.