# How do I calculate the carbon footprint of steel scaffolding?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/steel-scaffolding-carbon-footprint-per-tonne

Start with the steel tubes and fittings per tonne of scaffolding and the steel supplier's figure. Add cutting, welding, galvanising or painting energy, then divide the plant's energy by tonnes dispatched.

## Material

- Steel tubes.
- Couplers, base plates and cup locks.
- Zinc or paint.

## Process

- Cutting and pressing.
- Welding cups and spigots.
- Galvanising or painting.

## Per tonne

Report per tonne by system type. Scaffolding is reused across many jobs, so a site can spread the figure over its life.

## Worked example: plant energy per tonne (one month)

- Electricity: 100,000 kWh x 0.710 = 71,000 kg CO2
- PNG: 10,000 SCM x 2.05 = 20,500 kg CO2
- Tonnes dispatched: 2,000
- Plant total: 91,500 / 2,000 = 45.8 kg CO2 per tonne
- Add steel tube and zinc 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)
- [ERW steel pipe footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/erw-steel-pipe-carbon-footprint-per-tonne)
- [Hot-dip galvanizing footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/hot-dip-galvanizing-carbon-footprint-per-tonne)
- [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 2026-10-21.