Environmental Benefits Calculator – Calculations and References

This page describes the calculations used to convert greenhouse gas emission numbers into different types of equivalent units. Go to the environmental benefits calculator page for more information.

Calculation

1. To determine the GHG equivalencies, multiply the number of each equipment type by its corresponding conversion factor (Table 1) and sum the total.

   SUM(#units per appliance type ×conversion factor)

2. Multiply the total by each of the GHG equivalencies (Table 2).

   SUM(#units per appliance type ×conversion factor)×GHG equivalency

3. Example:

   SUM((2 refrigerators ×0.916888889788373),(1 dehumidfier×0.245857952009465)) × 38 = 79.02 incandescent lamps switched to LEDs

Table 1. Conversion Factors by Equipment Type (MTCO2eq)

These factors represent the number of metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent saved by disposing of 1 unit of each specified equipment type using best environmental practices as defined by the RAD program. These factors were calculated based on:

• Estimates for the quantity of substances recovered (i.e., refrigerants, foam blowing agents, and durable materials) from each appliance type, based on the lower bound of expected quantities reported by RAD partners during the 2018 reporting year.
• Global warming potentials from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fourth Assessment Report for refrigerants and foam blowing agents.
  • Source: IPCC, 2007: Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Solomon, S., D. Qin, M. Manning, Z. Chen, M. Marquis, K.B. Averyt, M. Tignor and H.L. Miller (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, 996 pp.
• Emissions factors from EPA’s Waste Reduction Model (WARM) to account for recycling rather than landfilling waste.
  • Source: EPA (2019). Waste Reduction Model (WARM), Version 15. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Table 2. Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies

These factors based on the EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies calculator (as of May 2021) and represent the equivalent amount of energy to that of 1 metric ton of carbon dioxide equivalent.