ZEROvia calculates the carbon footprints of companies and products using emission factors from public bodies. This page lists the sources, the calculation rules and all changes we have made to the data. The factors themselves are available for download free of charge.

Download

Download the factor list of ZEROvia.app (Excel, free of charge, no registration required)

The list contains:

• all valid factors from sources whose licence permits redistribution, with value, unit, greenhouse gases, reference year, system boundary, licence and citation
• for each factor, whether ZEROvia has modified it, and its derivation
• the default factors per country that the app uses when no own value has been entered
• the directory of all sources the app uses for its calculations

Values from sources that do not permit redistribution are not included in the list. We regenerate the list with every factor update; the date of issue is stated in the file.

How ZEROvia calculates

1. Basis: GHG Protocol, with Scope 1, Scope 2 location-based and market-based, and Scope 3 across 15 categories. Emissions in t CO2e = quantity × emission factor in kg CO2e per unit ÷ 1000. Footprints of companies and products use the same factor library.
2. Greenhouse gases: Most factors are calculated with the global warming potentials according to IPCC AR6 (GWP100). If a source uses a different basis, for example AR5, this is stated with the factor.
3. Factor selection: An own value with supporting evidence, such as the supplier's electricity disclosure, takes precedence over a selected factor. A selected factor takes precedence over the country's default factor. If a factor is missing, the app shows "Factor missing" and does not calculate with an estimated value.
4. Countries: The default factor depends on the country of the site. If no country value exists, the value of a country group or a general value applies, with a note in the footprint.
5. Electricity: Location-based, the app calculates with the country's electricity mix, and market-based with the supplier's electricity disclosure. Guarantees of origin count only with proof of cancellation. Switzerland has no residual mix; without an electricity disclosure, a substitute value applies, with a note.
6. Upstream chain: Direct emissions (Scope 1 and 2) and the upstream chain (Scope 3, category 3: provision of fuels, electricity and district heating) are separate factors. If a value already includes the upstream chain, the app does not add a second one.
7. Flights: The default is the values from BAFU:2025 with a factor of 3 for non-CO2 effects (RFI), as in the BAFU Corporate Footprint Calculator.
8. Expenditure: For purchases without quantity data, there are factors per franc (Switzerland) and per euro (Germany, Austria, France, Italy). They apply only to expenditure in the same currency and are not adjusted for inflation. If quantities are known (kWh, km, kg), the app calculates with the quantities.
9. Versions: Every factor has a code and a version. When a footprint is approved, the app freezes the factors used; new editions of a source do not change approved footprints.
10. Review: New factors are added in packages. Before they take effect, a second person checks a sample against the originals. Whoever uploaded a package cannot approve it.

Sources

ZEROvia uses data from federal offices, the European Commission and open datasets. The main source for Switzerland is the Swiss Confederation's life cycle assessment database.

Source	Publisher	Used for	Licence
Ökobilanz Datenbank der Schweizerischen Bundesverwaltung, BAFU:2026 (opens in a new window)	Federal Office for the Environment (BAFU)	Fuels, transport, waste, materials, IT equipment	Terms of use BAFU:20XY (opens in a new window)
Ökobilanz Datenbank der Schweizerischen Bundesverwaltung, BAFU:2025, via the Corporate Footprint Calculator v1.4	BAFU; calculator by SFOE and BAFU	Electricity Switzerland, diesel and petrol, flights, air freight, district heating, capital goods	Terms of use BAFU:20XY
Environmental footprints of Switzerland, data provision (opens in a new window)	EBP Schweiz AG and Impact Economics, commissioned by BAFU	Expenditure Switzerland (CHF)	CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new window)
Open CEDA 2025 (opens in a new window), "CEDA by Watershed"	Watershed Technology Inc.	Expenditure Germany, Austria, France, Italy (EUR)	CC BY-SA 4.0
List of emission factors for greenhouse gas accounting of organisations, V 2.1 (opens in a new window)	Umweltbundesamt (Germany)	Germany: fuels, transport, flights, air freight, water, home office	CC0 1.0
Electricity mix Germany (Climate Change 16/2026), TREMOD, CO2 emission factors for fossil fuels (Climate Change 28/2022)	Umweltbundesamt (Germany)	Electricity and transport Germany	Data clause under § 12a EGovG, source note "Umweltbundesamt"
Covenant of Mayors: GHG emission factors for local emission inventories, 2024 (opens in a new window)	European Commission, Joint Research Centre	Electricity in the EU countries, Iceland and Norway	CC BY 4.0 (opens in a new window)
Building Modernisation Act (GModG, formerly GEG), Annex 9 (opens in a new window)	Federal Republic of Germany	District heating Germany	Official work
IPCC AR6, global warming potentials GWP100	IPCC, via the GHG Protocol list	Greenhouse gases and refrigerants	Scientific parameters, with citation

The app additionally uses values from the Umweltbundesamt Austria, the BAFU fact sheet on CO2 emission factors, KBOB, VSE, treeze and worldsteel. We do not redistribute these values; the sources are listed in the directory of the factor list.

Licences and reuse

The licence of its source applies to each value. Anyone reusing values from the factor list must name the source using its citation (column "Citation").

• BAFU: The terms of use of the life cycle inventory database BAFU:20XY apply, version of 23.06.2026. Citation: "Ökobilanz Datenbank der Schweizerischen Bundesverwaltung, BAFU:2026" or "Ökobilanz Datenbank der Schweizerischen Bundesverwaltung, BAFU:2025; Corporate Footprint Calculator v1.4 (BAFU)". The BAFU data modified by ZEROvia are subject solely to these terms. BAFU is not responsible for our modifications and does not endorse ZEROvia.
• Open CEDA: "CEDA by Watershed", CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified values are likewise subject to CC BY-SA 4.0.
• Environmental footprints of Switzerland: "EBP und Impact Economics (2025)", commissioned by BAFU, CC BY-SA 4.0.
• Umweltbundesamt (Germany): source note "Umweltbundesamt" with an indication of changes. JRC: CC BY 4.0, with an indication of changes.
• ZEROvia's own contributions (selection, assignment as default factor, conversion of values from other sources) are subject to CC BY-SA 4.0. For converted BAFU values, only the Terms of use BAFU:20XY apply. Citation: "ZEROvia GmbH, Emissionsfaktoren der ZEROvia.app", with the date of the file.

Only these terms apply to the factor list. The Terms of use of ZEROvia.app do not restrict the reuse of the factor values.

Changes compared with the sources

Where a source does not provide values in the required form, ZEROvia converts them. This section is the report on these changes under section 3 of the Terms of use BAFU:20XY; it also applies to the other sources. In the factor list, every converted or derived factor is flagged (column "Changed by ZEROvia"); all values from BAFU:2026 count as modified. The column "Derivation" names the original dataset and the calculation.

Source	What ZEROvia changes	Why
BAFU:2026, all values	Greenhouse gas value per dataset taken from the LCIA results of BAFU (IPCC 2021, GWP100). Unit converted: per MJ to per kWh (× 3.6), per m to per km (× 1000)	Data entry in kWh and km
BAFU:2026, fuels	Split into direct and upstream chain. Direct: emissions of the combustion dataset into the air × GWP100 according to AR6 (CO2 fossil 1, CH4 fossil 29.8, CH4 biogenic 27.0, N2O 273), biogenic CO2 as a separate value. Upstream chain: only the provision of the fuel, excluding plant, chimney, tank, auxiliary electricity and disposal	Scope 1 and category 3 kept separate; the LCIA results contain only the total value
BAFU:2026, materials	One dataset per material: "at plant" or "at regional storage", Switzerland before Europe before global; excluding chemicals and scrap	One value per material for product footprints
BAFU:2025	Values and split into direct and upstream chain from the Corporate Footprint Calculator v1.4. Unit converted: per MJ to per kWh (× 3.6); natural gas per kWh gross calorific value additionally ÷ 1.108 (gross to net calorific value)	Data entry in kWh; gas invoices state the gross calorific value
Open CEDA 2025	Producer prices in USD 2023 converted into purchase prices in EUR: × purchase price factor of the sector ÷ 0.92510625 EUR per USD (2023). For 145 sectors with the flat value 0.8564 (services, construction, utilities, trade, transport, three vehicle sectors), factor 1. German sector names by ZEROvia	Accounting records contain purchase prices; services have no trade margin
Environmental footprints of Switzerland	Values unchanged from the Corporate Footprint Calculator v1.4 (copy of the EBP values of 24.02.2026), rounded to 6 significant digits. Reference year 2023 assumed, price basis not stated there	Origin disclosed
Umweltbundesamt (Germany)	Units converted (e.g. per t to per kg); upstream chain electricity = value including upstream chain minus direct value; per vehicle-km from per passenger-km × load factor	Data entry per kg and per vehicle-km; category 3
JRC	Upstream chain electricity = life cycle value minus direct value, same source and same year	Category 3 for EU countries
IPCC AR6	Global warming potential of the refrigerant blends R-404A, R-407C and R-410A calculated from the shares of their components (composition according to ASHRAE 34, not yet checked against the source)	Blends are missing from the table
Inputs in kg, m³ or L (all sources)	The app converts quantities into kWh using calorific values. Heating oil, natural gas, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas with the net calorific values from BAFU:2025 (CFC v1.4); wood pellets 17.1 MJ/kg, logwood 15.45 MJ/kg and biogas 20 MJ/m³ according to the UBA list v2.1; biomethane 33.6 MJ/m³ and heavy fuel oil 39.552 MJ/L according to CFC v1.4. Natural gas gross to net calorific value 1.108 and petrol 8.9 kWh/L are ZEROvia assumptions	Data entry in the units shown on the invoice

Not adopted from BAFU:2026: values of exactly 0 and datasets without a category. Some values are rounded to 6 significant digits; rounding is not flagged as a change in the list.

Updates

We incorporate new editions of the sources in factor packages; afterwards we regenerate the factor list. We use the current edition of the BAFU data. Some values still come from BAFU:2025: electricity Switzerland and electricity mixes for countries outside the EU, diesel and petrol per litre, district heating, flights, air freight and capital goods other than IT. For electricity and district heating, BAFU:2026 contains no split into direct and upstream chain, and for flights no non-CO2 effects; the remaining values have not yet been switched over.

Warranty

We check the values against the source from which we take them. Nevertheless, they are provided without warranty. For an approved footprint, the version that was frozen at the time of approval applies.

Contact

Questions and notes on errors: info@zerovia.ch