Frequently Asked Questions

How does the net zero tracker compare to other data collection tools?

While there are indeed data collection tools on the market, the net zero business tracker is different. It integrates sustainability into core business, providing the opportunity to think wider than carbon and consider the commercial opportunities for your organisation. For example, green products and services and how this might benefit your clients or reduce your environmental impact and make you more attractive to new clients. The tracker also helps you define your own transition journey taking account of your unique circumstances and the opportunities and risks for your business.

What’s the expected ROI?

The ROI for the tool is incredibly favourable, many 100s to 1000s X, especially if you were to use it to assist your thinking about market share and considering new opportunities like green product lines/new services. You could use the questionnaire answers and data therein to report progress to customers, shareholders, the board etc. which will help in procurement, tenders, and to win new work – saving staff time.

Using the tool to define your transition journey and track your performance against this will be incredibly useful as you progress and is likely to help you win new clients and/or defend existing business.

What about data like other mandatory reporting?

It is easy to feed data into the tracker especially where it has been prepared for compliance reports like Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR).

Can the net zero tracker integrate with other business systems or tools?

The Net Zero Business Tracker aims to make sustainability part of every day business through linking organisational themes such as governance, customers, reporting, Learning & Development, and more. As the net zero tracker embeds the themes across existing activities, there is no ‘digital integration’ you need to consider making it incredibly user friendly.

Is it suitable for businesses at different stages of their sustainability journey?

Yes, whatever stage that businesses are at the tool is useful in establishing a current baseline and offering tangible suggested actions for improvement and areas of focus and for assessing performance vs other organisations via the benchmarks. 

How long will it take to complete?

Our clients report it has taken them between 20 mins and 2 hours, with most averaging 30-60 minutes. The more information and thought you put in, the more useful it will be for you. Our comprehensive report which we deliver on completion has lots of useful links and resources to allow you to take proactive action in any areas where you may wish to improve performance.

Who should fill the Net Zero Business Tracker in? Or who else will I need to input to the tracker?

It depends on the information you have access to but often relevant data will come from your finance team on energy use and spend, relevant high-level financial data such as turnover and travel mileage. Other data might come from an operations or facilities team such as waste production, recycling levels etc. If you don’t have any of this data collated/collected today then this is a great reason to start putting it together – you are very likely to need it in the future. Many organisations are being asked for data by their clients, and understanding it today might lead to simple actions which reduce your costs.

Depending on your level of seniority in the organisation, you may need to speak to a Director or the CEO to gain information related to the Exec and Board level questions. E.g. How important do you think sustainability/net zero will be for your business in the next 2-5 years?

Can I save my questionnaire and come back to it later?

Absolutely. You can login, complete your questionnaire, save and return at any time. The net zero tracker has been designed to be accessible year on year, allowing you to measure and track your progress in each reporting period. You’ll be able to log-in and update your report at any time.

What if I don’t have all the needed data?

This won’t be a problem. You can leave sections blank for this year and consider whether this data might be important for the future and if so start collecting it and fill it in another year.

Is my data confidential? Will my organisation be distinguishable in the benchmarking data?

Absolutely. Your data is confidential. We use anonymised data only to add value to your results giving you the benchmarking insight, these are aggregated so organisations are not identifiable. A link to our privacy policy is here.

I notice Accelar and GC Insight are both involved?

The two organisations have partnered to bring their combined expertise to the net zero tracker.

GC Insight is a profit for purpose advisory, research and evaluation consultancy that offers deep expertise across a broad range of services. GC Insight has been providing business diagnostics tools for more than 25 years benefitting 500,000 businesses in 45 countries.

Accelar helps clients seize opportunities connected to the green transition with years of experience in sustainability, net zero and wider organisational environmental performance.

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