Understanding Scope 3 Category 7
Employee commuting covers emissions from the transportation of employees between their homes and worksites in vehicles not owned or operated by your organization. According to the GHG Protocol Scope 3 Standard, Category 7 includes:- Daily commuting: Regular home-to-work travel
- All transport modes: Car, public transit, cycling, walking
- Remote work: Zero emissions for work-from-home days
- Carpooling: Shared vehicle emissions (divided among passengers)
Category 7 vs Category 6
- Category 7 (Employee Commuting): Daily travel between home and work
- Category 6 (Business Travel): Trips for business purposes (meetings, conferences, site visits)
Prerequisites
Before starting, ensure you have:- Dcycle API credentials (get them here)
- Completed Step 1: Company Structure
- Employee commuting data: home location, transport mode, working days
- Basic knowledge of Python or JavaScript
Data Map: Category 7 Requirements Overview
Weekly Travels (Working Days)
Theweekly_travels field defines which days of the week the employee commutes:
| Day | Value | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 0 | Included if present in array |
| Tuesday | 1 | Included if present in array |
| Wednesday | 2 | Included if present in array |
| Thursday | 3 | Included if present in array |
| Friday | 4 | Included if present in array |
| Saturday | 5 | Included if present in array |
| Sunday | 6 | Included if present in array |
| Pattern | weekly_travels | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Full week (Mon-Fri) | [0, 1, 2, 3, 4] | Traditional 5-day week |
| 3 days/week | [0, 2, 4] | Mon, Wed, Fri only |
| Hybrid (2 days) | [1, 3] | Tue, Thu in office |
| Full remote | [] | Empty = no commuting |
Remote Work / TeleworkSet
weekly_travels: [] (empty array) for fully remote employees. Dcycle will calculate zero commuting emissions for these employees.Transport Types
| Transport Type | Description | Typical EF Range |
|---|---|---|
car | Personal vehicle | 0.1-0.2 kg COβe/km |
bus | Public bus | 0.05-0.1 kg COβe/km |
train | Commuter rail | 0.03-0.05 kg COβe/km |
metro | Urban subway | 0.02-0.04 kg COβe/km |
tram | Light rail | 0.02-0.04 kg COβe/km |
motorbike | Motorcycle | 0.08-0.12 kg COβe/km |
bicycle | Cycling | 0 kg COβe/km |
walk | Walking | 0 kg COβe/km |
| Vehicle Size | Fuel Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
small | petrol, diesel, electric, hybrid | Compact cars |
medium | petrol, diesel, electric, hybrid | Sedans |
large | petrol, diesel, electric, hybrid | SUVs |
CarpoolingWhen
carpool: true, emissions are divided by 3 (average carpool occupancy). This encourages shared transportation and accurately reflects the lower per-person emissions.Emission Factor Sources
Dcycle uses commuting emission factors from Ecoinvent:Ecoinvent Database
Ecoinvent Database
Ecoinvent 3.8+ Cut-off
- Lifecycle emission factors by transport mode
- Regional variations where available
- Covers cars, public transit, and active transport
- Well-to-Wheel (WTW) factors including fuel production
Distance Calculation
Distance Calculation
Google Maps API:
- Actual road distances between home and work
- Accounts for real routes, not straight-line distance
- If origin/destination unavailable, use
total_kmdirectly
Step 1: Create Employee Records
π Data Map: Employee Record
π Data Map: Employee Record
| Field | Type | Required | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
origin | string | β οΈ | Home address/city | "Madrid, Spain" |
destination | string | β οΈ | Office address | "Company HQ, Madrid" |
total_km | number | β οΈ | One-way distance | 15 |
transport_type | string | β | Commute mode | "car" |
weekly_travels | array | β | Days in office [0-6] | [0, 1, 2, 3, 4] |
email | string | β | Employee email | "[email protected]" |
name | string | β | Employee name | "John Smith" |
vehicle_size | string | β | For cars | "medium" |
fuel_type | string | β | For cars | "petrol" |
carpool | boolean | β | Shared vehicle | false |
- Either
origin+destinationORtotal_kmmust be provided
- Home location: HR records, employee surveys
- Transport mode: Employee surveys
- Working days: HR/scheduling systems
Common Commuting Scenarios
Step 2: Send Employee Surveys
Collect commuting data directly from employees via survey:Survey QuestionsDcycleβs commuting survey asks employees:
- Home location (address or postal code)
- Primary transport mode
- Vehicle details (if car)
- Days worked in office per week
- Carpooling (yes/no)
Step 3: Bulk Upload Employee Data
For organizations with many employees, use CSV upload:CSV Format
CSV Notes:
total_kmis one-way distance (home to office)weekly_travelsuse format"[0,1,2,3,4]"(JSON array as string)- Empty
"[]"for remote workers carpool:trueorfalse

