Carbon footprint and decarbonisation maturity in the industrial sector
Your industrial decarbonisation measured by theme and turned into a costed roadmap.
10 themes, a 5-level scale. And the action that moves each level to the next.
The framework’s 10 themes, already written from L1 to L5. One company, one business unit, or 300 at once.
Carbon footprint and decarbonisation maturity in the industrial sector
10 themes, 5-level scale.
Nordhavn Industries
53 / 100
They measure their maturity with Datamensio
An example
This could be your situation.
Take one company as an example: three sites, three spreadsheets, no shared answer.
Nobody can consolidate.
Nordhavn Industries, 2,400 people in Hamburg, Lyon and Porto. A client asks where the group stands. Each site answers in its own spreadsheet, with its own scales.
Three weeks, a single base.
One Industrial carbon footprint and decarbonisation maturity framework (Datamensio framework, aligned with GHG Protocol principles and the SBTi approach) assessment launched across all three sites at once, from the managers’ interview notes. The framework was already written, its 10 themes and levels L1 to L5 too.
Two costs avoided before being committed.
A score of 53 out of 100, with the gap concentrated on three themes. The AI companion spotted that two actions duplicated those of another audit. The committee report took one sentence to request.
What it saved them
- 3sites measured on the same base, instead of three questionnaires to reconcile
- 2duplicate actions caught before the spend
- 1committee report, with no manual rework
These figures are an example. They could be yours.
The standard imposes processes. Datamensio says where you stand.
01
The framework is already written
Themes, questions and levels L1 to L5, all written. You do not start from an empty spreadsheet.
02
The score lands the same day
Online, by self-assessment link or in interview. Theme by theme, comparable over time.
03
The gap becomes a costed plan
Every step up carries its action. The AI prioritises on expected effect, not on the order of the standard.
04
Progress can be demonstrated
Campaign after campaign, against your target and against your own past. That is what your board asks for.
The maturity scale
One level, the next, and the action that links the two.
It is this mechanism (a level, a level above, and the action linking the two) that turns an emissions inventory into a managed trajectory.
Are emissions linked to processes and energy tracked at a level of detail usable by site teams?
- N1
No tracking at site level. Emissions are estimated at group level, from average factors and billing data.
- N2
An annual inventory exists per site, reconstructed after year end. Operations teams do not have it within their own indicators.
- N3
Tracking is established by workshop or utility, at least monthly, and linked to production volumes. Production managers have access to it.
- N4
Data comes from dedicated metering, cross-checked against production data, and significant discrepancies are subject to a documented analysis.
- N5
Tracking feeds operational and investment decisions, with periodic, documented review of the measurement granularity and the factors used.
Action to move from L2 to L3
Work with the energy manager to define the tracking granularity by workshop and utility, install the missing metering or allocation keys, and add carbon intensity to the monthly production review dashboard.
« With Datamensio, we meet our objectives far more efficiently. The ERDF inspection services and our supervising ministry particularly appreciated an approach that gives them reliable data. »
Director, CCI 94CCI Île-de-France
« We believe this is the most suitable solution to scale our transformation project and measure impact according to our needs. »
Maja SucekChief Operating Officer, Interreg Danube
Rarely on its own
Frameworks combine. Put several together to cover your business, or have the AI write yours.
Take your first measurement
What this framework covers
The framework covers the full cycle of carbon management for an industrial operator: accounting for direct emissions linked to processes and fuels, indirect emissions linked to purchased energy, upstream and downstream value chain emissions, and then the reduction levers themselves. Energy efficiency of utilities, electrification or fuel substitution on furnaces and thermal processes, waste heat recovery, material efficiency, ecodesign, transport and logistics. It also assesses governance: who owns the trajectory, with what resources, what indicators and what review frequency.
The difficulty is not calculating a footprint for the first time. It is making it manageable. Are process emissions measured, or reconstructed from average factors that never move from one year to the next? Do production, energy consumption and purchasing data cross-check, or do they come from three systems that do not talk to each other? Does a site that improves its carbon intensity owe it to an identified investment, or to a shift in product mix? Without an answer, the trajectory remains a commitment, not a transformation programme.
One confusion comes up often: reporting and decarbonisation are not the same discipline. Many organisations have made great progress producing an emissions inventory, driven by client expectations and non-financial reporting requirements, without the industrial function having built a portfolio of levers assessed by cost per tonne avoided, timescale and technical feasibility. The inventory then becomes an annual exercise. Decarbonisation, by contrast, is decided in the investment committee, under the same rules as other industrial projects.
An audit ends with a finding: the data is there or it is not, the commitment is published or it is not. The maturity assessment answers a different question: what level of control does each theme sit at, and what concrete action moves it to the next level. Across a portfolio of several sites, this reading changes how the programme is run: it shows where effort produces the most effect and allows business units to be compared against each other, and then each against its own past.
The framework is ready to use and adapts to your industrial operation. AI adjusts the themes, questions and levels to your sector, heavy thermal processes, transformation, assembly, or builds a variant from your own documents: emissions inventory, energy audits, investment plans.
Reference standard: Industrial carbon footprint and decarbonisation maturity framework (Datamensio framework, aligned with GHG Protocol principles and the SBTi approach)
The themes assessed
Governance and trajectory
Ownership of the trajectory at executive committee level, roles between CSR, industrial operations and procurement, dated interim targets, allocated resources, integration into medium-term plans.
Scope and emissions accounting
Definition of organisational and operational scope, distinction between direct, energy indirect and value chain emissions, choice of emission factors, traceability of calculations.
Data quality and availability
Sources of production data, energy metering, purchasing data, share of measured versus estimated data, collection frequency, consistency checks.
Energy performance of processes and utilities
Tracking of consumption by workshop and equipment, intensity indicators, waste heat recovery, compressed air, cooling, steam, efficiency plans.
Process decarbonisation levers
Electrification, fuel substitution, alternative processes, non-energy process emissions, pilot trials, technical maturity and industrial feasibility.
Energy sourcing
Sourcing mix, electricity contracts and guarantees of origin, on-site generation, self-consumption, flexibility and demand response.
Materials, procurement and value chain
Mapping of the most emissions-intensive purchasing categories, alternative and recycled materials, supplier engagement, ecodesign, upstream and downstream transport.
Portfolio of levers and investment decisions
Assessing actions by cost, timescale and tonnes avoided, prioritisation, integration into the investment process, delivery tracking.
Monitoring, indicators and reporting
Indicators shared across sites, gap between planned and achieved trajectory, reporting to internal and external stakeholders, preparation for third-party verification.
Skills and team engagement
Training for operations and maintenance teams, embedding the carbon criterion in production routines, cross-site sharing of experience.
A short version of the framework is available for the online self-assessment.
Frequently asked questions
Does this assessment lead to a certification?
No. No body certifies decarbonisation maturity. The assessment measures the level of control of your practices and produces an action plan. It does, however, provide a useful foundation if you later pursue an energy management approach or third-party verification of your data.
What is the difference with an emissions inventory?
An inventory quantifies emissions over a given year. The assessment evaluates your ability to measure them, reduce them and hold a trajectory. The two are complementary: the inventory supplies the volumes, the assessment says what is missing to act on them.
How long does the assessment take?
The short version takes 20 to 30 minutes to complete. The full version, run collaboratively with energy, production, procurement and finance teams, generally spans one to two weeks, with most of the time spent on data collection.
Can the framework be adapted to our industrial sector?
Yes. The questions, levels and themes can all be modified, and AI can build a variant from your documents, for example for a heavy thermal process or an assembly activity. You retain full control of the framework.
How can several sites be compared?
Each site is assessed against the same framework, which makes scores comparable by theme. The benchmark positions business units against each other and each against its own previous assessments. A cross-site roadmap then consolidates the action plans from the different sites.
Does answering require carbon expertise?
The questions cover management practices, not the method for calculating emission factors. An energy manager or site director can answer them. The collaborative mode allows procurement or finance questions to be assigned to the right people.
Where is the data hosted?
In France, with OVH, backed up with Scaleway. No transfer outside the European Union. The AI models used can be selected, including from European solutions.