Assets
Last updated
Last updated
Assets are a foundational part of carbon accounting and environmental measurement in Brightest. Assets typically represent offices, sites, vehicles, equipment, and/or investments that comprise part of your organization's environmental footprint and GHG emissions inventory.
Assets can either be:
Operationally controlled by you (owned field is checked and marked True)
Operationally controlled by a third party like a partner or supplier (is_partner field is checked and marked True)
For a quick video tutorial on assets, please watch:
The asset section opens up to your asset library where you can see all of your assets and have different viewing options and features.
Creating an asset: At the top of your asset section menu, you can add new assets using the add tool or csv file importer.
Search: Use the search function to search for specific assets in your asset library.
Operations < > All: This view allows you to see only assets that are owned or operationally controlled by your organization or to see all of the assets involved in your organizations activities, including those owned by third parties. To see only assets owned or controlled by your organization have this viewing feature switched "off".
Location < > Market: This feature allows you to select location or market-based scope 2 emission factors.
Year: Filter your asset library summary view by year.
Below is a description of the columns in the asset library:
Asset Name
Name of the asset
Type
A symbol representing the asset type
Data
A pie chart symbol. Click on the symbol to view data analysis for that asset.
Emissions (mtCO2e)
This column shows the GHG emissions (mtCO2e) summary of that asset for the year that is being viewed.
Managers
You can assign colleagues to be responsible for an asset and entering data.
City
City location of the asset.
State
State or Province location of the asset.
Country
Country location of the asset.
Tags
Tags assigned to the asset.
Last updated
The date information for that asset was last modified.
Footprint
The footprint page is where you can enter environmental footprint data for your asset e.g. electricity, heating, water, waste, refrigeration data etc.
Navigate to your Sustainability Module, click on the "Asset" tab.
You can create assets using the add tool or create multiple assets at one time using the csv importer.
Using the add tool
Click on the green button "Add Asset"
Once you click save, the asset will be saved to your asset library.
Using the csv importer
Click on the gray "CSV Import" button.
Download the csv file template from the csv importer and fill out the template with relevant and required information.
When you fill out the asset form you will see the following information fields. Fill out all fields that are relevant to your asset and all fields that are required.
Asset Name
Yes
Asset type
Yes
Use the drop-down menu to select the asset type.
Commonly used asset types:
Office
Site
Transportation - Automobiles, trucks, fleets, etc.
Equipment - use for stationary equipment (for owned/controlled assets, fuel emissions will be allocated to Scope 1 - Stationary Combustion)
Mobile Equipment - use for mobile equipment such as snowmobiles, tractors, etc. (for owned/controlled assets, fuel emissions will be allocated to Scope 1 - Mobile Combustion)
Energy - generally, used for assets that are producing energy (such as solar panels or solar arrays), generators, or to track primarily electricity or fuel data for an asset separate from that of a main site (for example, a small building has a different electricity meter, but all other data is documented in the main site asset).
Transportation type (Only visible for transportation assets)
No, unless asset is type Transportation
Use the drop-down menu to select the transportation type.
Fuel type (Only visible for transportation, equipment, and energy assets)
No, but recommended for equipment, energy, and transportation (vehicle) type assets
Use the drop-down menu to select the default fuel type.
Easy Space Convert (Auto-Estimate Environmental Footprint in CSV Template)
No
If you can't collect data for an asset like an office or site, Brightest can auto-estimate it for you using average commercial building data
Construction date
No
This is used to assess building age and energy efficiency, as well as to help assign carbon accounting value. If you don't know or aren't sure, please enter a rough estimate. If you don't want to account for Scope 3 embodied carbon, you can also leave this blank.
Is Real Estate
No
Is this asset a real estate property or investment?
Tenant Occupancy or Use % (This field is only visible if you select "Is Real Estate")
No
What percentage of the asset's resources are used by tenants. Only applicable in real estate or if you sub-lease space.
Resources Used By Tenants (This field is only visible if you enter a Tenant Use percentage)
No
Select the resources being used by tenants.
Managers
No
Does this site or asset have dedicated managers (users in your account)? If so, select the Brightest user(s) that will be in charge of entering data for this asset.
Description
No
Owned of Operationally Controlled
Yes
Is this site owned or operationally controlled by your organization? If no, uncheck this box. This will make a large difference in how the emissions are allocated. Make sure to check this box.
Third Party Controlled
No
Does this asset belong to a third party like a supplier, partner, or portfolio investment?
Partner (Visible field if you select "Third Party Controlled")
No
The partner or portfolio entity who owns or controls this asset. This will link to a Brightest "Partner" in your account.
Capacity allocation (Visible field if you select "Third Party Controlled")
No
The percentage of the third party asset's capacity and environmental footprint your operations represent or claim
Lease start date
No
Date you acquired the asset or started your lease
Occupancy
No
Float field that will be visible if you do not check "Owned or Operationally Controlled." This represents the % of asset space that is currently occupied (e.g., occupancy rate). For example, if 50% of a building (site) asset is empty, set to "50"
Workers
No
The number of employees, staff, or workers who work with or at the asset. Important to add if using Brightest's Auto-estimate for employee commuting emissions (within Settings), or Brightest's auto-estimate for homeworking emissions.
Space Measurement
No
Gross floor area metric unit (square feet or square meters) Important to add if using Brightest's "Easy Space Convert" (or "Auto-Estimate Environmental Footprint" in CSV import form)
Gross Floor Area
No
The number of square feet or square meters your asset, site, or building has in terms of gross floor area. The unit (square feet or square meters) should be selected above. Important to add if using Brightest's "Easy Space Convert" (or "Auto-Estimate Environmental Footprint" in CSV import form).
Location type
No
Use the drop-down menu to select the location type.
This is used for auto-estimating employee commuting (if this tool is being used).
Is remote
No
Do employees work remotely at this site or office? Important if using Brightest's auto-estimate for employee commuting emissions (within Settings). Or Brightest's auto-estimate for homeworking emissions.
Remote percentage
No
What percentage of employees work remotely on average? Important if using Brightest's auto-estimate for employee commuting emissions (within Settings), or Brightest's auto-estimate for homeworking emissions.
Office days per week
No
The average number of office days per week for remote employees Important if using Brightest's auto-estimate for employee commuting emissions (within Settings), or Brightest's auto-estimate for homeworking emissions.
Utilities purchased
Yes
Does the asset purchase electricity from a third party? If True, mark yes, otherwise uncheck.
Heating purchased
Yes
Does the asset purchase heating from a third party? If True, mark yes, otherwise uncheck. If you own or control the asset, and you would like heating emissions allocated to Scope 1, make sure the "owned/controlled" box is "checked" and "uncheck" this "purchased heating" box. If you "check" the "owned/controlled" box and you also "check" the "Heating purchased" box, the heating emissions will be allocated to Scope 2 by default. If you would like all natural gas heating emissions allocated to Scope 1. You can select this in Edit ESG and Sustainability Settings.
Clean power
No
A float number representing the percentage of clean energy the site uses. For example, if the site is using solar PV energy for 50% of its electricity, set the value to "50" If you enter a percentage in this field, that percentage of emissions for the metrics selected (electricity, heating, or water) will be not be calculated and will not be added to your emissions inventory.
Clean power electricity
No
Is the site generated renewable electricity?
Clean power heating
No
Is the site generated renewable heat (e.g. geothermal)?
Clean power water
No
Is the site hydroelectric (on-site) or accessing its own water source (non-municipal)?
Location street
No
Street address
Location city
No
Location state
No
State, province, or territory
Location country
No
Location zip
No
Zip or postal code
Google place id
No
Google Geocode ID. Leave blank, as Brightest will auto-generate this for you if address/location info is provided
Default Invoice Currency
No
Sets a default currency for invoices that are OCR scanned for this asset
Asset Uuid
Yes, but will be auto-generated if you don't provide a value
A unique ID. Uuid is used for mapping bulk data imports to multiple assets, so make note of your assets' Uuid value(s). For simplicity, as long as it's unique, consider using the same value as your asset's "Name" field. You can also use a value from an internal system (like a facility, finance, or inventory management system) to synchronize data that way for operational consistency.
Parent Asset
No
Amount (Only for Investment Assets)
No
Amount in reporting currency if associated with an investment (i.e., 1000000 for $1,000,000)
Investment Currency (Only for Investment Assets)
No
Currency for designated amount
Investment or Asset Class Type (Only for Investment Assets)
No
If you would like to group assets together, you have the ability to set up "Parent" and "Child" assets. To do this:
When creating an asset, in the "Parent Asset" field, use the drop-down menu to select the name of the "Parent" asset for the asset you are creating.
If you already created your assets, you can update this field by clicking on the asset name and select "Update".
Once you've selected a parent asset, the "child" or "sub-asset(s)" will be organized under the parent. The "parent" asset's total emissions shown in the asset table will include the "child" asset's emissions.
If an asset is no longer relevant for your organization's reporting, you can remove the asset by archiving it. This is essentially a "soft deletion" of the asset. The asset item along will be moved into the archived section. Note: This will not remove the asset's footprint data.
To archive an asset:
Navigate to your Sustainability Module -> Assets Tab
Check the box next to the asset or assets you want to archive (remove from your reporting).
Click on the three line bulk edit widget in the top right menu bar.
Click on the orange option button "Archive"
That asset will be stored in the Archive section.
To view your archived assets, click on the button with the three dots, next to the export button in the top right menu bar.
Click on "Archived Assets".
You will be directed to your archived assets.
To reactive an asset, navigate to the "Archived Assets". Click on the "activate" button in the "Footprint" column of the asset you want to reactivate. To bulk reactivate multiple assets at once, check the box next to the assets you want to reactive. Click on the three bar bulk edit widget in the top right menu bar. Click on "Activate" in the pop-up menu.
Your asset along with its data will be reactivated and moved back to your Assets library.
Asset List
A csv file listing all of your assets that you've created in Brightest along with all of the information entered in their asset information/creation forms (i.e. Asset Name, Description, Owned/Controlled, Address, etc.)
Asset Data Gap Analysis Report
GHG Summary Report
A PDF with your organization's total Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions.
Asset Report
A csv file containing all metric data that has been entered into the asset footprint pages. It will also list the total CO2e calculated for each entry.
Asset GHG Scope Report
A csv file listing the annual metric tonnes of CO2e for each asset for each GHG scope and scope category.
Asset Energy Report
A csv file listing the total electricity (kWh), total heating (kWh), total energy (total electricity + heating), and total fuel (gallons and liters) usage monthly for each asset.
The Asset Data Gap and Status Report is helpful tool to see the status of data collection for each asset.
The report will shows:
The data collection status of each of the main footprint metrics (Electricity, Heating, Fuel, Water, and Waste)
If there is linked data - meaning if there is any data linked to the asset in the Transit or Spend tabs
The username of the last person to edit the footprint data for that asset and when it was last edited
The completion percentage is based on the time periods of the data entered. For example, if you've entered data for 6 months out the year, the percentage should show that your data collection is 50% complete (for each metric that you submit data for).
Location-based Scope 2 emissions are emissions calculated based on the average emissions intensity of a local power grid. Market-based Scope 2 emissions are emissions calculated based on a specific purchase contract or agreement for energy. Since carbon accounting should focus on accuracy, your first instinct might be to choose a market-based Scope 2 emissions calculation, because its more specific to your company. However, generally we counsel against using market-based Scope 2 measurements, and instead suggest you calculate Scope 2 emissions using the location-based method. Read more .
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Select the asset type from the dropdown menu and fill out the form for that asset type. See for explanations about the form fields.
Then upload the file to the csv importer. See for further information.
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If you would like to group your assets, you can select a "Parent" asset. For example, if you have vehicles that are owned by a specific site/office asset, you could select the site asset the "Parent Asset" of the vehicle assets. These vehicles would then be organized under the parent in the asset table.
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To view the "child" or "sub-assets," click on the button next to the name of the parent asset.
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A csv export of the . for more information.
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