How to Complete the EMT Survey via Excel

The EMT Excel form lets you complete your emissions survey offline and upload it back to the platform when you're ready. This article walks through what the form is, how to fill it in correctly, and how to get it back into the EMT.

What This File Is

The Excel form is a structured template of the RBA Emissions Management Tool (EMT), designed for offline completion and reupload to the web-based platform. Each tab in the workbook corresponds to a specific section of the EMT.

Who should fill it in: Representative(s) in your organization with access to energy data, sustainability/EHS reports, utility invoices, fuel records, and any renewable energy or GHG target documentation. If more than one RBA customer has requested your participation, you only need to complete and submit the form once — it can be shared across multiple survey requests.

Reporting period: Your reporting period start date must overlap at least 50% with your customer's chosen reporting period (allowed range: customer start date minus 6 months to customer start date plus 4 months). The workbook comes pre-filled with the reporting cycle selected in the EMT Platform. See the EMT Reporting Periods article for more detail.

Before You Start: Gather These Materials

• Most recent sustainability or EHS report
• Monthly utility invoices for all facilities
• Fuel records (fleet vehicles, aircraft, generators)
• Renewable energy data and contractual instruments
• Business travel records (flights, hotel, rail, taxis)
• Inbound/outbound logistics data (mode, carrier, distance, weight)
• Employee commute data (method + distance per employee)
• Any Scope 3 data calculated outside the EMT that doesn't apply directly to the respondents completing this survey — the EMT Platform will automatically populate Scope 3 emissions based on your respondents' allocations
• GHG target documentation (base year, target year, % reduction)
• Verification/assurance reports from auditors
• Product Carbon Footprint data (if available)
• Total Gross Revenue (USD) for the reporting year (optional)

Key Rules for Filling In the Template

Tab-by-Tab Completion Guide

Reference — Read-only. Contains your pre-filled reporting cycle, org IDs, and the emission factors used for Usage tab calculations. Do not edit this tab.

Inventory (Required) — One row per entity (company + each facility). Enter Total Gross Revenue, confirm inclusion in the inventory, and select your data collection method.

• If Roll-Up/Calculated: set Reported = No, Roll-Up = Yes
• If Reported: set Reported = Yes, Roll-Up = No
• At least one methodology column (GHG Protocol, ISO 14064, etc.) must be "Yes"
• Revenue is critical for buyer emissions allocation

Scope 1 (Required) — Confirm whether Scope 1 exists. If using the Reported pathway, enter your pre-calculated Scope 1 total. If you chose Roll-Up/Calculated in Inventory, leave the Scope 1 Total blank here — it will be derived from the Usage tab. Always enter fugitive emissions (or 0 if not applicable), and select all applicable exclusion method columns.

Scope 2 (Required) — Confirm whether Scope 2 exists and choose location-based, market-based, or both. If Reported, enter the relevant totals and select exclusion columns for each method used. The EMT can calculate both methods, but only one can feed into your final inventory total — indicate which. Market-based figures require contractual instruments (PPAs, RECs, GOs); use residual-mix factors for any unclaimed energy.

Scope 3 (Required) — For each of the 15 categories (upstream Cats 1–8, downstream Cats 9–15), select whether you have data, it's not material, or it hasn't been calculated. Where you have data, enter mtCO2e and the calculation methodology. The EMT does not calculate Scope 3 for you — enter pre-calculated totals. Cat 11 (Use of Sold Products) has two sub-rows: Direct and Indirect use-phase. Cats 3, 10, 11, 12, and 15 require a free-text method description instead of a drop-down. See the Scope 3 Category Quick Reference below.

Usage (Required if Roll-Up/Calculated) — Add one row per energy source per facility. Select Scope 1 or 2, enter the fuel/energy type using the EF ID from the Reference tab, and input the activity data quantity and unit of measure. The EF ID must match exactly to a value in the Reference tab, and the unit of measure must be one of the allowed UOMs listed there for that emission factor. For Scope 2, specify Location-Based or Market-Based in the Scope 2 Method column.

Renewable (Required) — Indicate whether your organization has renewable energy. If yes, select all applicable energy types (Solar, Wind, Geothermal, etc.) and sources (PPA, Self-generated, RECs, etc.), and enter total MWh consumed from renewable sources for the full reporting period. Set every inapplicable type/source column to "No." At least one type and one source column must be "Yes" if Renewable Exists = Yes.

Target (Required if targets exist) — One row per emissions reduction target: name, type, metric, years, coverage, scopes covered, and percent reduction sought/achieved, plus the Additional Climate Goals section. You must have at least one Target row to create Initiative rows. If coverage is "Site/facility," enter the facility RBA-Online ID. If no target exists, you may still need to complete Additional Climate Goals (select Other and enter "NA").

Initiatives (Required if initiatives exist) — One row per initiative. Link each to a Target Name that already exists in the Target tab, name it, select the initiative category, estimate CO2e savings (enter 0 if unknown rather than leaving blank), and identify the scopes impacted.

Verification (Required) — For each of Scope 1, 2, and 3, select the type(s) of verification or assurance used and enter the percentage of emissions verified. If no verification has been conducted, set "None – No verification or assurance conducted" = Yes and Percentage Verified = 0.

Documents (Optional) — Reference supporting documents by name, label, source page, source org ID, and document type. Actual file uploads happen through the EMT platform portal, not this Excel file — leave blank if not applicable, and don't attempt to embed files here.

Scope 3 Category Quick Reference

Uploading the Completed File to the EMT Platform

1. Log into the EMT portal at rba-online.org using the credentials emailed to you by the requesting RBA member.
2. Navigate to your open survey for the relevant customer, set the reporting cycle, and choose the reporting period.
3. Select Import within the survey — found on the Inventory tab under the three dots in the right-hand corner — and locate your completed .xlsx file.
4. The platform will validate each tab. Any rows with errors will be flagged in the Error column, visible after re-downloading the file.
5. Fix any flagged errors in the Excel file, save, and re-upload. Repeat until no errors remain.
6. Once all tabs are validated, submit the survey before the requester's reporting period deadline. You can return and update your data at any time before that deadline.