Before collecting emissions data, an organization needs to clearly define which facilities, suppliers, and legal entities are included in its reporting boundary.
These records provide the structure that emissions data is linked to. A facility identifies where operational data comes from. A supplier identifies the external company connected to Scope 3 activity. An entity identifies the legal or organizational unit included in the company's reporting structure.
The Hydrus Directory manages these three record types: Facilities, Suppliers, and Entities. Each record type serves a different purpose and helps ensure that data is assigned to the correct part of the organization.
This is important because errors in the reporting boundary can affect the completeness of the entire inventory. If a facility, supplier, or entity is missing, the related emissions may also be excluded.
Facilities: managing operational locations
Facilities are the physical locations from which Hydrus collects operational data. These may include offices, factories, warehouses, data centers, retail locations, leased spaces, and fleet depots.
Facility records are especially important for Scope 1 and Scope 2 reporting. Utility bills, fuel purchases, refrigerant records, and meter readings should be linked to the correct facility.
Facility records also support the use of location-specific emission factors. For example, two facilities with the same electricity consumption may produce different Scope 2 emissions if they are located in different electricity grids.
A complete facility record should include:
- Site name, physical address, and country or grid region
- Ownership or tenure, such as owned, leased, or operated under contract
- Operational status and the dates the facility was active during the reporting period
- The person responsible for providing or reviewing the facility data
- Floor area, headcount, or another relevant activity measure for intensity calculations or estimation
- The scopes and activity types associated with the facility
A common issue is that smaller or leased locations are not included because responsibility for them is unclear. This can lead to incomplete reporting if those facilities still generate emissions that fall within the organization's reporting boundary.
Suppliers: managing Scope 3 data sources
Suppliers are the vendors and partners connected to Scope 3 activities.
The Suppliers section allows organizations to maintain a list of relevant suppliers and add new records as the value chain is reviewed and updated.
Supplier records can support several parts of Scope 3 reporting. They can be used to send data requests, record supplier-specific emissions data, track the method used to calculate emissions, and document whether primary data was received.
Useful supplier records should include:
- Legal supplier name and the identifier used in the procurement or ERP system
- Spend, purchased volume, or another relevant activity measure for the reporting period
- The Scope 3 category associated with the supplier relationship
- Supplier tier, where this is relevant
- The data method used, such as supplier-specific, average-data, or spend-based
- Engagement status and the date of the latest data request and response
Organizations do not always need to create detailed records for every supplier in the vendor master.
In many cases, a smaller group of suppliers accounts for a large share of the relevant spend, activity, or emissions. The supplier list can therefore be prioritized based on materiality and reporting needs.
Entities: defining what is included in the organization
Entities are the legal and organizational units that make up the corporate structure. These may include subsidiaries, joint ventures, partnerships, and other controlled or partially owned organizations.
The Entities section helps define which parts of the organization are included in emissions reporting.
Under the GHG Protocol, organizations generally select a consolidation approach such as operational control, financial control, or equity share. This approach determines how emissions from different entities are included in the inventory.
Entity records should include:
- Legal entity name, jurisdiction, and position within the group structure
- Ownership percentage
- Consolidation approach applied
- Reporting periods during which the entity was included
- Facilities associated with the entity
- Supporting rationale where the treatment of the entity requires explanation
The entity list used for sustainability reporting should also be compared with the legal and financial structure used elsewhere in the organization.
If the sustainability reporting boundary differs from the financial consolidation structure, the reason for the difference should be documented clearly.
Keep directory records up to date over time
Facilities, suppliers, and entities can change over time.
Organizations may open or close facilities, acquire or sell businesses, change lease arrangements, restructure joint ventures, or change suppliers. These changes can affect the reporting boundary and, in some cases, may affect base-year calculations.
For this reason, directory records should include effective dates rather than only showing the current status.
For example, if a facility closes during the year, the record should show the date on which it stopped operating. If an entity is acquired during the reporting period, the record should show when it entered the reporting boundary and how it was treated in the inventory.
Historical records should not be overwritten when changes occur. Keeping previous information makes it possible to understand how the reporting boundary changed between periods.
In Hydrus, the Directory connects facilities, suppliers, and entities to the rest of the Data module. Data from emails, APIs, OCR-processed documents, file uploads, and supplier responses can be linked to the relevant record.
This helps maintain data lineage. A number used in CSRD, ISSB, CDP, or GHG Protocol reporting can be traced back to the relevant facility, supplier, or entity and to the source data used in the calculation.
For each reporting period, the organization should be able to identify which facilities, suppliers, and entities were included, why they were included, and when any changes to the reporting boundary occurred.
A well-maintained directory helps ensure that emissions data is complete, correctly assigned, and easier to review.
This guide is educational and not legal advice.