The Direct-Use Product Emissions Database (DPED)
A Consistent Foundation for Use-Phase Emissions Reporting
The Direct-Use Product Emissions Database (DPED)
A Consistent Foundation for Use-Phase Emissions Reporting
As a vendor or sustainability consultant supporting retailer and manufacturer clients, you’re tasked with delivering robust Scope 3 category 11 analysis. With DPED, you gain a scalable, credible foundation for modelling direct-use emissions — enabling smarter insights, smoother reporting, and elevated client value.In 2024, the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) partnered with member companies, industry experts, and Optera to develop the Direct-Use Product Emissions Database (DPED) — a transparent, standardized resource designed to improve consistency across the industry.
DPED v2 is now available for retailers, consultants, and solution providers who support companies in modeling, reporting, and reducing product-use emissions.
Why RILA Developed DPED
RILA members recognized that companies were relying on a patchwork of data sources and assumptions to estimate direct-use emissions — resulting in inconsistent and incomparable results.DPED was created to close that gap. It provides a common data foundation for retailers and their partners to use when estimating downstream use-phase emissions, helping ensure that everyone is working from the same set of credible, transparent assumptions.
This work reflects RILA’s mission: to foster collaboration, alignment, and progress across the retail industry.
What DPED Offers
- Comprehensive coverage: Includes emissions factors and usage assumptions for 500+ energy-using product types, from home appliances and electronics to commercial and industrial equipment.
- Transparent methodology: Built on credible, publicly available data and reviewed by industry experts, so users can understand and trust the assumptions behind the numbers.
- Alignment with leading frameworks: Designed to support GHG Protocol Scope 3 Category 11 reporting, CDP disclosures, and other sustainability reporting standards.
- Annual updates: Regularly refreshed to reflect product innovation, new emissions factors, and improved product assumptions.
How Consultants and Vendors Can Use DPED
Consultancies and solution providers play a vital role in helping retailers and manufacturers quantify and reduce their emissions.By incorporating DPED into your work, you can:
- Streamline Category 11 reporting: Use consistent emissions factors across all clients to improve efficiency and comparability.
- Strengthen credibility: Ground client deliverables in an industry-endorsed data source developed collaboratively by RILA and its members.
- Enhance your offering: Integrate DPED data into proprietary models or software to enrich your product-use emissions insights.
Access and Licensing
DPED is available for use through a simple, transparent licensing structure:- Single-organization access (free): For internal use by a single company.
- Multi-organization access (tiered): For consultants or vendors working across multiple client organizations.
- Commercial embedment (custom): For those integrating DPED into software platforms or data services.
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FAQs (for vendors supporting clients)
Q. In what format is DPED delivered?For v2, DPED will be delivered via Excel file, with accompanying methodology documentation as well as a change log.
Q. How often is DPED updated?
The database is refreshed annually.
Q. Can I embed DPED data in my software or platform?
Yes — there is a commercial-use licensing option for embedding DPED into third-party tools.
Q. Can I integrate the data via API?
Today, the database is only available via Excel file. In the coming years, the tool may become more robust and support additional integration options.
Q. Can I support clients that are not RILA members?
Yes, DPED can be available to both RILA members and non-members.
