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Carbon measured services allow you to attach a transparent, verified emissions figure to the services or products your business delivers. Rather than reporting only on your organisation’s total footprint, you break that footprint down to the service level — producing a metric that your clients can use directly in their own carbon accounting. This positions your business as the measurable, responsible choice in your sector.

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What carbon measured services means

A carbon measured service is one where a Lifecycle Assessment (LCA) has been completed to quantify the greenhouse gas emissions associated with delivering that specific service or product. The result is an emissions metric expressed in a format your clients can immediately use, for example:
  • X kg CO₂e per hour of cleaning service delivered
  • X kg CO₂e per unit of product manufactured or supplied
  • X kg CO₂e per £ spent on a maintenance or security contract
These metrics are not estimates based on your organisation’s overall footprint. They are calculated at the service or product level, accounting for the energy, materials, transport, labour, and other inputs that go into delivering that specific service.
NCZ created the world’s first Lifecycle Assessment-based carbon management programme for the facilities management sector in 2010/11, enabling contracted services to be delivered as carbon neutral. This experience underpins the carbon measured services methodology used in the portal today.

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The Lifecycle Assessment process

An LCA systematically maps all the inputs and processes involved in delivering your service — from raw materials and energy consumption through to waste and end-of-life impacts. For service businesses, the boundary typically covers:
  • Employee and contractor travel to deliver the service
  • Energy used at the point of delivery (on-site equipment, vehicles)
  • Consumables and materials consumed during delivery
  • Waste generated as part of the service
  • Upstream supply chain emissions for key inputs
The NCZ Customer Success Team guides you through the data collection required for an LCA. You do not need prior experience of lifecycle methodology — the platform’s forms structure the process so you collect the right data in a consistent, auditable way.

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Examples of carbon measured services

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Carbon measured cleaning

A cleaning service measured by NCZ produces a verified figure for the kg of CO₂e emitted per hour of cleaning delivered. This figure accounts for:
  • Travel to and from client sites
  • Cleaning chemicals and consumables used per service hour
  • Equipment energy consumption
  • Waste disposal
Example metric: 1.4 kg CO₂e per hour of commercial cleaning serviceClients who receive this metric can include your service emissions directly in their own Scope 3 supply chain reporting without any additional calculation.

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How the NCZ Portal tracks service-level emissions

Once your LCA is complete, the NCZ Portal stores your service-level emissions metrics and allows you to track them over time. As you make changes to your operations — switching to electric vehicles, changing suppliers, reducing consumables — you can update your LCA data and see how the metric improves. The portal records:
  • Your service-level emissions metric for each service type
  • The reporting period the metric relates to
  • Year-on-year changes in the metric as your operations improve
  • Supporting data for each emission category within the LCA
This audit trail means your clients can trust the figures you share with them, because they are backed by data held in a certified carbon management platform.

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How carbon measured services differentiate your business

Organisations that can provide a verified carbon metric for their services have a demonstrable advantage in tenders, procurement processes, and client relationships:
  • Tender differentiation — many procurement frameworks now require or reward evidence of supply chain emissions data. A verified service metric gives you a quantified answer that competitors without LCA data cannot match.
  • Client retention — clients working toward their own net zero targets need accurate Scope 3 data from their suppliers. Providing this removes a barrier and deepens the working relationship.
  • Sector leadership — being an early mover on service-level measurement establishes your business as a sustainability leader in your sector before it becomes standard practice.
  • Commercial value — clients who prioritise sustainability are increasingly willing to work with and pay more for suppliers who make their environmental impact transparent.
You do not need to be at NCZ Gold or Platinum certification to begin a carbon measured services engagement. If you supply services to clients with net zero targets, starting the LCA process early gives you the metrics you need before your clients ask for them.

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Getting started with carbon measured services

1

Speak to the NCZ team

Contact NCZ to discuss which services you want to measure and the format of the emissions metric that will be most useful for your clients. There is no one-size-fits-all approach — the team will help you design the right scope for your LCA.
2

Complete the LCA data collection

Work with your Customer Success Team to collect the data required for your service LCA. The platform’s guided forms structure this process so you capture the right inputs consistently across all service lines.
3

Receive your service emissions metrics

Once the LCA is complete, you receive your verified service-level emissions metrics. These are documented in your NCZ portal and available to share with clients in the format they require.
4

Share metrics with clients

Provide your clients with the verified emissions metric for each service you deliver to them. Clients can include this figure directly in their Scope 3 supply chain reporting, giving them accurate data and strengthening the commercial relationship.
5

Track and improve over time

As you make operational changes — fleet electrification, supplier switches, process improvements — update your LCA data in the portal. Year-on-year improvement in your service metric demonstrates continuous progress to clients and to the NCZ certification programme.
If your clients are working toward NCZ Platinum certification, accurate supplier emissions data is a requirement. Providing a verified service-level metric makes it straightforward for your clients to meet their supply chain measurement obligations — strengthening your position as a preferred supplier.

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Get started

Contact the NCZ team to begin your carbon measured services engagement. Bring details of the services you deliver and the clients you want to support — the team will advise on the best approach for your business.

Certification overview

See how carbon measured services fits within the wider NCZ certification programme.

Understanding scope emissions

Learn how Scope 1, 2, and 3 are defined and how the GHG Protocol applies to your services.

Carbon conscious events

Measure the emissions from a specific event alongside your ongoing services programme.

Contact NCZ

Speak to the team about LCA and carbon measured services for your business.