How to Calculate Refrigerant and F-Gas Emissions for Your Business

Why Refrigerant Emissions Are the Most Underreported Scope 1 Item

Refrigerant emissions calculation is one of the most commonly missed items on supplier carbon questionnaires — yet refrigerant leaks can be the single largest contributor to a company's Scope 1 footprint. The reason: most business owners think about energy bills when they hear "carbon emissions" and completely overlook the fluorinated gases (F-gases) in their air conditioning, refrigeration, and heat pump systems.

A single small air conditioning unit that leaks its entire charge of R-410A refrigerant generates approximately 6.6 tCO2e — equivalent to driving a diesel van for 25,000 miles. A medium commercial refrigeration system leaking R-404A can generate 100+ tCO2e from refrigerant alone.

Which Refrigerants Generate Scope 1 Emissions?

All hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and perfluorocarbons (PFCs) are greenhouse gases with Global Warming Potentials (GWP) hundreds to thousands of times greater than CO2. Common refrigerants in business premises:

To convert kg of refrigerant leaked to tCO2e: multiply kg by GWP, then divide by 1,000.

Example: 3 kg of R-410A leaked: 3 × 2,088 = 6,264 kgCO2e = 6.3 tCO2e

Where to Find Your Refrigerant Consumption Data

Your F-gas top-up data is recorded in F-Gas maintenance logs — legally required documents under EU Regulation 517/2014 for any equipment containing 5 tonnes CO2e or more of refrigerant. Your HVAC maintenance contractor must hold these records and provide them on request.

What to ask your contractor for: - Annual F-Gas maintenance report — shows refrigerant added (kg) per service visit, per unit - Equipment log — lists every piece of refrigerant-containing equipment at your site with refrigerant type and charge size - Leak check records — required for larger systems

If you have no F-gas records and believe no leaks occurred, you can state zero refrigerant emissions — but this is only credible if your equipment has been serviced annually with documented leak checks.

How to Calculate Your Refrigerant Scope 1 Emissions

Step 1 — Get your total refrigerant top-up quantity in kg per refrigerant type for the reporting year. This comes from your F-gas maintenance records.

Step 2 — Look up the GWP for each refrigerant (use AR5 values as per DEFRA 2023 guidance).

Step 3 — Calculate: kg of refrigerant × GWP ÷ 1,000 = tCO2e

Worked example: - 2 kg R-410A added to office AC units: 2 × 2,088 ÷ 1,000 = 4.2 tCO2e - 5 kg R-404A added to walk-in chiller: 5 × 3,922 ÷ 1,000 = 19.6 tCO2e - Total refrigerant Scope 1: 23.8 tCO2e

For context: a typical UK office might spend £3,000 per year on electricity and generate 6 tCO2e (Scope 2). The same office with a poorly maintained AC unit leaking 3 kg of R-410A generates 6.3 tCO2e from refrigerant alone — making refrigerant larger than its entire electricity footprint.

How to Enter Refrigerant Data in DeCarbonOPS

DeCarbonOPS accepts refrigerant emissions in tCO2e directly in the Scope 1 section. Calculate your total refrigerant tCO2e using the formula above (kg × GWP ÷ 1,000) and enter the result. The platform adds this to your combustion emissions for a complete Scope 1 total. Your Carbon Passport will show the combined figure alongside your gas, diesel, and petrol emissions.

If you have zero refrigerant top-up during the reporting year (and have documented proof from maintenance logs), enter 0.