Accounting: Data
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      1. Climate Hub
      2. Product Carbon Footprint (PCF)
      3. Accounting: Data

      Smart emission factor module

      In addition to the manual entry of individual data and activities, the Climate Hub provides an AI feature. The smart emission factor module automatically analyzes content and links it to the most suitable emission factors.

      The AI function can be used in two ways:

      1. combined with the specific CSV upload
      2. via the activity-based search


      1.    CSV upload

      If an activity is entered via the stage-specific CSV upload without an emission factor, the Climate Hub can either

      • create the activity with an emission factor set to “zero” (which can be manually added later), or

      • automatically link it to a suitable emission factor using AI.

      Rules for using the AI function with CSV Upload

      • Name: must be provided in English and clearly defined.
        Information about regions (e.g. German/Germany) or years (e.g. current/2025) is not automatically recognized and should therefore not be entered here. However, these can be specified using the dedicated columns ISO country code and year.
      • Emission factor and emission factor unit: must remain empty so that the AI can determine the correct values.
      • Value: optional entry
      • Unit: optional entry
        If a unit that is not AI-compatible (e.g. %) is specified, the activity will be created with an emission factor of 0 and will be marked with the following icon going forward. This activity will not be included in the AI search and must be edited manually afterwards.
      • ISO country code: optional entry, a two-character ISO country code based on the ISO 3166-1 standard. 
        If no matching emission factor is available for the specific country, the system will automatically fall back to a broader geographical region. It is recommended to cross-check the country entered in the CSV with the region shown in the detail view. The detail view can be opened via the AI suggested button.
      • Year: The reporting year is automatically applied; no input is required.

      Upload succesful

      After a successful upload, the AI automatically links appropriate emission factors to the entries and displays them in the Climate Hub. AI suggestions are marked with this button:

      To minimize potential risks of using AI, each suggested factor should be checked for accuracy.
      If no emission factor is found, clicking the error button will display two messages:

      • No AI match: The factor could not be determined by the AI. Changing the name or reducing filters (e.g. unit type, ISO country code) may improve the match rate.

      • Server error: A query is currently not possible. Please try again later.

      Adjusting suggestions

      If a suggestion is not suitable, it can be modified using the AI suggested button. For the selected AI match, four alternative suggestions are also displayed, which can be adopted. The green icon indicates the high mapping quality between the entered activity and the displayed emission factor, while an orange icon indicates low mapping quality.

      There is a special case for AI suggestions of the Currency type. In this case, only alternative suggestions with the same currency are shown, so there may be fewer than five results.

      Alternatively, it is still possible to create a completely new factor through spend-based or activity-based search. Please note that doing so will completely delete any AI-generated suggestions, which cannot be retrieved afterwards.


      2.    Activity-based search (coming soon)

      As before, an emission factor can be directly searched for and applied via the Add own activity button and the activity-based search - based on an exact text match.

      In AI mode, five emission factors are now suggested that logically match the entered keyword.

      • Keyword: must be provided in English and be unambiguous.
        Information about regions (e.g. German/Germany) or year (e.g. current/2025) is not automatically recognized and should therefore not be entered here. These can, however, be specified using the dedicated filters Region and Year.

      • Region, Year, Unit Type, LCA Activity: selectable via dropdown menus.

      After confirming via Suggest smart emission factor, the five best suggestions are displayed. A suitable factor can be selected and imported. Please note that once a factor is applied, the AI logic is reset. This means the remaining four suggestions are not saved, and there is no longer any connection to the original AI search.

      3.    General

      Display of emissions factors

      The emission factors used and their sources are transparently reported in the corresponding PDF report.

      Which databases does the AI use?

      The AI-powered emission factor search accesses all databases available through the external Climatiq database. A list of these databases can be found here, and full documentation of the interface is available here.

      Risks when using the AI function

      Using the AI-assisted emission factor search may lead to inaccurate or incomplete results, especially if keywords are unclear or ambiguous. Regional differences or newer data sources may also be disregarded. Therefore, all AI suggestions should be carefully reviewed before being used in reports or decision-making. Responsibility for the final selection of the emission factor always lies with the users.