A list of ongoing changes and updates with the date the update occurred. These changes are organized by SIMAP tab. Changes made prior to August 2021 wered archived on this page -- the SIMAP Updates Archive. For updates made since August 2021, see the current SIMAP Updates Log.
Account
Institution: To select your grid region, global warming potential, and other data mapping selections, go to Data Management tab: Calculation Sources and Methods. [4/17/2018]
The units for the distance ed students was changed to FTE. [4/2/2020]
NOTE: for all the scopes and data entry fields. If you select the "other" category, check if it has emission factors associated with that selection. If not, you need to add the emission factors for each "other" selection for the system to calculate your data inputs. If you select "other" option and do not add EFs, you will not see results for that data category. One exception to this may be the refrigerants section, where there are additional selection in the dropdown for the "other" field. You will see an error message in the Results tab if you have "other" selection without EFs. [6/12/2019]
Data entry: Scope 1
Refrigerants: Fixed a bug with adding more than one chemical from the "other" drop down. If you had multiple chemicals added which came from this list or you added your own, please, check your results again. [3/21/2018]
Refrigerants and Chemicals: Added CO2, CH4, and N2O to the dropdown list if you select "other" and then go to the field below - you can select many more chemicals. [1/19/2018]
Refrigerants: You can select the chemical from a dropdown menu. Note: if you imported your data from the CCC spreadsheet prior to this date, please, check your data for accuracy. [Updated 12/12/2017]
Data entry: Scope 2
Location based calculation: the location-based calculation now takes into account electricity consumption from on-campus renewables for which RECs are not retained, by applying standard regional eGrid factors to the consumption of electricity from these sources. This was an omission in the previous calculation which has been remedied. [9/6/2018]
Residuals Calculation Updates for US [4/27/2018] for Canada [8/2/2018]
Utility consumptions calculation methodology: in alignment with the WRI scope 2 best practice recommendations, we have updated our utility consumption and renewable energy accounting methodology [4/15/2018]
- Market based - takes into account your renewable energy [best practice preferred method]
- Location based - uses eGrid based on your location [eGrid EF are calculated using actual emission factors based on location]
- Custom Fuel Mix - best if provided by your utility [this method is not recommended because of the variables which may change the calculations] - see User's Guide for details
N2O 2014 eGRID emissions factors were updated in the 2017 version of emission factors. This update corrected a calculation error. The change increased scope 2 N2O emissions by a factor of 10, but the impact to your overall scope 2 footprint is <1%. [5/2018]
The custom fuel mix for steam and chilled water was incorrectly being used when the market-based or location-based methods were selected. The update corrected this so that the custom fuel mix for steam and chilled water is only applied when the custom fuel mix is selected. A custom emissions factor can be used in either the market-based or location-based method for steam and chilled water only. [10/8/2020]
RECs were incorrectly being applied when the custom fuel mix scope 2 method was selected. The update corrected this so that RECs are only applied in the market-based method. [10/8/2020]
Added ability to customize T&D loss factors for Canada [8/26/2021]
Data entry: Scope 3
Food: Food production nitrogen loss factors (VNFs) were updated for pork (4.8 to 4.7); milk and cheese (3.2 to 3.1); eggs (3.2 to 3.3); fruits, liquids, sugars, and coffee/tea (3.3 to 3.4); grains (0.77 to 0.93); and vegetables and spices (2.4 to 2.8) with an improved data set. [4/12/2018]
Food template: IMPORTANT UPDATE: The food template is no longer case sensitive for data entry for the organic, local, and the confidence level columns. If you have already imported a food template with organic, local, and/or a confidence level, please check your data to ensure it imported correctly. The following data would not have imported correctly before this update:
- Organic and local: Only Yes and No were previously recognized. If you entered your organic or local data as ‘YES’ or ‘yes,’ then it would not have recognized it and imported as ‘No.’
- Confidence level: Only Low, Medium, and High were previously recognized. If you entered your confidence level as LOW, low, HIGH, or high, then it would not have recognized it and imported as Medium. [3/27/2018]
Paper: the paper input is now the same as it was in CCC. You can select the type of paper, the amount of recycled content, and three different values. [12/12/2017]
Paper: A correction was made so that the emissions reduction associated with the % recycled is now calculating correctly. [2/26/2019]
Business Travel and Study Abroad: you can enter data with a US Dollar value and the amount is converted to passenger miles based on a daily cost rate conversion. See Reference page for formula. [12/7/2017]
Student travel to/from home: Air travel: The 2.7 radiative forcing multiplier was being used twice, making the CO2 emissions factor too high. This was corrected. [2/19/2019]
In student travel to/from home, the description of the units was updated for clarity. [4/2/2020]
Data entry: Sinks
Offsets: Compost - you can now select if your campus composts on campus or off campus and also if you are using the composted materials on campus. Those selections will change how the offsets are calcuated. Any value entered in which the answer to "Used as Soil Amendment" is "Yes" is counted as a sink and shown as a reduction in the Net MTCDE totals in the "Results - Total Footprint" view; it is also included in Reports - Annual view in the Totals chart; and in the Second Nature Report under Mitigation Data in a row labelled "Carbon Sequestration Due to Composting" (all using the unit MTCDE).
If "No" is selected in response to the "Used as Soil Amendment" question, then the Inventory entry in question is not included in any C calculations. [3/15/2018]
Offsets - the choices now are Sinks:Offsets: Carbon Purchased, Sinks:Offsets:Carbon Sold/Transferred and same for Nitrogen. The sold carbon gets added to the total and purchased/transferred get subtracted. [3/15/2018]
Data entry: Calculation Factors
Updated EF_ElectricN2O to correct a conversion error for FY 2014, which made the EF lower by a magniture of 10. Now this has been corrected as of 5/24/2018 and the effects on the total MTCDE is less than 0.05% incsease for most institutions. [5/30/2018]
Utility Emission Factors: changed the unit from kg/ CO2/kWh (or CH4, N2O) to kg/CO2/MMBtu for (CO2, N2O, etc.. ) [3/15/2018]
Updated 2014 data for EF_ElectricCO2/N2O/CH4 [12/19/2017]
Corrected CO2 emissions factors for scope 1 transportation: B100 in 2013, 2014, and 2015. The corrected EF is 9.45 kg CO2/gal, and they were corrected from 10.45, 11.45, and 12.45 kg CO2/gal for 2013, 2014, and 2015, respectively. [3/20/2019]
Compost emissions factors for eCO2 were corrected. They had been displaying with the wrong units, but the calculated results were still correct. Your results are not affected. [3/29/2019]
Corrected degree day factors. For more information, see the degree day factors page. [08/2021]
Results
Fertilizer and Animals: these two categories were formerly aggregated as the “Agriculture” category in the results and reports pages (and in the CCC and CMAP). The word “agriculture” was removed and this category renamed to “Fertilizer and Animals” in the Categories view of the Results page and the Annual Report page. [1/26/2018]
Biogenic % was updated for ethanol. [2/2/2020]
T&D losses are now being displayed on the Results tab > Sources view. [2/19/2020]
Cogen efficiencies were not applying correctly for MMBtu results, which are visible in the exported data. These were corrected. [10/7/2020]
Corrected biogenic CO2 emission factors for incinerated waste and E85 in the 2017, 2018, and 2019 versions of emission factors. [to be posted 2/2/2021]
Corrected calculation for paper emissions based on recycled content of paper. Previously, when multiple entries for a single paper type (e.g., uncoated freesheet) were entered with different recycled contents (e.g., 10%, 30%), SIMAP was applying the first recycled content to all related entries. The calculation was updated to use the correct recycled content for each entry. [to be posted 2/2/2021]
Updated historic air travel passenger yield ($/mi) factors prior to 2010 in the BTS version. [to be posted 2/2/2021]
Reports
Fertilizer and Animals: these two categories were formerly aggregated as the “Agriculture” category in the results and reports pages (and in the CCC and CMAP). The word “agriculture” was removed and this category renamed to “Fertilizer and Animals” in the Categories view of the Results page and the Annual Report page. [1/26/2018]
Data Mgmt
Calculation sources and methods: the selection of location based, market based, and custom fuel mix selections, version, global warming potential, eGrid regions, are now under the Data Management tab. [4/17/2018]
Global Warming Potential: there are now two versions of global warming potentials (GWP) available in SIMAP. Version AR4 is based on the IPCC Annual Report 4 in 2007. Version AR5 is based on the IPCC Annual Report 5 in 2014 (the latest report). SIMAP will default automatically to version AR4 for consistency with the US GHG Inventory; this is the only version that was previously in SIMAP. You can change which version of GWPs are used in your calculations on the 1. Account tab and Institution link. [3/19/218]
Import Log - Users can now track their imported files under the ‘Imports log’ link. You can see the name of the file, who uploaded it, whether it was successful, and the date of the upload. Note that any uploads prior to 15 March 2018 will not be visible on the imports log. [3/15/2018]
Electricity grid selection: added pre and post 2007 eGrid pick list and subregional maps. [1/11/2018]
Emission Factors Versions: (2/28/2018)
The ‘2016’ emissions factor version was renamed to ‘2017.’ The emissions factors were not changed. We renamed this version to 2017 because it includes updates to factors through 2017. In the coming months, we will be adding two additional versions of emissions factors: the data set from the CCC v9, and a new 2018 version of emissions factors with the 2016 eGrid update and new calculation guidelines. You can select which emissions factors version you would like to use at 1. Account -> Institution.