Update Log

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 were archived in the SIMAP Updates Archive. The revised format below is organized by date.

SIMAP Update Log

View all past SIMAP newsletters

Coming Soon

  • 2024 version of emission factors: Updated to the most current data sets, these emissions factors will include the latest electricity emissions factors, carbon contents, heating contents, and more.
  • Mobile FERA: As part of the 2024 emission factor updates, we will be adding FERA emission factors for scope 1 mobile sources. The placeholder for mobile FERA emission factors was added to SIMAP on 7/29/2024, but there will be no changes in emissions calculations until the 2024 emission factors are released. 

Recent updates, organized by date

  • 9/23/2024: Scope 3 - Purchased food categories and emission factors. We added a new version of food categories in SIMAP, the Coolfood Pledge version, which includes 56 food categories that align with the World Resources Institute's Coolfood Pledge. Both the Basic version (18 categories) and the Coolfood Pledge version use carbon emission factors from Poore & Nemecek 2018. We plan on updating the nitrogen contents of the Coolfood Pledge categories in 2025. 
  • 7/29/2024: Scope 2 report. You can now view all of your relevant scope 2 data in one place with the Scope 2 Report on the Reports tab. 
  • 7/29/2024: eCO2 utility emission factors. You can now view the calculated eCO2 utility emission factors (combined CO2 + CH4 + N2O) in your account. Note that there have been no changes in emission factors and previous calculations will not be affected. eCO2 factors cannot be edited. 
  • 7/29/2024: Purchasing data v1.2. We updated the purchasing data version to align with the EPA's most recent release of factors from their Environmentally Extended Input-Output (EEIO) database. Version 1.2 includes updated emission factors based on 2021 dollars and new categories based on the NAICS categories.
  • 7/29/2024: Purchasing data keyword search. You can now search the summary and detail purchasing data categories with key words to help narrow down your options.
  • 7/29/2024: New GWP version: AR6. We incorporated the latest global warming potential version: Assessment Report 6. This has minor changes in global warming potential for most greenhouse gases to reflect improved scientific understanding and changes in atmospheric composition.
  • 7/29/2024: Mobile FERA emission factors placeholder added. The placeholder for mobile FERA emission factors was added to SIMAP, but there will be no changes in emissions calculations until the 2024 emission factors are released. 
  • 4/12/2024: New user type that can only edit AND view a single campus. This new user type will be restricted to editing and viewing a single campus/location. This could be useful in cases where you want to protect data confidentiality for other locations. This feature only applies to Tier 2 accounts.
  • 12/20/2023: New normalizations for staff/faculty and multi-campus accounts. Previously, the only population normalizations were for FTE students and weighted campus users. We added the ability to normalize to two other populations: FTE staff and FTE faculty. Normalizations have also been added to the Campus Comparison Report on the reports tab for comparisons across campuses. 
  • 12/20/2023: Scope 2 - International electricity emission factors customization by campus. If your institution is outside the US or Canada, then you can enter a custom electricity emissions factor. However, for Tier 2 accounts, the international electricity emission factors previously could not be customized by campus. We have updated this functionality so that a custom electricity emissions factor can be entered by campus for international institution. Note - US and Canada Tier 2 institutions can already customize electricity emission factors for each campus.
  • 11/29/2023: Renamed chemicals and refrigerants. We updated the names for some chemicals and refrigerants to more commonly used names. This was usually a change from a chemical formula to a common name. Your data entry will remain unchanged; only the names were updated.
  • 9/18/2023: Scope 2 - Steam and chilled water in graphs. Previously, the GHG Protocol categories graph has a single scope 2 category that combines purchased electricity, steam, and chilled water. We have split this out into 2 categories: purchased electricity and purchased steam/chilled water. 
  • 9/18/2023: - Scope 2 - Steam and chilled water custom fuel mix. Previously, a custom fuel mix for steam or chilled water was only applied when the scope 2 method for custom fuel mix was selected. Since there are not location-based or market-based emission factors for steam and chilled water, we have updated this calculation so that the custom fuel mix for steam and chilled water will be applied with any scope 2 method. The supplier-specific emissions factor will continue to override the custom fuel mix.
  • 8/9/2023: Scope 2 - Electricity emission factors. Corrected eGrid electricity emission factors for CH4 and N2O. These emission factors were corrected for data years 2018, 2019, and 2020+, and for SIMAP Emission Factor Versions 2021 and 2022. This change applies for scope 2 market-based and location-based methods. Scope 2 purchased electricity results are expected to change <5%, and net footprint results are expected to change <1%.
  • 8/9/2023: Scope 3 - Purchasing emission factors. With the early 2023 launch of the purchasing emission factors functionality, SIMAP used the EPA EEIO version 1.0 emission factors. However, the EPA is now retiring that data set. Because of this, we updated to the latest EPA EEIO emission factor version that uses the same structure and categories: Version 1.1.1. Note that we retained the version 1.0 category names for consistency, but the same category codes apply. In April 2023, EPA released a newer version of EEIO emission factors (2.0) that uses a different set of categories. SIMAP will update to this latest version in 2024.
  • 8/9/2023: Scope 3 - Student travel to/from home. Previously, student travel to/from home data entry was restricted to 1 entry per year and the modal split had to total 100%. Similar to updates to commuting and to facilitate customization, we relaxed this restriction in two ways: 1) Multiple entries can be made for a time period, and 2) The modal split no longer needs to total 100%.
  • 8/9/2023: Graph loading time. With updated summing calculations, the graph loading time has been improved significantly.
  • 8/9/2023: Notebook entries. All notebook entries can now be edited their author or by the account owner. Previously, notebook entries were locked.
  • 4/13/2023: Customized report. A new report is now available on the Reports tab. The customized report includes all scope 1 and scope 2 categories by default, and it then allows users to select which scope 3 categories they would like to include. The results can be exported and are displayed using multiple graph views. 
  • 3/7/2023: New exported summary table. A new summary csv was added to the export results package when results are exported from the Data Mgmt tab > Export data page.
  • 3/1/2023: New SIMAP version of emission factors (2022 version) released. See the EF Versions page for more details. 
  • 3/1/2023: Scope 3 - GHG Protocol categories. The scope 3 data entry was reorganized to following the 15 GHG Protocol scope 3 categories. Some SIMAP scope 3 categories were organized under a new scope 3 heading, and new scope 3 categories were incorporated. See the scope 3 mapping page for more details. 
  • 3/1/2023: Graphs - Categories. All graphs using the categories view have been updated to provide two category options: 'Higher ed categories,' which uses the category organization previously available in SIMAP, and 'GHG Protocol categories,' which uses the categories defined by the GHG Protocol.
  • 3/1/2023: Scope 3 - Purchasing data. A new emissions factors data set was incorporated into SIMAP that allows for purchasing data entry in any scope 3 category. The data set is from the EPA EEIO database, and the emission factors are in units of emissions per US dollars. For more information, see the purchasing data guidance page. 
  • 3/1/2023: Scope 3 - Entry in metric tons CO2 equivalents. If you have calculated your own scope 3 results, you can now enter those for any category. Just select one of the purchasing categories and assign it to the appropriate scope 3 category.
  • 3/1/2023: Scope 3 - FERA. A new category with automated calculations was incorporated into SIMAP. FERA (Fuel- and energy-related activities) reflects all upstream emissions associated with on-site fuel use. SIMAP already had one aspect of FERA (T&D losses for electricity). This update incorporates upstream scope 3 emissions associated with on-site stationary fuel usage. These scope 3 emissions are now automatically calculated for any scope 1 stationary fuels in your account. To view your results without FERA, see the new Customized Report on the Reports tab. In a future update, SIMAP will incorporate scope 3 FERA emissions for mobile fuels and for scope 2 purchased electricity. For more information see this page on FERA.
  • 3/1/2023: Scope 3 - Purchased food emission factors. To better align with the Cool Food Pledge and the latest science, we updated the food carbon footprint calculations to emissions factors from Poore & Nemecek 2018 in the 2022 version of emission factors. These updated food emission factors have a broader system bounds by including food waste, so expect your food emissions to increase by 20-30%.
  • 3/1/2023: Calculated eCO2 emission factors. Your eCO2 emission factors are now calculated in SIMAP based on the method selections and customization in your account. You can view these eCO2 factors on the Data Entry tab > Emission Factors page or by exporting your activity data and EFs on the Data Mgmt tab > Export Data page. Previously, it was possible to customize eCO2 emission factors in SIMAP. Note that any customized eCO2 factors should be moved over to the customized CO2 emission factors field to ensure they continue to be applied to your calculations. 
  • 3/1/2023: Public reporting data entry alerts. Whenever data is edited for a year that has already been publicly reported, an alert will appear to remind the user to edit the associated public emissions report. Data on public reporting is not automatically updated after changes are made in a SIMAP account; the change must be made on the Account tab > Emission reports page. 
  • 9/19/2022: New graph added to Public Reporting Module. A summary graph was added to the institution pages for all public reporting institutions on the Public Reporting Module. The graph shows the emissions over time along with a goal line. 
  • 9/6/2022: Scope 3 - Student travel to/from home for Tier 2. Updated so that a unique student travel to/from home entry can be made for each secondary campus.
  • 7/7/2022: Public reporting institution page customization. Customize your institution's public page with your logo, a photo banner, and a text description on the Account tab > Goals page.
  • 7/7/2022: Public reporting for Tier 2. Public reporting by campus is now possible for Tier 2 multi-campus account. 
  • 3/14/2022: Scope 3 - T&D losses. The eGrid loss factors were updated to reflect EPA eGRID 2022 data. These T&D loss factors had not been updated in February 2022 along with the other EF updates. 
  • 2/18/2022: Public Reporting Module now live. The SIMAP Public Reporting Module replaces Second Nature's Reporting Platform as the interface where signatories to a Second Nature commitment should now report their annual results. Currently, public reporting is limited to higher ed institutions that are signatories to a Second Nature commitment. We plan to open up public reporting to more institutions in the future. 
  • 2/18/2022: SIMAP 2021 version of emission factors released. See the EF Versions page for more details. 
  • 2/18/2022: New commuting modes - Electric vehicles and telecommuting. These two new options are available in the modal split for commuting data entry. The conversion factors for telecommuting (kWh/day) and electric vehicles (kWh/mile) can be viewed and customized on the Data Entry tab > Scope 3 factors page. 
  • 2/18/2022: New scope 3 wastewater treatment methods. To better reflect wastewater treatment in the US and align with EPA emission factors, the 'anaerobic digestion' method was renamed to 'aerobic + anaerobic digestion', and we added a new mode 'anaerobic + anaerobic digestion.' For more information, see the wastewater page. 
  • 8/12/2021: The degree days in SIMAP were updated to correct for differences in the timeframes of NOAA's Degree Day Data. Previous total degree days in SIMAP were not aligned and were missing a portion of the cooling degree days. This has been corrected. See the degree days page for more information. 

For all SIMAP updates prior to August 2021, see the SIMAP Updates Archive. As always, contact us at simap@unh.edu with any questions.