About Environmental sustainability

Applies To: Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Feature Pack, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012

The Environmental sustainability dashboard helps you determine your organization’s environmental footprint. By using the dashboard, you can track the raw materials and energy that your organization consumes. You can then calculate and record the flow of finished products to customers, and the flow of hazardous emissions into the environment. When you adjust the way that your organization views consumption, you can take the following steps:

• Evaluate your organization’s current effect on the environment.

• Identify opportunities to reduce your organization’s environmental footprint.

• Calculate and record the flow of potentially hazardous substances into the environment.

• Implement environmentally sustainable practices.

• Maintain your status as a preferred vendor for customers.

You can use the reporting framework of the Global Greenhouse Protocol (GHG) and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) to help report on the acquisition and emission of multiple types of substances.

The following process flow illustrates the business process for Environmental sustainability.

Example: How Fabrikam uses Environmental sustainability

This scenario describes the steps that Fabrikam takes to set up Environmental sustainability.

Fabrikam manufactures lamps. During the manufacturing and packaging processes, Fabrikam purchases raw materials, such as plastic pellets and steel. Fabrikam also produces indirect emissions, through its use of electricity, and direct emissions, through its use of fossil fuels for heating.

As it moves toward environmental sustainability, Fabrikam uses the Environmental sustainability dashboard to determine the impact that the organization's everyday business has on the environment, and to discover solutions for reducing the organization's environmental impact.

The following sections describe the high-level steps that Fabrikam takes to start measuring its environmental impact:

• Prerequisites for setting up the Environmental sustainability dashboard

• Setup of the Environmental sustainability dashboard

• Reporting on collected data

Setup prerequisites

Before the Environmental sustainability dashboard is set up, Fabrikam considers which features meet the requirements of the organization's operations. Considerations for environmental tracking include the following issues:

• Organizational and operational boundaries – Determine which organizations and operations in Fabrikam are included.

• Equity share vs. control – Determine the basis that is used to report on the impact of shared assets. Reporting can be based on the organization's partial ownership, or equity share. Alternatively, reporting can be based on the control that the organization exerts on the asset, or control.

• Emissions sources and scope – Determine which emission sources and scope levels are included.

• Measurement and calculation methods – Determine how Fabrikam measures the substances that it wants to track, and how it performs calculations.

• Direct and indirect energy types – Determine which direct and indirect energy types are included.

Fabrikam purchases materials from several sources. The following list describes some of the materials that Fabrikam must purchase:

• Water and electricity to cool and operate the organization's machinery

• Oil to heat the organization's buildings

• Steel for the organization's projects

• Plastics for the organization's packaging

Before he sets up the Environmental sustainability dashboard, Vince, the Fabrikam operations manager, must perform a process analysis. This analysis examines how materials enter the company, and how much waste is created during regular business processes. After Vince identifies all parts of the operation, he creates a process map in Microsoft Dynamics AX. This map illustrates how materials pass through the Fabrikam organization.

Vince must make sure that he includes all the materials that the company wants to track. For example, water use and electricity use are not usually recorded, but they are tracked by financial cost. The plastic that is used for packaging is tracked in inventory and by financial cost, but the actual use may not always be tracked. As a result, there may be a surplus or a deficit of plastic in the organization’s inventory.

After Vince creates the process map, he can set up the Environmental sustainability dashboard in Microsoft Dynamics AX and begin tracking the usage of materials at Fabrikam. He can then create reports based on the information that he tracks.

Setup

The following table contains a list of tasks that Vince must complete to set up the Environmental sustainability dashboard for Fabrikam. These tasks must be performed in the order in which they are listed.

After Vince sets up the Environmental sustainability dashboard in Microsoft Dynamics AX, Fabrikam workers can help track and report on the organization’s environmental impact.

Entering and collecting data

After setup is complete, Fabrikam must gather enough data to calculate and report on the organization's environmental impact. Workers who belong to various roles throughout the organization help collect data. When the Environmental sustainability dashboard is activated, workers may be required to enter additional data into forms while they perform their regular job duties. The following table describes the tasks that various Fabrikam workers can perform to help collect data.

Reporting collected data and information

After enough time has passed for Fabrikam to collect substantial data, reports can be created in either the Microsoft Dynamics AX client or Enterprise Portal.

The Environmental sustainability reports show the effects that Fabrikam’s business operations have on the environment. By using the data in these reports, Fabrikam can identify areas where the organization can modify its business practices to reduce its environmental impact. The following table lists the reports that Fabrikam can create in Enterprise Portal.