Using the calculator
What can I use this calculator for?
Use the calculator to compare the estimated flight emissions and potential offset costs of up to four offsite destinations. It's designed to help remote teams factor the environmental impact of travel into their destination planning and to budget estimates to offset that impact, if you'd like to do so.
Do I need to choose an offsite destination before using the calculator?
No, the calculator is designed to compare potential destinations to help you at the planning stage. Enter up to four destinations to see how the team's estimated flight emissions and potential offset costs compare.
Can I use this for a large team?
Yes, the calculator works with teams distributed across multiple departure airports. Enter the number of people traveling from each airport, or upload a CSV file with this information.
How should I format the CSV file?
Use two columns: airport and people. Enter the city or airport name (or IATA code, if you know it) and the number of team members travelling from that location. Use one row per departure airport. to get started.
Understanding your estimate
What do the estimates cover?
The estimates cover flights to and from the offsite and assume economy-class travel. They give an estimate of emissions rather than measuring emissions from specific flights.
How are flight emissions calculated?
The calculator uses data from the Google Travel Impact Model API to estimate greenhouse gas emissions from air travel between two airports. It takes the number of people travelling from each departure airport into account and includes both the outbound and return journeys.
Are these estimates based on actual flights?
No. The calculator uses the Google Travel Impact Model's estimates for air travel between two airports rather than data from specific flight bookings. The results give an estimate of the team's flight emissions.
Why does the calculator only include flights?
Flights are one part of an offsite where reliable emissions data is readily available. For hotels and ground transportation, there isn't currently a similarly reliable and accessible source of data that the calculator can use. Rather than make assumptions or use less reliable estimates, the calculator focuses on flights for now.
Why don't hotels and ground transportation count?
Hotels and ground transportation also contribute to an offsite's emissions, but reliable, accessible data isn't readily available for these parts of the trip. Including them would mean the calculator would either make assumptions or use less reliable estimates.
Understanding the offset cost
What does the offset cost estimate mean?
The offset cost gives the team an idea of how much it may cost to address the emissions estimated by the calculator, based on current prices from Climeworks and Tradewater. Use it for planning and research and as a budgeting estimate, not a quote or ESG disclosure.
Why are offset costs shown as a range?
The cost of addressing emissions can vary depending on where carbon credits or carbon removal are purchased from. The range shown here is based on current prices from Climeworks and Tradewater, two organisations featured on this website.