Activity data·Downstream leased assets
How to measure emissions from Downstream leased assets: Information technology
IT hardware you own and place at a customer's premises - most commonly routers or network equipment supplied as part of a service - counts under Scope 3 Category 13 while you retain ownership. Record deployed unit counts by device model, plus lifetime or annual energy use in kWh where the platform covers your equipment. This differs from IT bought for your own offices, which sits in Category 1.
- Scope
- Scope 3 Category 13
- What activity data you need
- Unit, kWh
- Activity data
- Downstream leased assets
What counts as Downstream leased assets: Information technology
IT hardware - such as routers and network equipment - that the organisation owns and provides to tenants or customers as part of a leased or managed service, where the organisation retains ownership of the asset. Recorded as unit counts of equipment in use and, where available, kWh for the energy that equipment draws over its operating life.
Applies where the organisation retains title to hardware placed at a customer's premises, most commonly broadband or network equipment supplied under a service contract. This is not the organisation's own office IT (Category 1, see the general 'Information technology' page), and it is not the same as IT the organisation sells outright, where ownership transfers to the customer (see 'Use of sold products: Information technology').
How to collect the data
Use your asset register or fleet management system for unit counts of deployed equipment by device model. Where the platform's device-level subtypes match your equipment (for example a specific router model), use the lifetime or annual energy draw provided; where they don't, a unit-count entry alone is still useful. Track deployment and decommission dates so the reporting period reflects equipment actually in the field.
What activity data you need
Collect the most specific physical unit available. Unit definitions are in Appendix I — Description of Units.
- Unit
- kWh
Which emission scope it falls under
Downstream leased assets: Information technology activity data typically maps to Scope 3 Category 13 under the GHG Protocol. Confirm organisational boundary and ownership before reporting.
By emission scope
Compliance frameworks
Sub-types available in the platform
All 3 sub-types available in the platform.
- Router: Sagemcom: Broadband SAS: Annual use
- Router: Technicolor: Access Gateway (DGA0122GOM): Annual use
- Router: Technicolor: Access Gateway (TG789VAC): Annual use
Common questions
- Does home broadband router equipment belong here?
- Yes, if your organisation owns the router and supplies it to the customer as part of a service - this is the typical use case for this activity.
- What if we don't know the exact router model?
- Record the unit count regardless; if no device-level subtype matches, use the closest comparable model or note it as an unmatched unit for now and refine later.
- How is this different from IT we buy for our own offices?
- Office IT is a Category 1 purchased good you consume yourself. This page is Category 13, for equipment you own but deploy at a customer's site as part of a service.
- Should kWh be metered or estimated from the device model?
- In practice it's almost always estimated from the device model's rated or lifetime energy use, since customer-premises equipment isn't separately metered by the organisation that owns it.
- What happens when equipment is returned or decommissioned mid-year?
- Use the deployment and decommission dates to prorate the reporting period for that unit, rather than counting a full year of use for equipment only in service part of the time.
Next step
Start benchmarking your Downstream leased assets: Information technology footprint
Apply matching emission factors in Compare Your Footprint and compare your footprint against sector peers.