Albert Calculator user guide

What is the Albert toolkit?

Albert offers two tools: the carbon calculator and the carbon footprint reduction plan. The carbon calculator allows you to measure the carbon footprint of your production and the carbon footprint reduction plan helps you take steps to reduce it.

Create an Albert account

When you access the tool’s homepage, you will be prompted to log in. If you do not have an account, you can submit a request via the website. If the production company you work for already has an account, your request will be sent to the company administrator to set up your login. If your company does not have an account yet, your request will be sent directly to the Albert team.

Create a production

When you log in, you will see a list of the productions you have access to. To create a new production, click on “Add a print”. You will need to give us some details about your production, such as the production base, your start and end dates and your curator or contributor. You can select anyone who needs access to the production from the user drop-down list. If they don’t have an account yet, your company’s Albert administrator will need to create one for them.

Find your active production

When you log in to Albert, you will see a list of productions assigned to you on the screen. To be added to an existing production, you must contact your company administrator or a user of that production who will add you.

Types of accounts

User

This is the person who will be adding information and data to the calculator. This is normally a production coordinator, but anyone on the production team can fill this role. You can have multiple users add information in the same footprint.

Critic

The critic must be a production manager (such as a production manager) who will be responsible for implementing sustainability on the production. The critic does not have to enter any data into the calculator, but can view it at any time and ask users to make changes or edit their own information. Prior to the 2021 Albert ECU update, critics were required to approve prints and certifications prior to submission to Albert. This step has now been removed. Therefore, if production wants the reviewer to review the footprint before production sends it to the Albert team, they should contact their reviewer before submitting it.

Administrator

This is the person who has overall responsibility for the Albert account of a production company. This person must be internal to the company, as it will be their responsibility to create new users and productions, as well as assign users and reviewers to productions.

Co-productions

If you co-produce, you will have the option to invite the other company to edit the production’s footprint as well. Their administrator will receive a request to assign users to the production. From this point on, both companies will have access to the footprint.

Start a draft footprint

You should start a draft impression in the pre-production phase. A draft is important because it helps you understand which production areas are likely to have the greatest carbon impact. You can use your budget (if any) or data from a previous series. We don’t expect the data you submit here to be completely accurate, but by filling out a draft footprint, you’ll see which areas of production are likely to have the greatest impact (for example, if you have a high travel footprint, can you switch from air travel to rail travel?) For more inspiration, please see. By completing a draft footprint, you will become aware of what information you need to collect for the final footprint and which team members and other departments you will need to interact with. Remember, you need to capture data for the entire production period, including pre- and post-production. When you have completed the draft footprint, you can upload it and share it with the rest of the team. If you want to compare this draft with the final impression, you will need to upload it before finalizing the final impression.

Finalizing a design

During production, or as you edit, you will need to modify the draft impression entries with the final data. If there is anything that was not included in the draft, you can change it, add or delete items. Once you are satisfied that the elements entered are correct, you should finalize the impression and submit it. Be sure to contact the production reviewer if you would like them to verify it before submitting. Once you have submitted the print, Albert will audit it to make sure everything looks good and will get back to you within 10 business days.

Print Status

Not started
The impression has been created, but no data has been entered.

In progress
Data has been entered into the impression, but not all entries have been finalized.

Ready to submit
All forms have been finalized and the footprint is ready for submission.

 

Submitted for audit
Finalized forms have been submitted to Albert.

Changes needed
Albert requested clarification on a footprint that was submitted. The user needs to log in and modify it based on the comments left by the auditor.

Complete
No further action on the impression is required. You may need to send confirmation of the completed impression to the broadcast company or production contributor if they require it.

Late
The production’s footprint was not submitted after the post production completion date.

Carbon Footprint Reduction Plan

The Carbon Footprint Reduction Plan is designed for productions that want to not only measure their carbon footprint, but actively take steps to reduce it. While this is an optional step for most productions, some broadcast companies require you to complete an action plan, so be sure to check it out if you are unsure. It is free to use and productions that successfully complete it get a digital certification logo that can be added to the end credits of the production. If the production is using the Albert Calculator and is already looking to reduce its footprint, you should definitely consider completing a carbon footprint reduction plan so that your hard work is recognized. We give productions 1, 2 or 3 stars based on the number and type of actions taken.

Types of Carbon Footprint Reduction Plan Questions

The Carbon Footprint Reduction Plan has 3 types of questions. Filtering questions:

These questions generate the next question if the answer is yes. These were introduced to make all certification questions relevant to different types of productions and genres. These questions do not change the scoring. Mandatory questions: must be answered yes to receive Albert certification. Optional questions: these questions are not required, but count toward the score for better certification results.

How do I start a carbon footprint reduction plan?

The carbon footprint reduction plan should be initiated during pre-production. The first step is to fill out a questionnaire based on the actions that the production will take. The form can be used as a checklist of actions that the production can take. Then go through the list carefully and think about the positive actions the production can take. The carbon footprint reduction plan should be a team effort, so be sure to interact with all department heads and other members of production to explore what is possible in each area.

Provide evidence

Once the production submits its questions on the carbon footprint reduction plan, Albert will select a minimum of 10 actions for which the production will be required to provide documentation to prove that it has successfully completed these tasks. Your evidence must consist of official documents such as invoices, contracts, kit lists, etc. If your production needs the Albert logo before some of these documents can be uploaded, you can instead share emails and planning documents and submit them for initial review. You will still need to upload final documents at the end of production to complete your carbon footprint reduction plan. Be sure to submit your initial credentials at least 10 business days before you need the logo.

Complete the Carbon Footprint Reduction Plan

After uploading the logo, you will still need to complete the carbon footprint reduction plan. There may be outstanding credentials (your Albert evaluator will let you know if this is the case). Or if everything is perfect, you can simply click Submit.

Carbon Footprint Reduction Plan Scoring

Production must meet a minimum of 55% of the actions in the carbon footprint reduction plan to achieve a 1-star Albert certification, 70% to achieve 2 stars, and 85% to achieve 3 stars. These include compliance with all mandatory questions.

Carbon Footprint Reduction Plan Status

No status
No action plan has been added to production.

Not started
The carbon footprint reduction plan has been added, but the questionnaire has not been started.

In progress
Some responses have been added to the questionnaire.

Assessment of Ongoing Actions
Questions have been submitted to the Albert team for the first evaluation and justification request. Proofs will be requested within 5 business days.

Required Proofs
The Albert team has requested credentials and production can begin uploading them to the website.

Credential Evaluation
Credentials have been submitted to Albert. The Albert team will evaluate the evidence within 10 business days.

Changes required
The Albert team has requested changes to the evidence provided. Production can view the comments made by Albert in the activity log and make the necessary changes.

To be completed
The production has obtained its end credits logo, but the carbon footprint reduction plan has yet to be finalized.

Complete
The carbon footprint reduction plan is complete and the production has achieved Albert certification.

Rejected
The production has not achieved Albert certification.

Offset
To successfully complete a carbon footprint reduction plan in the UK, productions must be carbon neutral. If the production was not commissioned in the UK, it can still complete the carbon footprint reduction plan and can choose to voluntarily offset the remaining emissions. To achieve carbon neutrality, production must decarbonize as much as possible by reducing energy consumption, choosing renewable energy, electric transportation, etc., and then the remaining emissions will need to be offset. These emissions can be offset by Albert or by another reputable offset project. Visit our offset page for more information. Offsetting typically costs less than 0.1% of a production’s budget, but it is important that you complete a draft footprint so that you know how much to budget for offsetting and so that you can see areas where you may be able to reduce the impact of the production. You will need to complete a final footprint in order to have the exact final production amounts.

Reporting on your footprint and carbon footprint reduction plan

Once you have completed the production footprint and carbon footprint reduction plan, you will be able to download and share reports on the data collected. There are four types of reports. Standard reports: detailed reports on the emissions of a single production.

Contact Albert

If you have further questions, you can send an email to albert@bafta.org Please mention the name of your production and the country in which it is based in the subject line.