Reviewed by Louisa Cilenti · CLO · verified 1 September 2026ISO 14064-1 for data centres
ISO 14064-1 specifies how an organisation quantifies and reports its greenhouse gas inventory. For a data centre it sets the rules for the organisational boundary, the treatment of indirect emissions, and — critically for colocation — how emissions attributable to tenants are identified and disclosed.
It is the standard that makes a carbon figure independently verifiable rather than self-declared. That distinction is the one a customer’s auditor will ask about when they receive an emissions statement from their colocation provider.
What a data centre specifically has to show.
Organisational boundary
A stated consolidation approach, and for colocation an explicit position on which emissions belong to the operator and which are attributed onward to tenants.
Direct and indirect emissions
Categorised quantification covering direct emissions, imported energy, and the indirect categories the standard requires you to consider and either include or justify excluding.
Quantification methodology
Documented methods, emission factors and their sources, applied consistently year to year so a change in the number reflects a change in reality.
Uncertainty and exclusions
Stated uncertainty and any exclusions with reasoning. Silent exclusions are the fastest route to a qualified verification opinion.
Verification-ready record
The inventory report and the evidence behind every figure, held so that a third-party verifier can trace a number back to its source.
What the auditor actually asked us for.
We hold ISO 9001, 14001 and 27001 with zero non-conformities. This is the evidence list our own stage 2 audit worked from — original material, not a restatement of the standard.
Common questions
What is the difference between ISO 14064-1 and the GHG Protocol?
They are compatible rather than competing. The GHG Protocol is the widely used accounting framework; ISO 14064-1 is a standard against which an inventory can be independently verified and certified. Most organisations account to the GHG Protocol and verify to ISO 14064-1.
How do we attribute emissions to colocation tenants?
Through a stated boundary rule that apportions shared infrastructure alongside directly metered load. The rule matters more than the arithmetic: an auditor will accept several reasonable methods, and will reject any method that is not written down and applied consistently.
Is verification required?
Not by the standard itself, but an unverified inventory carries much less weight with a customer disclosing your figure in their own report. Verification is what turns a claim into evidence.
See how close you already are.
Upload the policies and registers you already hold. The assessment scores them against the EU Code of Conduct practices and itemises what is partially and non-compliant, in about ten minutes.
Talk to us- ISO 14064-1:2018 · Greenhouse gases — Part 1: Specification with guidance at the organization level
- ISO 14064-3:2019 · Greenhouse gases — Part 3: Specification with guidance for the verification and validation of greenhouse gas statements
- GHG Protocol · Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard, and the Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard
- Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/1364 · First phase of the common Union rating scheme for data centres
Reviewed by Louisa Cilenti. Last verified 1 September 2026.
