Summary

ODTÜ Teknokent, the technology park of Middle East Technical University, home to hundreds of R&D companies and startups, partnered with Voltfox to test whether hourly, granular accounting can improve Scope 2 accuracy. Our PoC demonstrated the value of Voltfox in calculating emissions using an hourly, location-based methodology. Because ODTÜ Teknokent also built an on-site solar power generation facility on campus, we additionally calculated amount of the direct emissions reduction due to this system using the same methodology.
Result: traditional annual-average calculations over-report emissions by ~27% versus our hourly, location-based approach for the same electricity use.

Why this PoC

Annual, single-factor methods smooth over the real, hour-to-hour swings in grid carbon intensity, hiding when renewable power actually covers demand and when it doesn’t. ODTÜ Teknokent wanted a clearer, audit-ready picture and, as a leading tech campus, invested in this PoC to set a leadership example for corporates on how next-gen emission accounting should be done and how its results can create tangible value in ESG reporting.

What we did

• Applied hourly, location-specific grid intensities to the campus’s electricity use.
• Performed granular, hour-by-hour matching between consumption and available renewable generation/certificates.
• Compared those results to the traditional single-factor baseline (kWh × one annual factor).
• Quantified the direct emissions reduction from the on-site solar using the same hourly, location-based framework.

What we found

• Traditional result: 4,557 tCO₂e
• Voltfox hourly result: 3,590 tCO₂e
• Delta: ~27% over-reporting under the traditional approach
• On-site solar impact: The on-site solar power generation reduced direct (location-based) emissions by ~18% during May and June.
• Hourly visibility showed exactly when renewables fully covered demand and pinpointed the specific hours where adding new generation, storage, or demand flexibility would most improve renewable matching and reduce emissions.

Why it matters

• Transparency & credibility: Hourly factors reflect the grid actually used, hour by hour supporting audit-ready reporting.
• Standards-aligned: In line with the direction of RE100 2025 and emerging GHG Protocol best practices on granular accounting.
• Actionable decarbonization: Pinpoints the specific hours and seasons where new contracts, storage, or additional on-site generation deliver the biggest real-world impact.

The takeaway for ODTÜ Teknokent

Granular accounting didn’t just reduce a number it produced a truer one. The PoC shows how hourly visibility converts ambition into targeted action, with defensible claims, clearer progress, and quantified benefits from on-site solar.