science

GHGProof

GHGProof is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand GHGProof rather than just read about it. In short: GHGProof is an open-source model designed to evaluate the impacts of land-use decisions on greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption at the community scale. It has been developed by Sustainability Solutions Group, a Canadian workers co-operative, and has been widely used in British Columbia since 2008, with regular revisions and updates from SSG's GHGProof pages.

Key takeaways

GHGProof belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect GHGProof to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of GHGProof from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

GHGProof is an open-source model designed to evaluate the impacts of land-use decisions on greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption at the community scale. It has been developed by Sustainability Solutions Group, a Canadian workers co-operative, and has been widely used in British Columbia since 2008, with regular revisions and updates from SSG's GHGProof pages. Reviews of GHGProof and comparison to other modelling platforms may be found in references.

History GHGProof was first conceived in a project designed to evaluate the impact of a land-use plan on Salt Spring Island in BC, commissioned by the Islands Trust. Following this project, SSG was awarded a research grant from CMHC and worked with the Fraser Valley Regional District to develop an open source model for wide distribution. GHGProof was piloted with the City of Abbotsford and the Town of Hope, and baseline GHG inventories were created for a workshop with all the FVRD municipalities in which they could develop scenarios. The Government of BC requires that all municipalities include GHG targets in their official community plans, creating an incentive for this type of modelling. An article in Municipal World describes the use of the model in the FVRD.

Architecture GHGProof consists of two components. The first component is a series of analysis in GIS that analyse travel behaviour, building distribution and forest and agricultural areas for a community. The second component is an excel spreadsheet that takes inputs from the GIS analysis and uses a series of calculations to generate GHG emissions, energy use and energy costs for a community. For a detailed summary on the structure of the model see the GHGProof Guidebook. Interactive skins have been placed over the model to facilitate community engagement.

Scope GHGProof includes GHG emissions and reductions from public and private transportation, mode shifting to walking and cycling, commercial transportation, private dwellings, commercial buildings, embodied carbon from road construction, district energy, agricultural practices, liquid and solid waste, food miles (transportation of food), forest area and forest practices. New parameters are added periodically. Outputs of the model include total GHG emissions, per capita GHG emissions, reductions by type, energy use by type, vehicle kilometres travelled, mode share$, savings from energy$, of investment, jobs created and marginal abatement cost.

Uses GHGProof has been used by communities to evaluate land-use planning decisions including to develop an achievable GHG target, develop a realistic strategy to achieve a target, evaluate a large-scale development proposal and evaluate a land-use plan.

Licence GHGProof is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Municipalities where GHGProof has been used Abbotsford View Royal Fraser Valley Regional District Capital Regional District North Cowichan Kent, British Columbia University of British Columbia Port Clements Village of Queen Charlotte Masset Chilliwack Salt Spring Island Lasqueti Island North Saanich Comox, BC Hope, British Columbia Sunshine Coast Regional District

References

Official page GHGProof from Sustainability Solutions Group

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with GHGProof

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what GHGProof claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to GHGProof before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about GHGProof ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of GHGProof

In research: GHGProof appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses GHGProof in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: GHGProof is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Environment of Canada, Greenhouse gas emissions, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for GHGProof outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study GHGProof in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what GHGProof means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain GHGProof out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is GHGProof in simple terms?

Why does GHGProof matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study GHGProof?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on GHGProof.