alaina ylitalo
abouthome

FERA Footprint Calculations

2025

Reducing human error and speeding up a critical Scope 3 carbon accounting workflow

// project overview

Greenplaces was pivoting under new product leadership to scale sustainability efforts over creating new customer-facing features.

We
identified FERA (Fuel and Energy Related Activities) as a critical bottleneck in current carbon accounting flows, meaning our internal teams wouldn’t use tooling we had built for them until FERA was complete.

// what is "FERA"?

FERA is the calculations of the pollution from everything that happened before the energy got to your organization.

// goals

  • Streamline workflows

  • Increase adoption of existing internal tools
  • Build automation foundation for future projects
  • 
Reduce risk for manual workflow human error

Problem Discovery

// identifying Problems

  • The existing process involved completing base calculations in the app, exporting data, and manually finishing calculations in spreadsheets.
  • This created a scalability bottleneck and introduced frequent human error through copy-paste steps.

  • A skeleton development team meant we needed to be hyper-strategic about scope and technical feasibility.
  • Carbon accounting team morale was impacted by suboptimal workflows and disconnected tooling.

  • Product team morale was low due to unclear vision.

  • Cross-team tension emerged as communication broke down and neither team felt supported.

// understanding current workflow

The existing process of FERA calculations meant a lot of manually transfering data in and out of the app multiple times with multiple steps of manual calcualtions as well.

// macro challenges

  • Considering a longer-term vision. Whats the ultimate review experience for all calcs? Is this pattern reusable?
  • Dependencies on data structure projects. Meant we may not be able to automate everything and keep the data flowing through the entire footprint calc process.
  • Deep understanding. These calculation workflows/and methodologies are complex.

Team Collaboration

// How we prioritized hands-on collaboration:

We knew for a workflow this unique and complex it was crucial to obtain a deep understanding of the complexities of the workflow and keeping the users at the core.

How we accomplished this:

  • Embedded a carbon accounting lead directly into the project team to provide fast, detailed feedback without disrupting day-to-day operations.

  • Held weekly syncs with the sustainability team to stay closely aligned and surface blockers early.

  • Mapped real workflows with users to deeply understand their current process and where friction occurred.

  • Prototyped using real examples so everything felt grounded in actual data—not abstract concepts.

// key Insights from the sustainability team

// Understanding key users and Tasks To Be Done

// Finding areas to optimize

    Solution Discovery

    // FERA Explorations

    Explored basic wireframes and higher fidelity mockups to explore:‍

    • Basic structure/functionality of feature
    • Different ways to handle data mapping
    • What we could show for reviewers
    • What to keep and what to get of from current patterns in app

    // FERA Explorations

    Biggest thing to figure out - what was needed ACTUALLY for reviewing the calculations?

    Final Solution

    // Key Details

    Features:

    • Easily sortable/filterable data table
    • Easily switch between calculation types
    • Straightforward review mechanics
    • Methodology and audit logs for auditors

    Callouts:

    • Kept trim due to resource constraints and completing priorities
    • Kept other calculations and broader review experiences in mind
    • Kicked off important bigger conversations about product strategy

    Conclusion & Reflections

    // results

    This project was scheduled for development in the near future and did not hit production by the time I left Greenplaces.

    // How we’ll measure success

    We’ll consider it successful when:

    • All FERA-related calculations (SC, PE, MC + FERA) are completed in-app
    • Time to complete FERA calculations is significantly reduced
    • Errors are minimized
    • The sustainability team reports improved confidence and sentiment

    // wins

    • Strengthened cross-functional relationships.
    • Understanding how to use AI to generate useful realistic artifacts for conversation.
    • Helped initiate long-term vision and strategy conversations.

    // What didn’t make it

    • A review tab to help surface data issues.
    • Automation into footprint—blocked by upstream data restructuring.
    • Full persona coverage—we had to prioritize key users.

    // Risks

    • Many other calculation workflows remain in spreadsheets.
    • Couldn’t validate with external carbon accountants due to confidentiality.

    // next project →

    © alaina ylitalo 2025
    have a wonderful day :)