The Problem and the Opportunity
Climate change is the greatest challenge of our time, and understanding our impact is the first step to solving it.
Last year, our school paid over $20,000 for a carbon audit. While the report was insightful, it left a question in my mind:
‘Why aren’t students involved in understanding and calculating their school’s carbon footprint?’
That is the design problem I chose to tackle:
How can we empower students to create their own low-cost, accurate carbon audit using everyday tools like Google Sheets and school data?
The project is both a challenge and an opportunity to make environmental accountability transparent, educational and accessible within our school community.
Design Process
My design process followed the following these main steps:
- Research and Inspiration
I began by learning about the 2023 Carbon Audit Scam in Kenya, which showed how carbon reporting can be misused
I also learned how professional audits work.
2. Identifying Data Categories
I broke down the school’s emissions into areas like:
a) IC Trips (Field Trips)
b) Electricity Consumption:
c) Student Cafeteria Activities
d) Fossil fuel consumption
e) Water Bills
f) LPG Consumption:
Link to Process Journal and Reflection Video
Process Journal: Process Journal (Google Site)
Reflection Video:
Final Carbon Calculation Spreadsheet
V1: ISK Carbon Footprint Calculator 2025_v1
V2 (compressed version): ISK Carbon Audit_v2