Environment and Emissions
ScottMadden is committed to understanding the environmental impact of our operations and increasing the transparency of our reporting, especially related to business travel. We conduct annual emissions surveys to track our footprint, partner with local organizations such as the Atlanta Beltline to support urban greenspace maintenance, and continue working to offset our emissions.
Identifying Opportunities
We are considerate about managing our environmental impact while delivering top-tier consulting services. Environmental concerns are important to both our internal and external stakeholders. Key environmental topics include the impacts of climate change, greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), sustainability in service delivery, and energy efficiency. We are actively addressing these priority areas through initiatives involving our staff, clients, and the broader communities where we operate. As reported in 2024, we completed an inventory verification exercise and obtained limited assurance for our Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 GHG emissions. This year's update reflects the findings and incorporates the recommendations from that exercise.
2025 Highlights
We continued our efforts to mitigate our own emissions and environmental footprint.
Carbon Management Approach
Purchased offsets for 100% of our annual GHG emissions—as done since 2018—using high-quality, verified offsets, and continuously explored responsible mitigation strategies.
Expanded Carbon Emissions Coverage
Began measuring and reporting on additional Scope 3 emission sources, including waste generated from operations and purchased goods and services, to make our inventory more comprehensive and transparent.
Sustainable Office Practices
Supported waste reduction through composting programs in our Raleigh and Atlanta offices.
Employee Education and Engagement
Hosted a company-wide lunch-and-learn session to engage employees on our environmental and emissions initiatives, their relevance to our business, and key developments in climate- and sustainability-related news, fostering shared understanding and awareness across the organization.
Investment in Technology for Sustainability and Efficiency
Invested in office renovations and collaboration technology to improve in-office efficiency and reduce travel needs by enabling more effective planning and coordination for on-site client visits.
2025 Carbon Tracking
In 2025, we advanced our commitment to tracking and reporting on our emissions.
Our 2025 Scopes 1, 2, and 3 CO₂ emissions totaled 816 metric tons, calculated in compliance with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol’s Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard. This represents a nominal (<1%) decrease from 2024. Scope 3 emissions continue to represent the majority of our emissions, accounting for approximately 80% of the total.
In 2025, we expanded our Scope 3 inventory to include two additional categories—Purchased Goods and Services and Waste Generated from Operations—following insights from our 2024 assurance verification. Despite incorporating these new categories, our total Scope 3 emissions decreased by 7% year over year.
The reduction was driven primarily by lower business travel due to business conditions, particularly among our consulting staff, including decreases in both air and vehicle travel. We also transitioned our annual company meeting to a home-office format, eliminating the need for travel for non-remote staff and significantly reducing travel-related emissions across our three offices. These were temporary measures in response to business conditions and are unlikely to represent a permanent reduction.
ABOVE: Employees in the Atlanta office gathering for lunch.
Scope 2 emissions increased 27% from 2024. This change was mainly driven by an increase in energy usage at our Atlanta property. While the data we received is not suite-specific, energy usage throughout the summer and into the winter increased by an average of 36% between June and December, which aligns with the high temperatures we saw throughout the summer heading into September and the extreme drop in temperatures seen throughout the Southeast toward the end of the year. In addition, our Framingham office relocated to a slightly larger space to accommodate increased in-office utilization, contributing to higher electricity consumption compared to the prior year.
Recent Improvements in Emissions Tracking and Reporting
- Inclusion of Additional Emission Sources: Continued to research and assess ways to enhance the accuracy of emissions reporting and are committed to updating our tracking methods to comply with best practices.
- Collaboration with Property Managers: Worked with property managers to better understand and estimate electricity usage based on historical data.
- Refined Calculation Assumptions: Obtained limited assurance verification of our methodology and, in response to feedback from our assurance vendor, we have refined some assumptions to align more closely with the GHG protocol and EPA-recommended methodologies, including adopting EPA-provided spend-based emissions factors for certain types of expenditures (e.g., taxis).
