Metrics
Build your baseline
You can't improve what you can't see. Stack 1 builds visibility — what you're doing, what's happening around you, what resources you have to work with.
Most businesses operate with incomplete visibility. They know revenue and costs at a high level, but can't answer basic questions about their operation: How much energy do we actually use? Where does our waste go? What are our real input costs per unit?
When a buyer asks for Scope 3 data, they scramble. When a bank wants sustainability metrics for a loan application, they guess. When regulations require disclosure, they hire consultants to figure out what they should already know.
Stack 1 fixes this. Not with a one-time audit, but with a system that makes visibility the default state.
The three lenses
Your operation
What are you actually doing? Map your inputs (energy, water, materials, labor), outputs (products, waste, emissions), and the flows between them. This is the foundation everything else builds on.
Your environment
What game are you playing? Understand your market position, competitive dynamics, regulatory landscape, and customer expectations. External context shapes which metrics matter most.
Your budget
What's your financial reality? Cash position, investment capacity, constraints. Knowing what you can afford to measure — and what you can't afford not to — determines where to start.
What you're building
A baseline isn't just numbers in a spreadsheet. It's a system that captures:
- Resource flows — energy, water, materials in and out
- Cost mapping — where money actually goes, not where you think it goes
- Production metrics — output per input, efficiency ratios, utilization rates
- External benchmarks — how you compare to industry standards and competitors
The goal is a single source of truth you can query when someone asks a question — whether that's a buyer, a bank, a regulator, or yourself.
The milestone
You've completed Stack 1 when you have a baseline. You know your numbers. You can answer basic questions about your operation without guessing.
What this unlocks
- →Respond to buyer sustainability questionnaires with confidence
- →Answer Scope 3 data requests from customers
- →Complete the data foundation for VSME or CSRD reporting
- →Know where your money actually goes before making investment decisions
- →Move to Stack 2 with the visibility needed to find leaks
The systemic impact
The data you build here is the same data you need for emissions tracking, resource reporting, and regulatory disclosure. You're not doing sustainability work and business work separately — it's one effort with two outcomes. Every metric that helps you run your operation better is also a metric that satisfies external requirements.
Common starting points
The buyer request
A major customer asks for your carbon footprint or sustainability data. You realize you don't have it. Stack 1 builds the system so you're never caught off guard again.
The financing application
A bank or investor wants sustainability metrics as part of due diligence. You need credible numbers, not estimates. Stack 1 gives you audit-ready documentation.
The cost mystery
You know you're spending too much on energy or waste, but you can't pinpoint where. Stack 1 maps the flows so you can see what's actually happening.
The regulatory deadline
CSRD, VSME, or industry-specific reporting is coming. You need a data foundation before you can report. Stack 1 builds that foundation.
What good looks like
A complete Stack 1 implementation means:
- ✓You can pull energy, water, and waste data for any period within 24 hours
- ✓Your cost-per-unit calculations are based on actual data, not estimates
- ✓You know how you compare to industry benchmarks
- ✓You can answer a standard sustainability questionnaire without new research
- ✓Your data is documented well enough to survive an audit
This doesn't require enterprise software or a dedicated sustainability team. It requires a system — even if that system is well-organized spreadsheets with clear data collection protocols.
Common mistakes
Measuring everything
You don't need perfect data on every input and output. Start with the metrics that matter most — usually energy, key materials, and primary waste streams. Expand from there.
One-time snapshot
A baseline isn't a report you produce once. It's a system that updates. Build for ongoing visibility, not a single deliverable.
Ignoring external context
Your internal metrics mean nothing without benchmarks. Industry standards, competitor performance, regulatory thresholds — external context tells you whether your numbers are good or bad.
Waiting for perfect data
Good enough to act is good enough. Start with what you have, improve as you go. Perfect data that arrives too late is worth less than directional data that arrives now.
Go deeper
Ready to build your baseline?
Start with the free Metrics assessment to see where you stand, or get the complete toolkit to build your system.
Next stack
Efficiency — Stopping the leaks
Last updated: January 2026