Amount of energy both generated and consumed by the organization from renewable sources during the reporting period.
Organizations should footnote all assumptions used.
NOTE: This metric will be deprecated in a forthcoming update to the IRIS Catalog of Metrics. users are advised to instead report Energy Generated for Use: Total (OI9624), disaggregated by Primary Energy Source (OI3781), all options under Renewable.
This metric is intended to capture the amount of renewable energy both produced and used by the organization. For example, if an organization installed solar panels at its factory, it would report the amount of energy produced and used from those panels.
Renewable energy sources include solar, wind, geothermal, hydro energy, and biomass, among other forms. Organizations can refer to the glossary for additional information.
Large-scale hydropower is often excluded from the definition of renewable energy. Although water itself is a renewable resource, the natural ecology of rivers is not, and hydroelectric dams can adversely affect aquatic ecosystems. Organizations can refer to the Low Impact Hydropower Institute (http://lowimpacthydro.org) for further guidance on creating low-impact hydropower operations.
In some contexts, this metric can serve as an indicator of whether the outcome being sought by an investor or organization is occurring (the WHAT dimension of impact). For more on the alignment of IRIS metrics to the five dimensions of impact, see IRIS+ and the Five Dimensions of Impact (https://iris.thegiin.org/document/iris-and-the-five-dimensions/). No single metric is sufficient to understand an impact; rather, metrics are selected as a set across all dimensions of impact. When possible, the selection of metrics to measure and describe the five dimensions should be based on best practice and evidence.
This is a submetric of Energy Generated for Use: Total (OI9624), which has 1 other related submetrics.
Metrics identified as "cross-category" are those that are relevant to any IRIS+ Impact Category or Impact Theme (i.e., these metrics are not specific to any particular industry/category or theme).
June 2022 - IRIS v5.3 Released (current version)
Immaterial change. Minor revisions to definition and usage guidance for clarity.
January 2020 - IRIS v5.1 Released
No change.
May 2019 - IRIS v5.0 Released
No change.
March 2016 - IRIS v4.0 Released
Immaterial change. Energy Generated for Use: Renewable (OI2496) replaced Energy Produced On-site: Renewable (OI2496). Metric name and definition modified to improve accuracy.
March 2014 - IRIS v3.0 Released
Immaterial change. Minor revision to metric name and definition language for clarity.
November 2011 - IRIS v2.2 Released
No change.
February 2011 - IRIS v2.1 Released
No change.
September 2010 - IRIS v2.0 Released
Material change. Energy Produced On-site: Renewable (OI2496) and Energy Purchased: Renewable (OI3324) replaced Renewable Energy (OEN37). Metric bifurcated in order to increase specificity by distinguishing between purchased and self-produced energy.
September 2009 - IRIS v1.0 Released
New metric. Renewable Energy (OEN37) was developed via the Original IRIS Working Group.
IRIS Metrics Work Better in Sets
To use IRIS metrics—and the resulting data—to understand impact performance, IRIS metrics should be used and analyzed in generally accepted sets and according to well-defined objectives. IRIS+ gives you access to generally accepted Core Metrics Sets aligned to common Impact Themes and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).