SAP Sustainability Footprint Management: Q1-25 Upd...

NicoWottke · ‎2025 Apr 03

In the past quarter, we continued delivering many more useful features and functions in SAP Sustainability Footprint Management, and we achieved great success stories together with our customers. This blog post continues my quarterly series and gives you an overview of some of the highlights. In this edition, I’m covering:

Emission Factor Validity Periods and Mass Updates
AI-assisted Emission Factor Mapping Enhancement
Sankey Chart Improvements
Internal Energy Production with Multiple Energy Carriers
Item Footprints API
Other Release Highlights
Open-Source Integration Accelerator
Customer Success Story: HARTING Technology Group
Intermediate Learning Journey for CCF Calculation

Emission Factor Validity Periods and Mass Updates

To streamline the management of emission factors, we've refined the validity period approach within the Manage Emission Factors app. This adjustment enhances the alignment of emission factor references used in consumer apps, simplifying the process of footprint calculations. The validity period has been shifted from the dataset level to the data package level, meaning that each data package now clearly specifies when its emission factors are valid for use. This allows you to easily track the timeframe applicable for accurate footprint assessments. Furthermore, datasets have transitioned from having a validity period to featuring a reference period. The reference period indicates when the data were originally collected, providing essential context for product or activity assessments. Typically, this period is supplied by data providers to ensure representative data usage. Additionally, both templates used for preparing data files for emission factor imports have been revised in line with this change. This update provides more precise and relevant time frames for the use of emission factors, improving the overall accuracy and reliability of footprint calculations. For more information, see: Manage Emission Factors.

With this updated handling of validity periods in the Manage Emission Factors app, the consuming applications Manage Purchased Product Footprints and Manage Waste Footprints have also been adjusted accordingly. Whether you're manually creating footprints or importing them via data files, the app smartly assigns the validity periods of the emission factor data package, ensuring consistency and increasing efficiency in the mapping process. When manually selecting an emission factor reference, the system automatically adopts the validity period from the data package, with the flexibility to adjust the dates as needed. Similarly, when importing through data files, the validity period is copied from the emission factor package unless a specific period is provided, in which case the latter is taken. AI-assisted mappings in the Manage Purchase Products Footprints app also benefit from automatically incorporated validity periods, ensuring seamless adjustments after release.

Another major improvement in the Manage Emission Factors app now enables you to upgrade data packages to the newest version of your data source, ensuring you’re using the most current and most reliable emission factor data in your footprint calculation. This upgrade is crucial for obtaining more precise information, whether it involves new classifications or enhanced details provided by data providers. Additionally, we've introduced a new References tab in the data package. This tab allows you to seamlessly and automatically update emission factor references in consuming apps, ensuring that your apps use the most recent versions. Note that this is currently limited to the apps Manage Purchased Product Footprints and Manage Waste Footprints.

As a prerequisite, confirm that source IDs are stable between versions. If discrepancies exist, you'll need to manually input old and new source IDs in the DatasetUpdates sheet of the import file. Then you can choose the data package ready for an upgrade and proceed to initiate the process:

Input new version details, such as the new validity period, and upload the corresponding import file.
After successful upload, release the new package version.
Go to the References tab and review changes caused by the new version.
Click Update in Apps to apply the new factors.
Confirm or adjust validity periods fetched from the new version and choose Update References.
Review changes meticulously under the References tab, and apply them using the 'Update in Apps' feature.
In case of errors, check consistency messages and resolve the issue.

After successfully updating the references, new line items for the referenced footprint records will be created in the consuming apps, accommodating the new version’s periods. For footprints with overlapping periods, the upgrade shortens the validity of the initial record to match the current version’s period. Check Upgrading to New Data Source Version for more details.

The following demo video gives you an impression of this new feature's capabilities (click on the picture to start the video):

Emission Factor Mapping Mass Updates

AI-assisted Emission Factor Mapping Enhancement

The AI-assisted intelligent mapping of ERP product data to emission factors from LCA databases in the Manage Purchased Product Footprints app has been enhanced for more accurate mapping results. The first improvement includes the matching of unit of measure as a mapping criterion. Now, only emission factors that match the product’s reference unit of measure are suggested. Matching occurs when units are identical or convertible within the same dimension, such as mass or time. Quantity conversions are also considered for dimensionless units like piece or each.

To improve the mapping confidence, we’re further introducing new factors in the Similarity Score:

Country/Region: Scores are based on the hierarchical distance between the supplier’s country/region and the proposed emission factor, with higher scores for closer regional matches. As example: A product from Germany receives the highest score with an emission factor from Germany, a factor from the European Union results in a lower score and a Rest of World factor in the lowest.
Commodity Code: Scores are determined by the number of matching digits between the product's and emission factor's commodity codes. The more matching digits, the higher the score. If no commodity code is maintained, this score is excluded in the calculation of the overall Similarity Score.

These enhancements aim to increase the precision and reliability of mapped emission factors, thereby improving footprint calculation. For details on how to generate emission factor mappings with AI and the logic behind, see Using AI to Map Emission Factors to Purchased Products and Product Groups.

Check the following demo video to learn more about the enhancements (click on the picture to start the video):

AI-assisted Emission Factor Mapping Enhancement

Sankey Chart Improvements

The Sankey chart visualization in the Manage Footprint Results app is one of the most powerful tools within SAP Sustainability Footprint Management. It visualizes the flow of emissions from inputs to outputs. This helps you understand your calculated footprints and identify emission hotspots across your products’ value chain. To improve this analyzes further, the chart has been enhanced by categorizing emissions visually into high, medium, and low CO2e levels, aiding quick impact assessment of different items. You can click on an input or output item name within the chart to access a quick view with further insight into CO2e per unit, product quantity, product role (main/by-product), and links to detailed item information. For items with numerous inputs or outputs, the chart displays up to 50 with the most CO2e. Remaining items are grouped under Others, summarizing their total footprint. Arrows next to each item allow navigation to previous or subsequent footprints, making CO2e contributions easier to trace. Additionally, the app's tabs feature a quick filter to identify errors and warnings, and arrows facilitating navigation through item footprints, supporting in visualizing and understanding the primary contributors to CO2e emissions. For more information, see Viewing the Footprint Results.

The following demo video gives you an impression of the improvements (click on the picture to start the video):

Sankey Chart Improvements

Internal Energy Production with Multiple Energy Carriers

It’s now possible to model the internal production of energy, such as electricity and heat, in your Energy Flow Model in SAP Sustainability Footprint Management. The new feature allows multiple energy carriers to be outputted from a single process infrastructure, even if they’re measured in different units, as long as these units belong to the same dimensional category. The software standardizes all measurements to the unit associated with the process infrastructure's energy carrier to maintain consistency in calculating CO2e emissions. This ensures accurate environmental impact assessments in various output formats. A new UI addition to the valuation formulas in the Manage Footprint Results app now displays the Metered Consumption Quantity (Converted), which is the energy amount recorded by a meter, adjusted to align with the process infrastructure's unit of measure. When a process infrastructure (sender) is linked to meters (energy receivers) with energy carriers in different units of measure but within the same dimension, the meters' energy carrier quantities are converted into the unit of measure of the process infrastructure's energy carrier. This enables CO2e emissions to be allocated across all output items based on the energy carrier's unit of measure. For more information, see the Process Infrastructure section under Model Energy Flows.

Item Footprints API

For creating customized reports and dashboards or analyzing calculated footprints in SAP Analytics Cloud or other analytical applications, we published a new API to extract organizational footprint inventories on transactional level. This API complements the existing analytical APIs by extracting your footprints on a granular, item level. Focusing on your Corporate Carbon Footprint, this helps you to evaluate and optimize resources to minimize your footprints. The interface provides information on the Total Footprint and Footprint per Unit for items like Products, Energy Sources, and Facilities, including physical quantities, amounts, and units of measure used in calculations. Additionally, the API offers detailed insights into input and output transactions related to Product, Resource, and Energy footprints, including business transaction types, consumption quantities, amounts, and unit of measure over specified periods. Check out the API and further details on SAP Business Accelerator Hub: Item Footprints.

Other Release Highlights

A new feature allows you to model non-energy-relevant resources without planned energy consumption rates. This enables the calculation of production document footprints without errors, even for resources lacking planned energy consumption rates, which aren’t energy relevant. Previously, this resulted in calculation errors. With the new enhancement, using a calculation variant set to Use Only Planned Energy Consumption Rates, non-energy-relevant resources are automatically considered as not requiring energy. They appear on the Sankey chart without a status or CO2e. This replaces prior errors with a warning log in the Monitor Business Logs app, simplifying the process. For more information, see Manage Planned Energy Consumption Rates

To simplify uploading data using Excel files, we’re consistently improving the provided templates. The template for importing waste footprints in the Manage Waste Footprints app now allows a direct mapping to emission factors stored in the Manage Emission Factors app. With the additional fields Package Identifier, Data Source Version, and Dataset ID you can specify the emission factor reference for a waste footprint. Check SAP Help for more details: Importing Waste Footprints. This feature was initially entered as a requirement by customers and partners via SAP Influence and is a great example of how you can directly influence our product development.

We also added improvements to the deletion of data. The Manage Supplier Footprints app now allows you to delete inconsistent supplier footprint records. This enhancement helps you streamline your data and improve data quality. In the Import Master Data app, you can now delete unreferenced master data records for the master data entities Ledgers, Periods, and Period Variants. For more information, see Deleting Unreferenced Records.

Furthermore, a new and enhanced Monitor Business Logs application was added to replace the former app. In this new version, you see two tabs with business log details: Messages and Records. You can also download logs via Export and Export As. For all details on this new app, check SAP Help: Using the Monitor Business Logs Application.

To help you with onboarding and using SAP Sustainability Footprint Management, we’re constantly enhancing the product documentation on SAP Help. In the previous quarter, this included the following topics:

Relation between emission factor periods and energy source period: Detailed explanation of the automatic filtering setup when new emission factor periods are added, see Model Energy Flows.
Comprehensive examples for updating purchased product footprints: Clear illustrations and practical examples to effectively demonstrate the system's behavior during the updating of purchased product footprints, see Updating Purchased Product Footprints.
Delete footprint inventory and results: How to delete footprint inventories and footprint results, see Deleting a Footprint Inventory and Deleting a Footprint Result.
Additional processes in the scenario guide: The guide now includes detailed explanations and examples of the processes

Glossary of calculation methods for GHG categories: The calculation methods for GHG categories are described in a new Glossary document for reference.

Open-Source Integration Accelerator

If you want to integrate SAP Sustainability Footprint Management to SAP ECC or older SAP S/4HANA ERP systems, we have good news: The Integration Accelerator is now available on GitHub, under an open-source license: SAP Sustainability Footprint Management Integration Accelerator. As with all open-source content, this is free-of-charge for our customers and partners.

This ABAP package includes prebuilt integration content that simplifies the selection, extraction, and replication of data from ECC systems or older S/4HANA systems into the cloud-based SAP Sustainability Footprint Management solution, using standard Push APIs. Key features of the package include:

Preconfigured ABAP Reports: These reports assist in the efficient replication of data.
Data Compatibility: Supports integration with both master data and transactional data.
Data Load Support: Capable of handling initial and delta data loads, along with single entity reloads.
Error Handling and Logging: Provides mechanisms for managing errors and logging processes, including the ability to reprocess failed payloads.
Extensibility: Adapt the solution to specific needs and implement custom enhancements through BAdI implementations.

The ABAP code provided can be utilized as is or serve as a reference for custom implementations. For support, it’s recommended to use the existing code, with the possibility of enhancements through BAdI implementation as required.

Customer Success Story: HARTING Technology Group

HARTING Technology Group has made significant progress in its sustainability journey by implementing SAP Sustainability Footprint Management. The software allows HARTING to accurately calculate the CO2 emissions of 13,000 materials with a data-granular, verifiable "one-click" solution. This capability is crucial for HARTING as it works towards its ambitious goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2030.

HARTING, a family-run business and leader in providing connectivity solutions across various industrial sectors, has long integrated environmental and climate protection into its core values. SAP Sustainability Footprint Management leverages their existing SAP ERP application landscape and enhances their ability to drive cleaner production processes in their environmentally friendly facilities. By mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and reducing the impact on water and land life, HARTING is making a tangible difference in its environmental footprint. The company chose the quick-start service for SAP Sustainability Footprint Management, provided by the SAP Services and Support team, to ensure technical and functional readiness for large-scale product deployments. SAP consultants encouraged HARTING to provide product feedback to help scale and enhance the solution by shaping specific functionalities and addressing feature requests.

SAP Sustainability Footprint Management enables HARTING to accurately calculate, analyze, and report product carbon footprints (PCF). The solution provides real-time, granular data supporting HARTING's "GreenLine" label, which highlights the use of biopolymers that offer up to 70% CO2 reduction. Increased transparency throughout the supply chain, with enhanced supplier data contributing to a single source of truth, allows HARTING to quickly identify and address hot spots. The solution's user-friendly, verifiable "one-click" result calculates the CO2 emissions of 13,000 individual product materials. Additionally, data from SAP Sustainability Footprint Management will help HARTING comply with upcoming EU sustainability regulations, such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and Digital Product Passport. Read the full story here: HARTING Technology Group: Connecting on a greener future.

Intermediate Learning Journey for CCF Calculation

Last quarter, we released another Learning Journey: Establishing Corporate Carbon Footprint Emissions with Advanced Configurations. This three-hour learning is free-of-charge and targets consultants, business users, and administrators with intermediate product knowledge. The course focuses on integrating SAP Sustainability Footprint Management with ERP systems to effectively calculate and report Corporate Carbon Footprints (CCF). It covers advanced configuration techniques, including managing energy flow models, AI-based emission factor mapping, integrating supplier emission data, and analyzing footprints for waste and sold products. Upon completion, you’ll be equipped to use these advanced methods to calculate CCFs, identify key emission hotspots, and pinpoint levers for decarbonization. You’ll also earn a Record of Achievement and a digital badge after successful completion and passing all quizzes.

Learning Journey: Establishing Corporate Carbon Footprint Emissions with Advanced Configuration

For beginners, first complete our Learning Journey Establishing Corporate Carbon Footprint Emissions with Simple Configuration. This free, two-hour introductory course covers the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and the functionalities and architecture of SAP Sustainability Footprint Management, demonstrating how to configure the solution to calculate corporate carbon footprints (CCF) across GHG Scopes 1, 2, and 3. The course also explains integrating these calculated footprints into SAP Sustainability Control Tower.

Besides those Learning Journeys focusing on CCF calculation, we’re currently also working on a course centered around Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) calculation in SAP Sustainability Footprint Management. Stay tuned!

Additional Information

For in-depth details on SAP Sustainability Footprint Management, including concepts, setup, and the application help, I recommend you browsing through the SAP Help Portal. For an overview of all new features and functions that have been released, check the What’s New section, which is updated with every new software release.

For exploring and experimenting in a live system, register for the free SAP Sustainability Footprint Management Trial. You’ll receive an e-mail with access information within seconds after your registration and can then test the solution at your own convenience within a 30-day trial period. It also includes a wide range of guided tours designed to help you navigate through all the features and functions comprehensively. Recently, we also added new tours and will shortly release additional ones, representing the latest features and an enhanced user experience.

To stay up to date on SAP Sustainability Footprint Management, follow me here in the SAP Community. In regular cadence, I’ll publish blog posts giving you updates on all the product’s new features and functions as well as deep dives into the product capabilities. I’m also looking forward to engaging with you directly, feel free to leave your feedback in the comment section.