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An event carbon footprint measures the greenhouse gas emissions caused by an event over a defined period — typically from build and bump-in through to pack-down and post-event waste. In practice, that means quantifying emissions from things like:
  • Venue energy and temporary power
  • Attendee, exhibitor, and staff travel
  • Catering (food, drinks, packaging)
  • Materials, signage, fit-out, and waste
  • Freight, logistics, and sometimes accommodation
This page walks through a practical process for measuring an event footprint in Salvidia.

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The high-level process

At a high level, measuring an event footprint looks like this:
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1. Define the scope and boundary

Decide what counts as “in” for this event:
  • Which dates and venues?
  • Which activities and suppliers?
  • Which types of travel (attendees, exhibitors, staff)?
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2. Create an Event assessment in Salvidia

In the app, create a new Event assessment and name it clearly, e.g. 2025 Expo – Main Event.
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3. Collect activity data

Gather real-world data from venues, suppliers, ticketing, and internal records (energy, travel, waste, catering, etc.).
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4. Enter or import data into tables

Add or import your activity data into the event data tables in Salvidia (energy, travel, purchases, waste, etc.).
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5. Review the results

Use Salvidia’s dashboards to check totals, scopes, and category breakdowns. Fill obvious gaps and refine assumptions.
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6. Share and use the footprint

Export key tables and charts for sponsors, clients, internal reporting, and to inform future event design.

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1. Define your event scope

Before you collect data, be clear on what you are measuring. Questions to answer:
  • Which dates are included?
    • Only live days, or also build, bump-in, and bump-out?
  • Which locations are included?
    • Main venue only, or also side events, offsite functions, and satellite activations?
  • Which participants are included?
    • Attendees only, or also exhibitors, performers, crew, volunteers, media?
  • Which activities are included?
    • Travel, accommodation, freight, catering, materials, waste, digital activity?
Write your scope down in a short statement, for example:
“This footprint covers the 2025 Expo held at the Main Convention Centre from 10–14 March, including build and pack-down days. It includes venue energy use, generators, attendee and exhibitor travel, staff travel, catering, freight, and waste.”
You can store this in the notes or methodology section of your Event assessment.

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2. Create an Event assessment in Salvidia

In Salvidia:
  1. Go to your workspace home.
  2. Click New assessment.
  3. Choose Event as the assessment type.
  4. Give it a clear name and select:
    • The event dates (or year)
    • The organisation running the event
    • Any tags you’ll use (e.g. venue, city, edition)
Once created, you’ll see event-specific data tables for:
  • Venue and energy
  • Travel and accommodation
  • Purchases, suppliers, and freight
  • Catering and F&B
  • Waste and materials
For a quick overview of what data you’ll need, see Event data you’ll need.

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3. Key data categories for events

Most event footprints are built from a consistent set of building blocks.
We’ll look at each briefly and how they show up in Salvidia.

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Venue energy and temporary power

Examples:
  • Electricity used in the event spaces
  • Additional heating or cooling required for the event
  • Diesel or petrol generators for temporary power
Data sources:
  • Venue energy reports or sub-meter readings
  • Pro-rated energy use based on area or time
  • Generator fuel logs or supplier data
In Salvidia, this lives in Energy and utilities under your Event assessment.
If the venue cannot give exact figures, you can use reasonable estimates based on floor area, hours of use, or comparison to similar events — but note these assumptions in your methodology.

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Attendee, exhibitor, and staff travel

For many events, travel is the largest single contributor. You may need to estimate based on:
  • Ticketing/postcode data
  • Surveys
  • Mode splits (e.g. % flying vs driving vs public transport)
In Salvidia, travel data typically includes:
  • Flights (by route or distance and class)
  • Car and taxi trips (by distance or fuel)
  • Public transport (by distance or spend-based estimates)
  • Staff and crew travel
See Estimating attendee travel for deeper approaches to travel estimation.

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Suppliers, freight, and logistics

Events rely on many third parties:
  • Exhibitors and activations
  • AV and production companies
  • Staging, rigging, and event build teams
  • Freight and logistics providers
Data options:
  • Activity-based (distance, weight, fuel) where available
  • Spend-based (amount spent per category) when activity data is weak
In Salvidia, these usually go into Purchases and services or Freight and logistics tables for the Event assessment.

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Catering and F&B

Food and beverages can have a significant impact, especially:
  • Meat-heavy menus
  • High volumes of single-use packaging
  • Long supply chains
Useful data:
  • Number of meals served by menu type (e.g. beef, chicken, vegetarian, vegan)
  • Drink volumes (e.g. beer, wine, soft drinks)
  • Packaging assumptions (e.g. canned vs bottled, reusables vs disposables)
In Salvidia, this is captured under Catering and F&B or as part of Purchases with specific F&B categories.

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Materials, signage, and waste

Consider:
  • Temporary structures, signage, merchandising, décor
  • Carpets, flooring, and build materials
  • Waste and recycling from build, event days, and pack-down
Data sources:
  • Waste contractor reports (tonnes per stream)
  • Supplier invoices or packing lists
  • Internal estimates for key material volumes
In Salvidia, this appears under Waste and materials.

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4. Enter or import data into Salvidia

Once you’ve gathered data:
  1. Open your Event assessment.
  2. Navigate through the Data sections:
    • Energy and utilities
    • Travel and accommodation
    • Purchases and services
    • Catering and F&B
    • Waste and materials
  3. For each section, either:
    • Enter data line by line, or
    • Use CSV import where supported to upload in bulk.
You don’t need perfect data for every category to start. Enter what you have, use estimates where necessary, and record assumptions. You can refine in future editions of the event.

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5. Review your event results

Once data is in:
  • Go to the Results or Dashboard view of your Event assessment.
  • Check:
    • Total footprint (tCO₂e)
    • Breakdown by scope (1, 2, 3)
    • Breakdown by category (travel, energy, catering, etc.)
    • Emissions per attendee or per m², if relevant
Questions to ask:
  • Does the split between travel, energy, and other categories look reasonable?
  • Are there any obvious gaps (e.g. no waste data, no travel for a major exhibitor group)?
  • Are any numbers unexpectedly high or low compared to what you know about the event?
Adjust inputs or assumptions as needed and re-check the results.

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6. Use the footprint to drive decisions

An event footprint isn’t just a number — it’s a brief for what to change next time. Common uses:
You can export tables and charts from Salvidia to:
  • Slide decks and board papers
  • Sponsor reports
  • Websites and sustainability summaries

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Quick tips for better event footprints

  • Start early – Ask venues and suppliers about data before the event.
  • Standardise – Reuse a similar structure for each event so you can compare editions.
  • Be transparent – Clearly state any major assumptions or exclusions.
  • Improve each year – Add more detail over time rather than aiming for perfection on the first try.
Even a “good-enough” first footprint can be incredibly valuable for conversations with venues, sponsors, and suppliers. The key is to repeat and improve.

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Where to go next