A carbon calculator unveiled by BeGreen, is designed to help designers and builders meet green standards, The Dallas Morning News reports.
Based on the USGBC's LEED program, the calculator joins a handful of others tailored to the green building industry.
Once a company provides information, such as a building's size and the amount of carbon emissions it wants to offset, BeGreen, the carbon offset division of Austin-based Green Mountain Energy, provides a contract and a purchase certificate for renewable energy credits.
Gillan Taddune, chief environmental officer of BeGreen, attributes a quadrupling of carbon offset sales in the past year to new LEED requirements that will take effect in Dallas this fall.
Last year, the University of Texas' Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and Seattle-based Mithun design firm launched BuildCarbonNeutral.org, a calculator that tracks CO2 emissions from the making of materials to their installation.
From hotels to movie studios, carbon calculators are gaining traction.
