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How to Report Shared Office Space Energy Use

Introduction

If your company operates from a shared office space, co-working hub, or serviced workspace, you may wonder how to include energy data in your CSRD or VSME report — especially when you don’t control the building’s utilities.

The good news is that shared spaces are fully compatible with sustainability reporting. The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and VSME Standard (EFRAG, 2024) both allow proportionate energy reporting based on reasonable estimates. What matters most is that your approach is transparent, consistent, and well-documented.

This article explains how to calculate and disclose your energy use fairly, even without direct meter readings, while staying compliant with EU sustainability standards.

1. Understanding What to Report

Energy use from a shared office typically falls under Scope 2 (indirect emissions) — energy consumed for electricity, heating, or cooling supplied by the landlord or co-working provider.

You’re not expected to measure the building’s total consumption yourself. Instead, report your company’s proportional share of that energy based on available data such as:

  • Square metres of floor area used
  • Number of workstations or employees
  • Hours of occupancy

If utilities are included in your rent or service fees, you can still estimate your share using logical allocation methods.

2. Start by Asking for Building Data

Before estimating, request information from your landlord or co-working provider:

  • Total annual building electricity and heating consumption (kWh)
  • Number of tenants or desks in use
  • Any renewable energy contracts or green certificates (e.g. Guarantees of Origin)

Even partial information helps create a credible baseline. Some providers track this data for their own ESG reporting and can supply aggregated figures for tenants.

3. Estimation Methods for Shared Offices

If direct energy data isn’t available, you can calculate your share using simple, widely accepted formulas.

Option A: By Floor Area

Your Energy Use = (Your occupied area ÷ Total building area) × Total building energy use

Example: Your company rents 80 m² in a 1,000 m² office building that uses 100,000 kWh/year. → (80 ÷ 1,000) × 100,000 = 8,000 kWh/year

Option B: By Employee Count

Your Energy Use = (Your employees ÷ Total building employees) × Total building energy use

Example: 10 employees in a 120-person building using 180,000 kWh/year. → (10 ÷ 120) × 180,000 = 15,000 kWh/year

Option C: By Average Benchmarks

If you don’t have building-level data, use a published office energy benchmark for your country — usually expressed in kWh/m²/year and available from national energy agencies or energy performance certificate statistics.

Benchmarks vary widely by country, climate, building age and whether heating is included, so pick one that matches your building type. Apply it to your rented area and name the benchmark source and year in your disclosure.

For more on responsible data estimation, see our guide on how to estimate missing data for CSRD reporting.

4. Converting Energy Use to Emissions

Once you’ve estimated your electricity and heating consumption, you can convert it into greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 2).

Formula: Energy use (kWh) × Emission factor (kg CO₂e/kWh) = Total emissions

Use a location-based grid factor for the country where the office is, from your national inventory or energy agency. As an example of what these look like, the UK Government GHG Conversion Factors 2026 (DESNZ) give:

  • UK grid electricity: 0.131 kg CO₂e/kWh (Scope 2, generation only; transmission and distribution losses are a separate Scope 3 factor of 0.013)
  • District heat and steam (UK): 0.175 kg CO₂e/kWh

These are UK factors. Grid intensity differs a lot between EU countries, so do not apply them to an office elsewhere.

If your provider buys 100% renewable electricity backed by Guarantees of Origin, that can bring your market-based Scope 2 figure for electricity to zero. It does not change the location-based figure, which still uses the grid factor. VSME B3 asks for location-based Scope 2 (VSME paragraph 30), and ESRS E1 asks for both, so report the grid-based number and mention the renewable contract alongside it. Include heating and cooling either way.

5. How to Disclose Shared Office Energy Data

When you report under ESRS E1 (Climate Change) or VSME B3 (Energy and Greenhouse Gas Emissions), include a short note explaining your data source and estimation method.

Example disclosure:

“Energy consumption for our shared office in Berlin (80 m²) was estimated by allocating the building’s total metered energy use, supplied by the landlord, by floor area (80 of 1,000 m²). Location-based Scope 2 emissions use the German grid emission factor. The office operates on renewable electricity under a supplier-certified green contract, reflected in our market-based figure.”

A note like this makes your method transparent and traceable.

6. Improving Data Quality Over Time

You can enhance data accuracy year by year by:

  • Asking your provider for annual energy data or certificates.
  • Using sub-metered data if your lease offers it.
  • Tracking occupancy hours or equipment energy use for refinement.
  • Including renewable energy purchases in your Scope 2 disclosure.

These small improvements demonstrate continuous progress — a key principle of the CSRD and VSME frameworks.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I exclude shared office energy use entirely?

No. Even if utilities are bundled in your rent, you’re expected to include an estimate: VSME B3 asks for your energy consumption and Scope 2 emissions. Small, well-explained estimates are acceptable.

Should I include common areas like kitchens and meeting rooms?

Yes, indirectly. If your estimate is based on floor area or employees, these shared zones are already covered in the building’s total energy use.

What if my office is in a co-working space with hundreds of members?

Use the number of desks or your dedicated area to allocate proportionally. Some co-working operators can provide per-desk annual averages if you ask.

How often should I update this data?

Once a year. Use updated consumption data or benchmarks each reporting cycle to maintain consistency and comparability.

Sources

Key Terms

  • Scope 2 emissions – Indirect GHG emissions from purchased electricity, heat, or steam.
  • ESRS E1 – European Sustainability Reporting Standard for climate-related disclosures.
  • VSME B3 – The VSME disclosure covering energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.
  • kWh/m²/year – Benchmark measure of building energy intensity.
  • Renewable electricity certificate – Proof that purchased power comes from renewable sources.

Conclusion

Reporting energy use from shared offices doesn’t require perfect data — just a fair, transparent estimation. By using floor area, headcount, or benchmarks, SMEs can report energy use credibly in a VSME report or a customer questionnaire without complex metering systems.

As your provider’s data improves, so will your accuracy — helping you demonstrate continuous progress toward sustainability goals.

The allocation method is the hard part; do it once and keep it. An ESG answer bank stores your energy figures and methodology for reuse across questionnaires, and a free VSME report tool generates the finished report from those answers at no cost.

For additional help structuring your reporting workflow, see our annual CSRD reporting calendar.

To help you track all the data you need for shared office space reporting, use our checklist generator:

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