Understanding your impact on regional air quality can help you identify the activities that are causing the most emissions and prioritize actions to reduce your impact. CAPCOG has developed an emissions calculator to help you estimate the NOx emissions from some typical activities in your day-to-day life, including:

• Commuting
• Driving for other purposes
• Electricity usage
• Natural gas usage
• Propane usage
• Water consumption
• Gas-powered lawn equipment

NOx emissions are the primary driver of regional ozone pollution, and are the result of combustion. Your NOx emissions impact is influenced by both factors under your control - such as the type of vehicle you drive, the amount of miles you drive, and the amount of electricity you consume. But it is also influenced by factors beyond your control, such as the average emissions rate for electricity generation on the grid, the energy-intensity of your water supply and wastewater systems, traffic congestion conditions, and fuel properties. CAPCOG's emissions calculator uses average emissions profiles that are generally representative of these activities, but more fine-grained analyses are available if you have additional information. Contact CAPCOG at ahoekzema@capcog.org if you'd like additional analysis.