Verra Inactivates Methodology for Energy Efficiency and Solid Waste Diversion

Verra will be inactivating Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) methodology VM0018 Energy Efficiency and Solid Waste Diversion Activities within a Sustainable Community, v1.0 as of September 1, 2027.

This decision follows a routine review of the methodology in accordance with Section 4.1.1 of the VCS Methodology Development and Review Process, v5.1 (PDF). During the review, Verra determined that the methodology no longer meets the requirements of recent versions of the VCS Program due to an insufficiently detailed quantification procedure. Also, many individual activities are already covered under other active methodologies related to energy efficiency and waste management, resulting in redundancy.

Verra’s decision to inactivate VM0018, v1.0 as of September 1, 2027, has the following implications for projects registered in the VCS Program:

• Registered projects may submit verification approval requests until the end of their current crediting periods. These projects must update to an active methodology or a combination of active methodologies at their next crediting period renewal.
• Projects that use VM0018, v1.0 may submit the following types of requests until August 31, 2027:
  • Registration requests
  • Crediting period renewal requests
  • Verification approval requests where the verification includes a methodology change through a project description deviation
• Projects that meet the submission deadlines above may continue to apply VM0018, v1.0 for the remainder of their crediting period. These projects must update to an active methodology at their next crediting period renewal.
• Registered projects using VM0018, v1.0 may update to an active methodology or a combination of active methodologies during their crediting period using one of the following:
  • Procedure to Change Project Methodology through a Project Description Deviation for future monitoring periods, or
  • Methodology Change and Requantification Procedure for past and future monitoring periods and to requantify the reductions from past verifications
• Grouped projects exceeding the capacity limit of VM0018, v1.0 must submit a registration request before January 1, 2027, according to sections 3.5.12 – 3.5.13 of the VCS Standard, v5.0.
• Grouped projects registered under VM0018, v1.0 may add new instances if they are in conformance with the applicability conditions. Instances that have already been included in registered grouped projects are eligible to continue crediting until the end of their current crediting periods.