Getting Started
Suggestions on how to get started with Equinox
In this segment we list a few suggestions of how to get started with Equinox. As the platform offers rich functionality what is relevant and optimal will vary for different users.
Equinox User Manual
The Innovative Platform for Sustainable Portfolio Management
The Equinox platform is a versatile, cloud based, framework that supports sustainable portfolio management activity using an entirely modern approach. Facing the enormous and multi-faceted challenge of sustainability will require building on the empowering aspects of modern digital technologies: versatility, ubiquity, scalability and open source transparency.
If you are not familiar with the equinox platform, a high level overview of its objectives and capabilities is available in the following brief functionality overview. A warm welcome to the Equinox world!
Equinox User Documentation
The Equinox Online User documentation is structured along two dimensions:
- The horizontal dimension of cross-cutting topics that are applicable across the supported application domains:
- Getting Started offers an overview of the functionality that is available across use cases
- Reference Data play an important role in sustainable portfolio management as they bring in and integrate new and granular information sources that were not previously used. Equinox aims to facilitate integrating relevant open data towards meeting portfolio management objectives.
- Support for diverse Data Types (numbers, text, geospatial information) is essential to help users to obtain holistic views of their portfolios
- Application Pages document the conceptual user interface that (in-particular) non-technical users experience when working with the platform
- The vertical dimension of Specific Workflows that implement concrete sustainability protocols and standards. Indicatively:
- The GHG Project Workflow that focuses on individual project impact analysis
- The Green Public Procurement Workflow that supports analysis conforming to the data models of the European Union TED platform.
- The CIRIS Workflow for compiling a City-wide emissions report
- The PCAF Mortgages Workflow for compling the emissions profile of a portfolio of mortgages (loans secured against real estate with measurable GHG emissions)
- The PCAF Project Finance Workflow
- The EBA Scorecard for Project Finance
Technical Documentation and References
- Release Notes
- Installation instructions, code documentation and other technical information is available online here.
- Adopted Standards and Further References
NOTE: Equinox is still in active development. As the functionality of the platform is enhanced, the documentation will be enriched and updated, following also user feedback.
Data Types
Discussing the main data categories that users can handle in the Equinox platform
The Equinox platform uses at its backend a powerful database that supports storing a variety of data formats. This versatility is essential if one is to work with diverse data sources to obtain a holistic view of “ground truth”. Here we discuss three important sub-categories that are used throughout the platform
Pages and Workflows
The equinox user interface and its main pages
Users access and make use of Equinox through a number of “pages” that work similar to most web applications.
Adopted Standards and Further References
Standards The sustainability related standards currently adopted / implemented in Equinox are based principally on the following references:
The GHG Protocol for Projects (The GHG Protocol for Project Accounting, 2005) Fong, W. K., M. Sotos, M. Doust, S. Schultz, A. Marques, and C. Deng-Beck (2014). Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories: An Accounting and Reporting Standard for Cities. World Resources Institute. C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group; Local Governments for Sustainability ICLEI.
The Sustainability Challenge
Equinox aims to help tackle difficult sustainability challenges drawing from the best digital DNA
The Sustainability Challenge Sustainability (understood broadly in its environmental, economic and social dimensions) is emerging as the undisputed constraint that shapes future human economic activity and, specifically, how the financial system facilitates, shapes and empowers economic life.
Developing tools and methodologies that improve the ability of all stakeholders to assess and report risks in sustainable finance context is an important and timely objective.
Sustainable Portfolio Management a cornerstone of sound financial systems Sustainable Portfolio Management is an emerging concept that encompasses principles, tools, processes that help with meeting portfolio management objectives while incorporating sustainability constraints.
Functionality Overview
High level overview of the Equinox functionality
Supporting the transition to Sustainable Finance requires up-to-date data, relevant and trusted models and effective usable tools that are fully embedded in the organization. The Equinox platform is a cloud based framework that supports sustainable portfolio management activity using an entirely modern approach.