Carbon
Energy times location-based grid intensity, with a carbon-price band rather than fake precision.
Footprint
A second currency for every AI pull request.
Class1 computes carbon, water, and materials deltas on the same Monte Carlo draws as dollars, so the footprint has the same approval moment as the spend.
Why it sells
Finance asks for dollars. Boards increasingly ask for exposure.
Carbon is not the same geography as water. A cheaper or lower-carbon region can still be water-stressed.
Class1 makes the tradeoff visible before architecture choices become production habits.
Second-currency method
The footprint report is not decoration beside the cost report. It uses the same approval moment.
A pull request can increase output length, fallback rate, context size, retry pressure, or tool schema load. Those same drivers affect energy. Class1 calculates footprint deltas on the same Monte Carlo discipline as dollars so the environmental exposure is tied to the software change, not to a generic annual sustainability estimate.
Carbon and water are separated because the best carbon answer is not always the best water answer. Region choice, grid intensity, WUE, and water scarcity can point in different directions. A governance report that collapses them into one green score hides the tradeoff the buyer needs to see.
Materials are treated honestly. API inference usually excludes provider Scope 3 because the customer cannot inspect the provider hardware inventory. Owned hardware, however, can include embodied carbon, material depletion pressure, and e-waste because the equipment choice is part of the customer's architecture.
Footprint auditor
Footprint buying triggers
Where the second currency becomes a business decision.
Regulated reportingEnterprises increasingly need explainable AI energy and sustainability assumptions, especially when workloads move from experiments to recurring product paths.
Region strategyThe same workload can look different in Virginia, Quebec, Sweden, or Mumbai. The buyer needs to see carbon and water separately before choosing default deployment regions.
Build versus buyOwned hardware changes materials and embodied impact. API usage shifts much of that burden to provider disclosures and should be labelled as such.
Budget reviewWhen P90 dollars are near the approval line, a footprint delta can become the additional reason to cap context, shrink output, or redesign the workflow.
Water
Energy times WUE times AWARE scarcity. Water geography is not carbon geography.
Materials
Owned hardware includes embodied carbon, ADP materials pressure, and e-waste. API inference declares provider Scope 3 as excluded.
Calibration
Provider carbon actuals can feed the same actuarial table pattern as cost actuals.