1. Purpose and Scope

This standard defines the requirements for conducting a Human Impact Unit (Hu) analysis, a metric used to evaluate and compare the societal impacts of sustainability, responsibility, and resilience projects. The Hu methodology enables a standardized, fair comparison between projects of different types by assessing the proportion of a specific problem addressed within a defined community. The standards outlined here provide a framework for defining catchment areas, measuring impact, calculating the size of the problem, and estimating Hu values for comparative purposes.

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2. Definitions

1. Human Impact Unit (Hu): A standardized unit measuring the proportion of a specific problem addressed by a project within a community, allowing comparison across different project types.

2. Catchment Population: The population within the geographic or demographic area in which a project’s impact is measured [adopted April 30, 2025].

3. Units of Impact: The specific metric(s) used to quantify the project’s societal benefit (e.g., pounds of food rescued, acres of habitat restored).

4. Size of Problem (SOP): The total magnitude of the issue being addressed within the project’s catchment area, quantified in the same units as the project’s impact.

5. Responsible Community: The maximum number of individuals during the analysis year who are collectively responsible for the SOP.

   1. If the power required to create or address the SOP is not known to be inequitably distributed, the Responsible Community should be the total number of individuals within the Catchment Area (e.g. if the total CO2 emitted in a year by the citizens of the United States cannot be reasonably attributed to a subset of the citizens of the United States, the total population of the United States would be the Responsible Community)

   2. If the actions of a known community are primarily responsible for the presence of the Problem, yet no other community is solely capable of impacting the Problem, the maximum number of individuals contributing to that problem in a given year would be identified as the Responsible Community (e.g. if the pesticides that enter the water each year in the state of Iowa are due to the pesticides applied to the fields by agricultural producers, the Responsible Community is equal to the number of agricultural producers).

   3. If a community is solely capable of eliminating a Problem regardless of who contributed to current SOP, the Responsible Community is the number of individuals are responsible for the actions of that community (e.g. if a Problem can be eliminated through legislation, the Responsible Community is equal to the number of voters needed to direct the actions of the elected representatives who can eliminate the Problem; if a Problem is caused by a specific company, the Responsible Community is equal to the number of shareholders needed to compel the Directors to eliminate the Problem). [adopted April 30, 2025]

6. Return on Investment (ROI): The value of Hu per monetary unit spent on the project, enabling financial comparison of societal impact across projects.

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3. Requirements for Conducting a Hu Analysis

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3.1 Project Overview

The project must clearly define the scope, objectives, and intended societal impact. This includes:

1. A description of the project’s primary goals (e.g., reducing food insecurity, restoring ecosystems, creating jobs).

2. A clear statement of the community or demographic that the project aims to serve (the catchment area).

3. Specification of the project’s intended units of impact (e.g., pounds of food recovered, acres restored, jobs created).

 

3.2 Catchment Area Definition

The catchment area must be explicitly defined and justified. This includes:

1. The geographic boundary or target demographic for the project.

   1. ​A geographic boundary is typically contiguous (e.g. Polk County, Iowa; the State of Illinois; Sub-Sahara Africa; the Mississippi watershed)

   2. A target demographic must be reasonably uniform based on a verifiable characteristic (e.g. Food insecure Californians; Black women on parole; White men without a college degree)

   3. If geographically-defined territory is not contiguous, it must all be equally impacted by the same Responsible Community (e.g. all lakes in the United States overseen by the EPA) [adopted April 30, 2025]

2. The rationale for why this specific catchment area has been selected for analysis.

3. The catchment population [adopted April 30, 2025] will be contained within the catchment area. The affected population and Responsible Community is not restricted to those individuals contained within the catchment area. [adopted April 30, 2025]

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3.3 Units of Impact

Each project must define how it measures its impact. The units of impact must:

1. Be consistent with the nature of the problem being addressed (e.g., food insecurity should be measured in pounds of food, habitat restoration in acres, job creation in the number of jobs).

2. Be clearly defined and applicable to the specific community and problem being addressed.

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3.4 Size of Problem (SOP) Estimation

The SOP is critical to determining the scale of the issue within the catchment area. The SOP must be:

1. Quantified in the same units as the project’s intended impact.

2. Supported by verifiable data or reasonable estimates (e.g., food insecurity data, habitat degradation data, job market statistics).

3. Accompanied by a rationale for the estimation method, including any assumptions made (e.g., the average number of meals required per person to eliminate food insecurity).

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3.5 Hu Calculation

The Hu value is derived from dividing the project’s annual impact by the SOP within the catchment area. The calculation must:

1. Use the following formula for Hu Rate:

   1. Hu Rate = Responsible Community / Size of Problem

2. Use the following formula for Hu:

   1. Hu = Impact * Hu Rate

3. Be performed annually or over the project’s operational timeframe.

4. Be accompanied by a breakdown of each impact component if the project addresses multiple issues (e.g., environmental and social impacts).

5. Provide a clear explanation of how the Hu value was derived and what it represents in terms of societal benefit.​

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3.6 Comparative Analysis of Hu

Hu must enable direct comparison across different project types and scales. The analysis should:

1. Use Hu as a common unit to compare the societal impact of various sustainability, responsibility, and resilience efforts.

2. Ensure the Hu value is applied equitably, regardless of the nature or location of the project.

3. Be adaptable to different scales of problems and projects, ensuring the analysis is fair to both small and large-scale initiatives.

 

3.7 Estimation of ROI

Projects must include a financial analysis that calculates the ROI based on Hu. This involves:

1. Calculating the cost per Hu for each project by dividing the total project cost by the Hu value.

2. Comparing ROI between different projects to identify which offers the greatest societal impact per dollar invested.

3. Reporting the ROI in a clear and standardized format for ease of decision-making.

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3.8 Accounting for Uncertainties and Assumptions

Any uncertainties or assumptions made during the Hu analysis must be clearly documented. This includes:

1. Describing any assumptions made during the SOP estimation (e.g., average food needs per person, habitat degradation rates).

2. Identifying any data limitations or uncertainties in the impact measurement (e.g., incomplete data, modeling assumptions).

3. Acknowledging potential nonlinearities or interdependencies between different components of the project that may affect the Hu calculation.

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