CCAS Exam Preparation Course – Certified Carbon Accounting Specialist

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CCAS Exam Preparation Course: Organizational, City, Product & Building Carbon

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Prepare for the Certified Carbon Accounting Specialist (CCAS) exam with a single, integrated framework.

Most carbon credentials stay in one silo. CCAS does not stay in a silo—and neither does this course.

This program is the official-aligned preparation course for the Certified Carbon Accounting Specialist (CCAS) credential, developed by Beyond Smart Cities. Over 22.50 guided learning hours, you work through all 11 domains of the CCAS Body of Knowledge v1.1 using the official Study Guide for Certification: CCAS. Every lesson directs you to the exact section, concept figure, worked example, calculation template, or checklist you need, so you always know what to read, what to calculate, and what to check.

The course ends with an integrated airport case and a timed 50-item practice exam weighted exactly to the CCAS blueprint.

What you will be able to do

By the end of this course you will be able to:

  • Design an inventory fit for purpose—boundaries, scopes, base year, and inventory management plan—for an organization, building, airport, or economic zone
  • Quantify Scope 1, dual Scope 2, and Scope 3 emissions by hand with correct units, emission factors, GWP sets, uncertainty, and QA/QC
  • Compile a city inventory under the GPC (BASIC and BASIC+) and design a subnational MRV system
  • Calculate cradle-to-gate product footprints under construction-product PCRs and project-level reductions
  • Report and disclose transparently, map results to IFRS S2, ESRS E1, CDP, and PCAF concepts, and set and track targets
  • Prepare for verification under ISO 14064-3 and judge limited versus reasonable assurance
  • Build a costed decarbonization roadmap for a building or portfolio (whole-life carbon, electrification, PV, M&V, and MACC)
  • Evaluate carbon credits, neutrality claims, CBAM, and green finance—keeping credits outside the gross inventory
  • Specify and operate a GHG information management system with proper controls and an audit trail
  • Lead engagements ethically, including a clear Airport Carbon Accreditation pathway for airport teams
 

Who this course is for

Energy managers and engineers · Sustainability and ESG leads · Facility and business managers · Industrial and supply-chain professionals · City inventory compilers and municipal officials · Consultants and contractors · Financial officers and ESCO professionals · GHG data managers · Airport and economic-zone environment teams · Early-career specialists moving into carbon accounting

No prior credential is required to enroll. Exam eligibility (experience routes) is assessed separately when you apply for the CCAS examination.

 

Course structure

Module Focus Time
M0 Orientation: CCAS, the Exam, and How to Study 45 min
M1 Foundations: Climate Science, Principles, Policy & Ethics 75 min
M2 Boundaries: Organizational Inventory Design 105 min
M3 Quantification: From Meter to Tonne 165 min
M4 City Inventories: GPC and Subnational MRV 105 min
M5 Product and Project Accounting 105 min
M6 Reporting, Disclosure, Targets, and Communication 105 min
M7 Verification, Assurance, and Audit Readiness 105 min
M8 Decarbonising the Built Asset 180 min
M9 Markets, Claims, and Capital 75 min
M10 GHG Information Management Systems 105 min
M11 Leading the Practice & Airport Carbon Accreditation 75 min
CAP Capstone Integrated Case + Timed Practice Exam 105 min
Total   22.50 hours
 

Hours are scaled to the actual exam weights. Quantification and Building & Energy Decarbonization—the two heaviest domains—receive the most time.

 

How the course works

  • Fully self-paced on Beyond Smart Cities with sequential (gated) progression
  • Recommended pace: 8 weeks at ~3 hours per week, or 4 weeks intensive at ~6 hours per week
  • 12 months access
  • Every lesson links directly to the official Study Guide (worked examples, figures, templates, and checklists)
  • Practical activities using the Study Guide’s calculation templates and checklists
  • Optional live webinars are available separately (Calculation Clinic, Roadmap & Verification Studio, Exam Readiness)
 

Assessment and certificate

  • Module quizzes (70% pass mark)
  • Practical activities and capstone case
  • 50-item timed practice exam weighted to the CCAS blueprint (70% pass mark)

On successful completion, you receive a Beyond Smart Cities course certificate stating 22.50 guided learning hours and listing all 11 BOK domains covered. This is a training certificate, not the CCAS credential itself.

 

What you need

  • Study Guide for Certification: CCAS (required)
  • CCAS Body of Knowledge v1.1 and Candidate Handbook v1.1 (free downloads)
  • Non-programmable scientific calculator
  • Desktop or laptop with stable internet

Free Downloads

Download the official documents required for this course:

  • CCAS Candidate Handbook v1.1 – Free download

These documents are essential for the course and for your CCAS exam preparation.

Independence statement

CCAS is developed, owned, and administered by Beyond Smart Cities. This course and the CCAS credential are independent of, and not affiliated with or endorsed by,  any other standard-setting or credential body. Completing the course does not guarantee a pass on the CCAS examination.

 

Enrol now and prepare for the CCAS exam with a single, coherent framework that covers organisational, city, product, and building carbon—exactly as required by the credential.

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Course Content

M0 Module — Orientation: CCAS, the Exam and How to Study
Sets expectations before any technical content. Learners see the CCAS practice model (four scales plus one data layer), the 11-domain blueprint and its item counts, the locked examination policies, and a study method built on the Study Guide's nine-part chapter structure. They finish with a personal diagnostic by scale and a study plan.

  • CCAS M0 L0.1 – Welcome the CCAS practice model and this course
  • CCAS M0 L0.1 – Handout
  • CCAS M0 L0.2 – The CCAS exam and locked policies
  • CCAS M0 L0.2 – Handout
  • CCAS M0 L0.3 – How to study with the Study Guide
  • CCAS M0 L0.3 – Handout
  • CCAS M0 L0.4 – Exam technique reading stems, calculations and scenarios
  • CCAS M0 L0.4 – Handout

M1 Module — Foundations: Climate Science, Policy & Ethics
Why carbon accounting exists and the rules every inventory follows. Learners convert any Kyoto gas to CO₂e with a stated AR set, apply the five principles to real trade-offs, trace UNFCCC → Kyoto → Paris and Article 6, identify drivers for organizations, cities, and economic zones (Hong Kong and India context), and handle ethics and the first 'make us carbon neutral' conversation.

M2 Module — Boundaries: Organizational Inventory Design
How to design an inventory fit for its intended use: purpose and users, the three consolidation approaches, leases and landlord–tenant splits, scopes and ISO 14064-1 categories, building, airport and campus boundaries, carbon-audit planning, base year and recalculation, special cases, and the inventory management plan.

M3 Module — Quantification: From Meter to Tonne
The calculation core. Learners pick a calculation approach, convert units and energy (NCV/GCV), quantify Scope 1 combustion, process and fugitive emissions, report Scope 2 by both methods, choose Scope 3 methods, select and document emission factors, estimate uncertainty, and design QA/QC. A timed calculation clinic builds exam speed

M4 Module — City Inventories: GPC and Subnational MRV
City and community inventories under the GPC, from planning to reporting, plus the MRV system: a city or region needs to repeat the inventory every year. Learners classify sources by sector and city scope, assemble BASIC, BASIC+, and scope totals from one data set, apply notation keys, choose sector methods, avoid double counting, and design institutional arrangements that survive staff turnover.

M5 Module — Product and Project Accounting: CFP, PCRs, EPDs
Two consequential-looking but distinct worlds: product carbon footprints (ISO 14067, construction-product PCRs for cement, concrete and rebar, carbon labels and EPDs) and project-level reductions (ISO 14064-2 / GHG Protocol Project Protocol). Learners set units and A1–A4 boundaries, calculate a cement and concrete CFP, then set up a project with SSRs, baseline, additionality, leakage, quantification and monitoring

M6 Module — Reporting, Disclosure, Targets and Communication
How inventory results become credible reports, disclosures and targets. Learners assemble an ISO 14064-1/GHG Protocol report, map outputs to IFRS S2, ESRS E1 and CDP, compute PCAF-style financed emissions, set absolute or intensity targets, recalculate and track progress, judge claim language, and advise management after the first inventory.

M7 Module — Verification, Assurance and Audit Readiness
From the preparer's and the verifier's side: engagement types, the ISO 14064-3 process, limited vs reasonable assurance, quantitative and qualitative materiality, evidence procedures and sampling, independence and competence, product/building/city specifics, common findings and the verification-readiness pack — including commissioning and M&V as performance evidence

M8 Module — Decarbonizing the Built Asset: Building and Energy
The largest domain. Learners move along the asset life cycle — audit and financial planning, project development and whole-life carbon, construction and renovation (materials, refrigerants, commissioning), passive and active efficiency including electrification, facility management and M&V, distributed energy and Scope 2, industry, fleet and circularity — and finish by building a costed MACC roadmap for Qasr Airport.

M9 — Markets, Claims and Capital: Offsets,Markets and Finance
How compliance and voluntary markets, credit quality, neutrality claims, CBAM and green finance sit beside — never inside — gross inventories. Learners cost an allowance shortfall against abatement, judge a credit portfolio, apply reduce-first claim logic, estimate CBAM embedded emissions from a CFP, and structure a green loan, an SLL, an ESCO contract and an internal carbon price.

M10 Module — GHG Information Management Systems (IMS)
The systems that hold the numbers, from controlled spreadsheets to enterprise and government platforms. The specialist's role is owner, requirements lead, power user, and audit-ready operator—not software developer. Learners decide between spreadsheet vs. IMS, set roles and segregation, write requirements, evaluate vendors with knock-outs, TCO, and a PoC, specify data model, workflow, and audit trail, plan parallel run and migration, and operate verifier-ready controls across corporate, national, and city scales.

M11 Module — Leading the Practice: Ethics, Improvement and ACA for Airports
How specialists operate in real engagements: who may sign what, licenses and eligibility, competence and CPD, engagement management with change control, building a GHG program (including an airport's Airport Carbon Accreditation pathway), stakeholder leadership, PDCA improvement, ethics under client pressure, MRV leadership, and emerging topics such as digital MRV and AI controls.

CAP — Capstone and Mock Exam
Pulls the four scales and the data layer together. Learners work an integrated airport-and-logistics-zone case (scenario set across D2, D3, D6, D7, D8, D9, D10, D11), then sit a timed 50-item practice exam weighted to the BOK item counts, and finish with a debrief and a personal re-study plan driven by the domain diagnostic.

CCAS_Capstone_iPractice Test

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