For two years, 65 partners participated in the Better Buildings Low Carbon Pilot. Through this pilot, these leading organizations shared their experiences, successes, and challenges in their pursuit of low carbon emission strategies; partners focused on two or more buildings/plants over the course of two years. The design, implementation, and completion of the Better Buildings Low Carbon Pilot were instrumental in understanding the pathways being taken to reduce emissions from building and manufacturing operations.
This toolkit collects the Pilot’s key learnings and materials from these partners.
FEATURED RESOURCES
The following resources were produced by organizations participating in the Low Carbon Pilot, they include action plan templates and replicable partner solutions.
- Columbia Association – Action Plan Template
Columbia Association provided a complete action plan template as part of their participation within the Low Carbon Pilot. This plan outlines the strategies Columbia Association implemented within energy efficiency, on-site renewables, and PPA’s/utility offerings for a community center and a fitness club. - Los Angeles Unified School District – Action Plan Template
LAUSD completed an action plan template as part of it's participation in the Low Carbon Pilot. This plan outlines strategies LAUSD implemented to decarbonize two classrooms and instructional buildings. These strategies focused on energy efficiency, on-site renewables, off-site renewables, grid integration, and PPA’s/utility offerings. - Columbia Association – Solution at a Glance
Columbia Association leveraged resources and technical assistance from the Better Buildings Low Carbon Pilot to assess water heaters at Kendall Ridge Pool, a community facility built in 1996. The energy team at Columbia Association replaced a large propane water heater with two smaller heat pump water heaters and tested it during the popular summer pool season. The energy team at Columbia Association completed the heat pump retrofit to eliminate a source of on-site fossil fuel combustion and utilize a high-efficiency heat pump technology at the site. - LBA Realty – Solution at a Glance
Through guidance offered from the Better Buildings Low Carbon Pilot (LCP), LBA Realty worked to improve the efficiency and emissions at One Culver by pursuing a renewable energy contract, installing window tinting, altering the energy management system and performing audits to identify retro-commissioning opportunities. - Waupaca Foundry- Showcase Project
To improve system efficiency and performance, Plant 1 conducted an extensive compressed air audit and system optimization project, identifying measures to maximize the system’s efficiency and reliability. As a result of the projects implemented, Plant 1 improved the overall operation and maintenance of its compressed air system and improved system-level energy efficiency by 13.5%. - Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) – Implementation Model
The LADWP Water System is reducing greenhouse gas emissions and supporting LA’s power grid by participating in a Demand Response Program developed by the Power System to reduce load during high peak periods. - Stellantis – Implementation Model
To overcome excess energy consumption during unplanned plant shutdowns outside of normal production hours, Stellantis developed an 8-step standardized shutdown procedure. Participating sites initially achieved load shed by 6.4%. After six months of refining the procedure, these sites achieved an additional load shed of 28% and saw increased employee awareness of equipment energy use.
Explore the Toolkit:
See the partners who contributed to the Low Carbon Pilot here.
