HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-07-24; Planning Commission; Resolution 7113
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A RESOLUTION OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF
CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA, RECOMMENDING APPROVAL OF THE CARLSBAD
CLIMATE ACTION PLAN.
CASE NAME: GENERAL PLAN UPDATE
CASE NO.: SS 15-05
WHEREAS, the City Planner has filed a verified application with the City of Carlsbad, as
part of the General Plan update, to develop a Climate Action Plan, which affects properties citywide; and
WHEREAS, said verified application constitutes a request for approval of a Climate Action
Plan as shown on Exhibit 3A: Draft Climate Action Plan dated March 2014, incorporated by this reference
and on file in the Carlsbad Planning Division; and
WHEREAS, the Carlsbad Community Vision identifies environmental sustainability as a
core community value, and the proposed General Plan includes goals and policies that promote
environmental sustainability, including transportation demand management, energy efficiency, waste
reduction, and resource conservation and recycling, and the proposed Climate Action Plan supports these
community values, goals and policies by identifying how the city can reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs);
and
WHEREAS, state laws requires the reduction of GHGs and recommend that reduction
targets be established, and the proposed Climate Action Plan identifies how Carlsbad can meet the GHG
reduction targets;
WHEREAS, pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act, a Final Environmental
Impact Report (SCH # 2011011004) for the proposed Climate Action Plan has been prepared and the
Planning Commission has considered its contents and recommends the certification thereof; and
WHEREAS, the Planning Commission did on July 18, 2015, hold a duly noticed public
hearing and received public testimony and thereafter continued said public hearing to July 22, 23 and 24,
2015, as prescribed by law to consider said request; and
PLANNING COMMISSION RESOLUTION NO. 7113
PC RESO NO. 7113 -2-
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WHEREAS, at said public hearing, upon hearing and considering all documents, evidence,
testimony and arguments, if any, of all persons desiring to be heard, said Commission considered all
factors relating to the proposed Climate Action Plan.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED by the Planning Commission of the City of
Carlsbad as follows:
A) That the foregoing recitations are true and correct.
B) That based on the evidence presented at the public hearing and in the record of the
administrative proceedings, the Planning Commission RECOMMENDS APPROVAL of the
CARLSBAD CLIMATE ACTION PLAN, WITH REVISIONS RECOMMENDED BY STAFF AS
DESCRIBED IN CHAPTER 5 OF THE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT (EXHIBIT 1A
OF PLANNING COMMISSION RESOLUTION NO. 7111) AND AS DESCRIBED IN THE
MEMORANDUM TO THE PLANNING COMMISSION DATED JULY 24, 2015 AND TITLED
“ERRATA SHEET FOR THE GENERAL PLAN UPDATE AND CLIMATE ACTION PLAN” (ON
FILE IN THE PLANNING DIVISION AND INCORPORATED BY THIS REFERENCE), based on
the following findings.
Findings:
1. The Climate Action Plan is consistent with the goals and policies of the General Plan and all
elements thereof, based on the facts set forth in the staff report dated July 18, 2015, including
but not limited to the following: the Climate Action Plan supports and implements the General
Plan goals and policies related to environmental sustainability, including transportation
demand management, energy efficiency, waste reduction, and resource conservation and
recycling.
2. The Climate Action Plan conforms with state laws that require GHG reductions.
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PASSED, APPROVED, AND ADOPTED at a regular meeting of the Planning Commission of
the City of Carlsbad, California, held on July 24, 2015 by the following vote, to wit:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTAIN:
Vi ~a Scully, Chairperson
Chairperson Scully, Commissioners Anderson, Black, L'Heureux,
Montgomery, Segall and Siekmann
CARLSBAD PLANNING COMMISSION
ATTEST:
~~
DON NEU
City Planner
PC RESO NO. 7113 -3-
Draft General Plan
www.carlsbadca.gov/envision
Climate Action Plan
March 2014
www.carlsbadca.gov/envision
DRAFT
www.carlsbadca.gov/envision
Introduction
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City Staff
Kevin Crawford, Interim City Manager
Gary Barberio, Assistant City Manager
Kathy Dodson, Assistant City Manager
Don Neu, City Planner
David de Cordova, Principal Planner (Project Manager)
Chris DeCerbo, Principal Planner
Jennifer Jesser, Senior Planner (Project Manager)
Doug Bilse, Senior Traffic Engineer
Jane Mobaldi, Assistant City Attorney
Kristina Ray, Communications Manager
Leticia Trevino-Reyes, Senior Office Specialist
City Council
Matt Hall, Mayor
Mark Packard, Mayor Pro Tem
Keith Blackburn, Council Member
Lorraine Wood, Council Member
Prepared by
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Table of Contents
1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 1-1
1.1!Scope and Purpose ............................................................................. 1-1!
1.2!Climate Change and Greenhouse Gases Overview ............................ 1-2!
1.3!California GHG Reduction Legal Framework ....................................... 1-5!
1.4!Federal and State Emissions Reductions Strategies and Standards .. 1-6!
1.5!Planning Process ................................................................................. 1-8!
1.6!How to Use This Plan ........................................................................ 1-10!
2 Emissions Inventory .................................................................................. 2-1!
2.1!Methodology ........................................................................................ 2-1!
2.2!Community Inventory ........................................................................... 2-3!
2.3!Government Operations Inventory ..................................................... 2-10!
3 Greenhouse Gas Reduction Target, Forecasts, and Emissions “Gap” 3-1!
3.1!GHG Reduction Target ........................................................................ 3-1!
3.2!Business as Usual Forecast ................................................................ 3-3!
3.3!Community Forecast with General Plan Land Use and Circulation
System ................................................................................................. 3-4!
3.4!Government Operations Forecast ........................................................ 3-9!
3.5!GHG Reductions to Community Forecast from State and Federal
Actions ............................................................................................... 3-11!
3.6!Modified Baseline: GHG Reductions from Additional General Plan
Policies and Actions ........................................................................... 3-16!
3.7!Modified Baseline and the GHG Emissions “Gap” ............................. 3-24!
4 CAP GHG Reduction Measures ................................................................ 4-1!
4.1!Residential, Commercial and Industrial Photovoltaic Systems ............ 4-2!
4.2!Building Cogeneration .......................................................................... 4-5!
4.3!Single-family, Multi-family, Commercial, and City Facility Efficiency
Retrofits ................................................................................................ 4-7!
4.4!Commercial and City Facility Commissioning .................................... 4-10!
4.5!Green Building Code .......................................................................... 4-11!
4.6!Efficient Lighting Standards ............................................................... 4-12!
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4.7!Solar Water Heater/Heat Pump Installation ....................................... 4-14!
4.8!Transportation Demand Management ............................................... 4-15!
4.9!Increased Zero-Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) Travel ............................... 4-17!
4.10!Citywide Renewable Projects ............................................................. 4-19!
4.11!Water Delivery and Conservation ....................................................... 4-20!
4.12!Combined Effect of CAP GHG Reduction Measures and Forecast with
CAP .................................................................................................... 4-22!
5 Project Review Checklist and Monitoring Progress ............................... 5-1!
5.1!Project Review Thresholds and Checklist ............................................ 5-1!
5.2!Monitoring Progress ............................................................................. 5-5!
Appendix A - Climate Change Informational Resources
Appendix B - City of Carlsbad Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventories
B-1 2005 City of Carlsbad Greenhouse Gas Inventory
B-2 2011 Community and Local Government Operations
Greenhouse Gas Inventory Updates
Appendix C - References
Appendix D - Applicable General Plan Policies
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List of Figures
Figure 1-1: Greenhouse Gas Effect ........................................................................ 1-3!
Figure 1-2: Change in Average Global Temperatures ............................................ 1-4!
Figure 2-1: 2011 Community GHG Emissions by Sector (MTCO2e) ..................... 2-5!
Figure 2-2: 2011 Community GHG Emissions by Source for Three Largest Sectors
(MTCO2e) ............................................................................................ 2-7!
Figure 2-3: Electricity Emissions by Sector ............................................................ 2-7!
Figure 2-4: Natural Gas Emissions by Sector ......................................................... 2-8!
Figure 3-1: 2005 Emissions and Emissions Targets .............................................. 3-2!
Figure 3-2: Business as Usual Forecast and Emissions Targets ........................... 3-3!
Figure 3-3: Comparison of Emissions by Sector in 2011, 2020 and 2035 .............. 3-8!
Figure 3-4: Community Forecast with RPS, Pavley I Fuel Economy Standards, and
General Plan Land Use and Roadways ............................................... 3-9!
Figure 3-5: Community Forecast with (1) General Plan Land Use and New
Roadways and (2) State and Federal Actions (MTCO2e) .................. 3-15!
Figure 3-6: Modified Baseline Forecast (Forecast Community Emissions with
General Plan Land Use and Roadways, State and Federal Actions, and
Additional General Plan Policies and Actions) ................................... 3-25!
Figure 4-1: Forecast Community Emissions with CAP Reduction Measures and
Targets ............................................................................................... 4-25!
Figure 5-1: Process of Climate Action Planning ..................................................... 5-5!
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List of Tables
Table 2-1: Residential, Commercial and Industrial (RCI) Inputs; 2011 ................. 2-3!
Table 2-2: 2011 Community GHG Emissions (MTCO2e) ..................................... 2-6!
Table 2-3: Electricity Emissions by Sector (MTCO2e) ........................................... 2-7!
Table 2-4: Natural Gas Emissions by Sector (MTCO2e) ....................................... 2-8!
Table 2-5: Population and Jobs, 2005 and 2011 ................................................... 2-9!
Table 2-6: Sources of Growth in GHG Emissions (metric tons CO2e) .................. 2-9!
Table 2-7: Greenhouse Gas Emissions Summary by Sector (metric tons CO2e)2-10!
Table 2-8: Buildings and Facilities Inputs; 2011 .................................................. 2-10!
Table 2-9: Government Operations Vehicle Fleet Inputs .................................... 2-12!
Table 2-10: Public Lighting Inputs (kWh) ............................................................... 2-12!
Table 2-11: Waste and Wastewater Transport Inputs (kWh) ................................ 2-13!
Table 2-12: Government Operations Emissions by Sector (MTCO2e) .................. 2-13!
Table 2-13: Emissions by Source (MTCO2e) ........................................................ 2-14!
Table 2-14: Government Operations Emissions vs Community Emissions (MTCO2e)2-14!
Table 3-1: 2005 Emissions and Emissions Targets .............................................. 3-2!
Table 3-2: 2011 VMT and Projected 2020 and 2035 VMT .................................... 3-6!
Table 3-3: Projected UWMP Water Delivery, Used To Determine Wastewater
Emissions ............................................................................................. 3-7!
Table 3-4: Community Forecast Emissions by Sector, 2011, 2020, and 2035
(MTCO2e) ............................................................................................. 3-7!
Table 3-5: Government Operations Emissions Inventory (2011) and 2020, 2035
Forecast (MTCO2e) ............................................................................ 3-11!
Table 3-6: RPS GHG Reductions ........................................................................ 3-12!
Table 3-8: Pavley I Fuel Economy Standard GHG Reductions ........................... 3-13!
Table 3-9: Low Carbon Fuel Standard GHG Reductions .................................... 3-13!
Table 3-10: Title 24 Building Efficiency Improvements GHG Reductions ............. 3-14!
Table 3-11: GHG Reductions from Rising Gasoline Prices ................................... 3-14!
Table 3-12: Community Forecast with State and Federal Actions (MTCO2e) ....... 3-15!
Table 3-13: GHG Reductions from Additional General Plan Policies and Actions 3-24!
Table 3-14: Modified Baseline Forecast (Forecast Community Emissions with
General Plan Land Use and Roadways, State and Federal Actions, and
Additional General Plan Policies and Actions) ................................... 3-24!
Table 4-1: CAP GHG Reduction Measures Summary ........................................ 4-23!
Table 4-2: List of Proposed Ordinances and Applicable Measures ..................... 4-24!
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Table 4-3: Forecast Community Emissions with CAP GHG Reduction Measures
and Targets ........................................................................................ 4-24!
Table 5-1: Project Review Thresholds ................................................................... 5-2!
Table 5-2: Preliminary CAP Project Review Checklist .......................................... 5-3!
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Introduction
1.1 Scope and Purpose
Background and Purpose
The Climate Action Plan (CAP) is designed to reduce Carlsbad’s greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions and streamline environmental review of future development projects in the city in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
The CAP has been prepared concurrently with the city’s updated General Plan and includes
actions to carry out the General Plan’s goals and policies, consistent with the Community
Vision articulated during Envision Carlsbad. The CAP is also correlated with the
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) on the General Plan, with the CAP GHG reduction
target synchronized with the EIR.
Community Vision and Environmental Stewardship
Carlsbad has long been a steward of environmental sustainability. In 2007, the Carlsbad City Council adopted a set of sustainability and environmental guiding principles (Resolution No. 2007-187) to help guide city investments, activities, and programs. Sustainability emerged as a key theme during the Envision Carlsbad community outreach process, and reflected as a
Core Value of the Community Vision:
Core Value 6: Sustainability. Build on the city’s sustainability initiatives to emerge as a leader in green development and sustainability. Pursue public/private partnerships, particularly on sustainable water, energy, recycling, and foods.
The General Plan
The General Plan includes strategies such as mixed-use development, higher density infill development, integrated transportation and land use planning, promotion of bicycle and
pedestrian movements, and transportation demand management. It also includes goals and
policies to promote energy efficiency, waste reduction, and resource conservation and
recycling. These strategies, goals, and policies would result in GHG reduction compared to
baseline trends.
1: INTRODUCTION
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CAP
The CAP includes goals, policies, and actions for Carlsbad to reduce GHG emissions and
combat climate change and includes:
• An inventory of Carlsbad’s citywide and local government GHG emissions;
• Forecasts of future citywide and local government GHG emissions;
• A comprehensive, citywide strategy and actions to manage and reduce GHG emissions,
with emission targets through 2035; and
• Actions that demonstrate Carlsbad’s commitment to achieve state GHG reduction
targets by creating enforceable measures, and monitoring and reporting processes to
ensure targets are met.
The timeframe for the Plan extends from the date of adoption through 2035.
1.2 Climate Change and Greenhouse Gases Overview
Greenhouse Effect and GHGs
Gases that trap heat in the atmosphere are often called “greenhouse gases” (GHGs). The
greenhouse effect traps heat in the troposphere through a threefold process as follows: Short-
wave radiation emitted by the sun is absorbed by the earth; the earth emits a portion of this
energy in the form of long-wave radiation; and GHGs in the upper atmosphere absorb this
long-wave radiation, emitting some of it into space and the rest back toward the earth. This
“trapping” of the long-wave (thermal) radiation emitted back toward the earth is the
underlying process of the greenhouse effect (Figure 1-1).
Principal GHGs include carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), ozone
(O3), and water vapor (H2O). Some GHGs, such as CO2, CH4, and N2O, occur naturally and
are emitted to the atmosphere through natural processes and human activities. Since different
gases contribute to the greenhouse effect in different proportions, the term CO2e (carbon
dioxide equivalent) provides the reference frame based on comparison to CO2’s contribution.
The greenhouse effect is a natural process that contributes to regulating the earth’s
temperature. Without it, the temperature of the earth would be about 0°F (−18°C) instead of
its present 57°F (14°C) and unlikely to support human life in its current form.
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Figure 1-1: Greenhouse Gas Effect
(Source: NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, http://www.dec.ny.gov/energy/76533.html)
Carbon Cycle and Global Temperatures
The global carbon cycle is complex and incorporates natural sources of atmospheric carbon
dioxide, including respiration of aerobic organisms, wildfires, and volcanic outgassing, and
sinks such the removal of CO2 from by land plants for photosynthesis, and absorption by the
ocean. Data collected on global GHG concentrations over the past 800,000 years
demonstrates that the concentration of CO2, the principal GHG, has increased dramatically
since pre-industrial times, from approximately below 300 parts per million (ppm) in 1800, to
about 353 ppm in 1990, 379 ppm in 2005, and 399 ppm in early 2013.1
Increased atmospheric concentrations of GHGs have led to a rise in average global
temperatures. Figure 1-2 shows the increase in global temperatures from 1880 to 2011. While
average global temperatures fluctuate on a yearly basis, the general trend shows a long-term
temperature increase. Nine of the ten warmest years since 1880 have occurred since the year
2000, and scientists expect the long-term temperature increase to continue as well. The
consensus among climate scientists is that earth’s climate system is unequivocally warming,
1 Source: NOAA “Trends in Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide,” http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/
1: INTRODUCTION
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and rigorous scientific research demonstrates that anthropogenic2 greenhouse gases are the
primary driver.
Figure 1-2: Change in Average Global Temperatures
(Source: NASA Headquarters Release No. 12-020, http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2011-temps.html)
Climate Change
Global climate change concerns are focused on the potential effects of climate change
resulting from excessive GHGs in the atmosphere and how communities can mitigate effects
and adapt to change in the short and long term.
Numerous observations document the impacts of global climate change, including increases
in global average air and ocean temperatures, the widespread melting of snow and ice, more
intense heat waves, and rising global average sea level. Scientists have high confidence that
global temperatures will continue to rise in the foreseeable future, largely due to
anthropogenic GHG emissions. In addition to the physical impacts to the environment from
increased temperatures, sea level rise, and more frequent extreme weather events, global
climate change is predicted to continue to cause ecological and social impacts. Ecological
impacts of climate change include greater risk of extinction of species, loss of species
diversity, and alteration of global biogeochemical cycles, which play an essential role in
nutrient distribution. The social impacts of climate change include impacts on agriculture,
fisheries, energy, water resources, forestry, construction, insurance, financial services, tourism
and recreation.
According to the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in North America, the
regional impacts of climate change are a forecast of decreased snowpack in the western
mountains, a 5 to 20 percent decrease in the yields of rain-fed agriculture in some regions,
2 Caused by human activities
DRAFT CARLSBAD CLIMATE ACTION PLAN
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and increased frequency, intensity and duration of heat waves in cities that currently
experience them.
In California, the Climate Action Team (CAT)—a group of state agency secretaries and the
heads of agency, boards and departments, led by the Secretary of the California
Environmental Protection Agency—synthesized current research on the environmental and
economic impacts of climate change. The CAT found that climate changes are poised to
affect virtually every sector of the state’s economy and most ecosystems. Key findings of the
CAT include predicted decreases in water supply that could cause revenue losses of up to $3
billion in the agricultural sector by 2050, increases in statewide electricity demand of up to 55
percent by the end of the century, increased wildfire risk that may cause monetary impacts of
up to $2 billion by 2050, and ecosystems impacts affecting California’s historic ranching
culture and a source of local, grass-fed beef.
Higher temperatures, changes in precipitation, decreased water supplies accompanied by
increased demand, increased risk of wildfire, a greater number of extremely hot days, the
decline or loss of plant and animal species, and other impacts of climate change are expected
to continue to affect Carlsbad. Climate change also has public health impacts. City residents
who are already more vulnerable to health challenges are likely to be the most affected by
climate change. These populations tend to be the young and the old, the poor, and those who
are already sick. Increases in extreme heat events can increase the risk of heat-related illness
or death, or the worsening of chronic health conditions. Food scarcity and higher food prices
from impacts to agriculture can cause increased hunger and reduced availability of nutrition.
The increased frequency of natural disasters such as floods, droughts, wildfires, and storm
surges can cause injury or death, illness, and increases or shifts in infectious diseases.
1.3 California GHG Reduction Legal Framework
California has taken an aggressive stance to reduce GHG emissions in order to combat the
impacts of climate change.
Governor’s Executive Order S-3-05
Executive Order S-3-05 (EO S-3-05) recognizes California’s vulnerability to increased
temperatures causing human health impacts, rising sea levels, and reduced Sierra snowpack
due to a changing climate. The Executive Order established targets to reduce GHG emissions
to 2000 levels by 2010, to 1990 levels by 2020, and to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.
Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 and CARB Scoping Plan
The Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Assembly Bill 32, or AB 32) codifies the target
set in EO S-3-05 of statewide reductions to 1990 emissions levels by 2020. AB 32 directs the
California Air Resources Board (CARB) to develop and implement a scoping plan and
regulations to meet the 2020 target.
CARB approved the Scoping Plan in 2008, which provides guidance for local communities to
meet AB 32 and EO S-3-05 targets. The Scoping Plan adopted a quantified cap on GHG
1: INTRODUCTION
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emission representing 1990 emission levels, instituted a schedule to meet the emission cap,
and developed tracking, reporting, and enforcement tools to assist the State in meeting the
required GHG emission reductions. The Scoping Plan recommends that local governments
target 2020 emissions at 15 percent below 2005 levels to account for emissions growth since
1990, as proxy for 1990 emissions, since few localities know those levels.
The Carlsbad CAP’s GHG emission targets are based on meeting the goals set in EO S-3-05
and AB 32.
1.4 Federal and State Emissions Reductions Strategies
and Standards
Several federal and state standards have been adopted to reduce GHG emissions, in addition
to and in support of the targets set in EO S-3-05 and AB 32.
Federal Standards
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates and tests gas mileage or
fuel economy in order to deter air pollution in the United States. As the transportation sector
produces approximately 30 percent3 of GHG emissions in the U.S. as a whole, fuel economy
regulations are an important way to reduce GHG emissions. The EPA’s Corporate Average
Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards require vehicle manufacturers to comply with the gas
mileage or fuel economy standards to reduce energy consumption by increasing the fuel
economy of cars and light trucks. The most recent CAFE GHG emissions standards were set
in 2012, which will increase the fuel economy to 54.5 miles per gallon average for cars and
light trucks by Model Year 2025, and reduce U.S. oil consumption by 12 billion barrels per
year. The EPA also imposes the Gas Guzzler Tax on manufacturers of new cars that do not
meet required fuel economy levels, to discourage the production and purchase of fuel-
inefficient vehicles.
The EPA is taking further action to reduce GHG emissions in addition to setting fuel
economy standards. The EPA established a renewable fuel standard to include a minimum
volume of renewable fuel in 2013, which applies to all gasoline and diesel produced or
imported. On September 20, 2013, the EPA proposed the first national limits on the amount
of carbon pollution that new power plants will be allowed to emit. The EPA will propose
standards for existing power plants by June 1, 2014. The EPA also approved oil and natural
gas air pollution standards in 2013 to reduce pollution from the oil and natural gas industry.
State Standards
California Senate Bill 375
SB 375 (2008) requires each Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) in the state to adopt
a Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) aimed at achieving a coordinated and balance regional
3 In 2011, GHG emissions from transportation were about 28 percent of the total 6,702 million metric tons CO2
equivalents (Source: http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/sources/transportation.html)
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transportation system, including mass transit, highways, railroads, bicycles, and pedestrians,
among other forms of transit. Each MPO is required to prepare a Sustainable Communities
Strategy (SCS) which sets forth forecast development patterns and describes the
transportation system that achieve the regional GHG emission reduction targets set by
CARB.
CARB’s targets for San Diego County call for the region to reduce per capita emissions 7
percent by 2020 and 13 percent by 2035 based on a 2005 baseline. There are no mandated
targets beyond 2035. San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), the San Diego
County MPO, adopted its current RTP/SCS in October 2011. The SCS lays out how the
region will meet the CARB GHG targets to the year 2035. As the SCS is focused on passenger
vehicle emissions on a regional scale, it is considered separate from the reductions outlined in
this CAP.
Senate Bill 1368
SB 1368 creates GHG emissions performance standards for baseload generation4 from
investor-owned utilities. The bill requires that any long-term financial investment in baseload
generation resources made on behalf of California customers must meet a performance
standard of producing below 1,000 lbs CO2 per MWh (megawatt-hour), approximately equal
to a combined-cycle natural gas plant.
Governor’s Executive Order S-1-07 (Low Carbon Fuel Standard)
Executive Order S-1-07, the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), requires a reduction of at
least 10 percent in the carbon intensity of California’s transportation fuels by 2020. The LCFS
requires oil refineries and distributors to ensure that the mix of fuel sold in California meets
this reduction. The reduction includes not only tailpipe emissions but also all other associated
emissions from the production distribution and use of transport fuels within the state.
Renewable Portfolio Standards
California’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), established in 2002 by the California State
Senate in Senate Bill 1078, accelerated in 2006 and expanded in 2011, is one of the most
ambitious renewable energy standards in the country. The RPS requires each energy provider
to supply electricity from eligible renewable energy resources to 33 percent of the total supply
by 2020.
Pavley Fuel Economy Standards (AB 1493)
In 2009, CARB adopted amendments to the Pavley regulations to reduce GHG emissions in
new passenger vehicles from 2009 to 2016. The standards became the model for the updated
federal CAFE standards.
4 Baseload generation is the minimum amount of power that a utility must make available to customers to meet
minimum demands based on customer usage.
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Title 24 Building Standards & CALGreen
Title 24 is California’s Building Energy Code, which is updated every three years. In 2010,
Title 24 was updated to include the “California Green Building Standards Code,” referred to
as CALGreen. CALGreen requires that new buildings reduce water consumption, increase
system efficiencies, divert construction waste from landfills, and install low pollutant-
emitting finish materials. CALGreen has mandatory measures that apply to nonresidential
and residential construction. The most recent CALGreen code was adopted in 2013 and
became effective in 2014. CALGreen contains voluntary Tier 1 and Tier 2 levels, which are
designed to exceed energy efficiency and other standards by 15 percent or 30 percent.
1.5 Planning Process
How This Plan Was Prepared
The CAP reflects the city’s commitment to the Core Values presented in the General Plan,
and links the elements of the plan—including Sustainability; Open Space and the Natural
Environment; Access to Recreation and Active, Health Lifestyles; Walking, Biking, Public
Transportation, and Connectivity; and Neighborhood Revitalization, Community Design,
and Livability—with the goal of GHG reduction. The CAP was prepared in 2013 by City staff
and consultants, with input from the public.
On August 22, 2013 the City of Carlsbad hosted a Community Workshop on the CAP. The
workshop provided an opportunity to present the citywide emissions inventory that had been
completed, and discuss potential emission reduction strategies. Feedback from the
Community Workshop was used to guide the preparation of this document.
Relationship to the California Environmental Quality Act
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) is a statute that requires local agencies to
identify significant environmental impacts of their actions and avoid or mitigate those
impacts, if feasible. In 2007, California’s lawmakers enacted Senate Bill (SB) 97, which
expressly recognizes the need to analyze GHG emissions as part of the CEQA process. SB 97
required the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) to develop recommended
amendments to address GHG emissions as an environmental effect.
In 2010, OPR’s amendments to the CEQA guidelines addressing GHG emissions became
effective. Lead agencies are now obligated to describe, calculate or estimate the amount of
GHG emissions resulting from a project, by using a model or methodology to quantify GHG
emissions resulting from a project or relying on a qualitative analysis or performance based
standards. The lead agency should determine whether a project’s GHG emissions
significantly affect the environment by considering whether the project’s emissions, as
compared to the existing environmental setting, exceeds a threshold of significance that the
lead agency determines applies to the project, and the extent to which the project complies
with the regulations or requirements adopted to implement a statewide, regional, or local
plan for the reduction or mitigation of GHG emissions. In addition, the lead agency is
required to impose feasible mitigation to eliminate or substantially reduce significant effects.
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The CAP will help the city with compliance with CEQA Guidelines Section 15183.5(b):
Tiering and Streamlining the Analysis of Greenhouse Gas Emissions5, which became effective
in 2010. The required elements of a CAP, as cited in the guidelines, state that a plan for the
reduction of GHG emissions should:
• Quantify greenhouse gas emissions, both existing and projected over a specified time
period, resulting from activities within a defined geographic area;
• Establish a level, based on substantial evidence, below which the contribution to
greenhouse gas emissions from activities covered by the plan would not be cumulatively
considerable;
• Identify and analyze the greenhouse gas emissions resulting from specific actions or
categories of actions anticipated within the geographic area;
• Specify measures or a group of measures, including performance standards, that
substantial evidence demonstrates, if implemented on a project-by-project basis, would
collectively achieve the specified emissions level;
• Establish a mechanism to monitor the plan’s progress toward achieving the level and to
require amendment if the plan is not achieving specified levels;
• Be adopted in a public process following environmental review.
The CAP is intended to fulfill these requirements. The CAP also contains a Project Review
Checklist, which allows for streamlined review of GHG emissions for projects that
demonstrate consistency with the CAP, as described in CEQA Guidelines Section 15183.5(b).
Relationship to General Plan and Future Projects
Carlsbad’s approach to addressing GHG emissions within the General Plan is parallel to the
climate change planning process followed by numerous California jurisdictions. A General
Plan is a project under CEQA, and projects under CEQA are required to estimate CO2 and
other GHG emissions, as described above. According to the Attorney General, “in the context
of a general plan update, relevant emissions include those from government operations, as
well as from the local community as a whole. Emissions sources include, for example,
transportation, industrial facilities and equipment, residential and commercial development,
agriculture, and land conversion.” The CAP is designed to provide discrete actions to
operationalize the General Plan policies that help with GHG reduction, as well as outline
additional actions to help meet GHG reduction targets. The preparation of a CAP is also
consistent with CEQA Guidelines Section 15183.5 that allows jurisdictions to analyze and
mitigate the significant effects of GHG at a programmatic level, by adopting a plan to reduce
GHG emissions.
5 15183.5(b) of CEQA Guidelines states, “Plans for the Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Public agencies may
choose to analyze and mitigate significant greenhouse gas emissions in a plan for the reduction of greenhouse gas
emissions or similar document. A plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions may be used in a cumulative impacts
analysis as set forth below. Pursuant to sections 15064(h)(3) and 15130(d), a lead agency may determine that a
project’s incremental contribution to a cumulative effect is not cumulatively considerable if the project complies with
the requirements in a previously adopted plan or mitigation program under specified circumstances.”
1: INTRODUCTION
1-10
Project-specific environmental documents prepared for projects consistent with the General
Plan may rely on the programmatic analysis contained in the CAP and the EIR certified for
the Carlsbad General Plan. The thresholds presented in Section 5.2: Project Review and
Thresholds present a clear method for determining the significance of GHG emissions for
future projects.
1.6 How to Use This Plan
The CAP is intended to be a tool for policy makers, community members and others to guide
the implementation of actions that limit Carlsbad’s GHG emissions. Ensuring that the
mitigation measures in the CAP translate from policy language to on-the-ground results is
critical to the success of the CAP. Chapter 5: Project Review Checklist and Monitoring
Progress describes how the city will review development projects to achieve the GHG
reduction measures in Chapter 4, consistent with state CEQA Guidelines. This chapter also
outlines how the city will monitor progress in reducing emissions, and periodically revisit
assumptions and key provisions of the plan.
2-1
2
Emissions Inventory
This chapter identifies the major sources and the overall magnitude of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Carlsbad, pursuant to Sections 15183.5(b)(1)(A) and 15183.5(b)(1)(C) of the
state CEQA Guidelines. The City of Carlsbad prepared an inventory of 2005 communitywide
GHG emissions, including emissions from government operations, in 2008. As part of the
Climate Action Plan (CAP) preparation effort, this inventory was updated to 2011 to provide a more current measure of emissions, and is summarized in this chapter. Appendix B provides the 2005 inventory and 2011 update in detail, which is summarized in Section 2.2 in this chapter.
The inventory follows the standards developed by the International Council for Local
Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) for community and government operations GHG
inventories. The inventory methodology is described first, followed by the inputs, and results.
2.1 Methodology
The community inventory covers all direct GHG emissions6 from sources within the
boundaries of the City of Carlsbad, including fuel combusted in the community and direct
emissions from landfills within the community. Indirect emissions associated with the
consumption of energy (such as electricity, with no end point emissions) that is generated
outside the borders of the city are also included. The community inventory tallies emissions
from six sectors:
• Residential;
• Commercial;
• Industrial;
• Transportation;
• Solid waste; and
• Wastewater.
6 GHGs considered in the report are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and
hydrofluorcarbons. The emissions have been converted to carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e), which converts the
three other GHGs into the equivalent volume of carbon dioxide.
2: EMISSIONS INVENTORY
2-2
As the city has much greater ability to influence its own operations, the government
operations inventory is presented separately, and covers direct emissions from sources the
City of Carlsbad owns and/or controls. This includes mobile combustion of fuel for city
vehicles and the use of natural gas to heat city buildings. Indirect emissions associated with
the consumption of electricity, steam, heating or cooling for city operations that are
purchased from an outside utility are also included. All other indirect emissions sources,
including employee commutes and the decomposition of government-generated solid waste,
are not included as part of the local government operations, but rather counted in the
community inventory. The government operations inventory covers emissions from the
following sectors:
• Buildings and Facilities;
• Vehicle Fleet;
• Public Lighting; and
• Water and Wastewater Transport within city borders
ICLEI’s CACP7 model is used to estimate emissions from residential, commercial, and
industrial consumption of energy and solid waste disposal. The California Air Resource
Board’s (CARB’s) EMFAC8 models were used to calculate transportation emissions, and
other sources were used for solid waste and wastewater sectors.
The majority of emissions are calculated using activity data and emissions factors. Activity
data refers to a measurement of energy use or another GHG-generation process, such as
residential electricity use, or vehicle miles traveled. Emissions factors are used to convert
activity data to emissions, and are usually expressed as emissions per unit of activity data (e.g.
metric tons carbon dioxide [CO2] per kilowatt hour of electricity). To estimate emissions, the
following basic equation is used:
[Activity Data] x [Emissions Factor] = Emissions
As an example, multiplying the total amount of residential electricity use (activity data,
expressed in kilowatt-hours) by the emissions factor (expressed as CO2e emissions per
kilowatt-hour) produces the emissions in CO2e from residential energy use. The following
section describes the inputs for the community inventory based on activity data (or usage).
Certain emissions that occur in the city are not counted in the community inventory. For
example, during the community workshop on the CAP some participants questioned why
emissions related to the Encina Power Plant are not included in Carlsbad’s GHG inventory.
The reason is as follows: embodied emissions, such as those resulting from power generation
that is produced locally but distributed regionally, are not covered in Carlsbad’s inventory, in
accordance with ICLEI standards. These emissions are included at the points where energy is
7 Clean Air and Climate Protection (CACP) is a model developed by ICLEI to inventory and forecast GHG emissions.
The 2011 update utilized the CACP 2009 Version 3.0 software.
8 The Emissions Factors (EMFAC) model was developed by CARB to measure various emissions from vehicles. There
are multiple versions of EMFAC which focus on different vehicle types.
DRAFT CARLSBAD CLIMATE ACTION PLAN
2-3
consumed (some of which are in Carlsbad) rather than where it is simply produced—
otherwise emissions would either be double counted, or if only counted at the production
source, electricity consumption (which is the second largest contributor to GHG) in climate
action planning would be meaningless. Similarly, for water consumed in Carlsbad, emissions
associated with its transport from Northern California and Colorado are counted in
Carlsbad’s inventory, rather than elsewhere.
The Carlsbad Desalination Plant, which will begin operations in 2016, would therefore not
contribute emissions to the 2011 GHG inventory. The emissions forecast (Chapter 3) uses a
regional average for water consumption emissions, which accounts for the effect of the
desalination plant. In general, including these large regional facilities would effectively add
GHGs from consumption of services outside of Carlsbad to the city’s emission totals.
The McClellan-Palomar airport is county owned and operated, and is outside of the city’s
jurisdiction. The city has little, if any, influence over airport operations, and emissions
associated with airport flight operations are excluded because they occur in a regional
context.
For transportation trips that originate or end in Carlsbad, emissions for half of the entire trip
are included, and not just for the miles traveled within Carlsbad; however, trips that just pass
through Carlsbad are excluded, as their emissions would be reflected at their trip ends.9
Furthermore, although pass-through trips contribute a substantial amount to VMT totals, the
city and Carlsbad community has limited ability to influence them.
2.2 Community Inventory
Residential, Commercial, and Industrial (RCI) Electricity and
Natural Gas Usage
The inputs for the CACP model for the residential, commercial and industrial (RCI) sectors
are electricity and natural gas consumed. Table 2-1 shows RCI electricity and natural gas
consumption, and the total citywide consumption of electricity and natural gas. The
commercial sector has the largest electric consumption followed by residential and industrial.
The greatest natural gas consumption is from the residential sector, used for heating homes
and water, followed by commercial and industrial sectors.
TABLE 2-1: RESIDENTIAL, COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL (RCI) INPUTS; 2011
Inputs
Residential Electric (kWh) 275,033,189
Natural Gas (therms) 15,769,481
Commercial Electric (kWh) 411,249,580
9 For example, for a trip that begins in downtown San Diego and ends in Carlsbad, the entire trip length is calculated for
that trip. Half of the entire trip length is assigned to Carlsbad, and the other half is assigned to the City of San Diego.
Using half the trip length is standard SANDAG methodology for assigning regional VMT to a particular city.
2: EMISSIONS INVENTORY
2-4
TABLE 2-1: RESIDENTIAL, COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL (RCI) INPUTS; 2011
Inputs
Natural Gas (therms) 7,844,336
Industrial Electric (kWh) 116,341,521
Natural Gas (therms) 1,536,470
Total by Source
Electricity (kWh) 802,624,290
Natural Gas (therms) 23,613,817
Source: SDG&E, 2013
Differing emissions based on the source of electricity, either bundled or direct access
electricity, were taken into account. Bundled electricity is produced for SDG&E and transmitted by SDG&E. Direct access electricity is produced elsewhere in the region but
ultimately transmitted to the consumer by SDG&E. Natural gas produces CO2e regardless of
source.
Transportation
Transportation emissions are based on vehicle miles traveled (VMT) for vehicles and off-road
equipment. GIS-based 2011 VMT data from SANDAG for all roadways was used. All roadways including the zone connectors were used. The SANDAG data is reported as daily weekday VMT. This was converted to annual VMT by multiplying it by 347 10, as recommended by CARB. The total annual VMT in 2011 was 510,973,969 vehicle miles traveled.
CARB’s latest model, EMFAC2011, is made up of three modules: -SG, -LDV, and –HD. The
SG module covers all vehicle types, while LDV calculates light duty vehicles and HD calculates heavy duty vehicles. Appendix B provides a more detailed explanation of how CO2e were calculated using each module. As inputs, emissions from local roadway VMT and freeway VMT were determined separately.
Off-road emissions in Carlsbad include lawn and garden equipment, construction equipment, industrial equipment, and light commercial equipment. While CARB’s
OFFROAD2007 model generates emission outputs for 16 categories across San Diego County, only the off-road emissions listed above are included, as they generate the most emissions in Carlsbad in this category. The CO2, N2O, and CH4 emissions were calculated in short tons per day for the county. These emissions were then pro-rated by the city’s share of the county population, multiplied by 365 days, and converted to metric tons.
Solid Waste
The default values in the CACP were used for solid waste emissions. For methane emissions
from the one landfill in the city limits—the closed Palomar Airport Landfill—the same data
10 CARB recommends that 347 be used instead of 365 to convert from average daily VMT to annual VMT to account
for less travel on weekends.
DRAFT CARLSBAD CLIMATE ACTION PLAN
2-5
from the 2005 community inventory was used, as it was unlikely to have changed
substantially, if at all.
For emissions from solid waste disposed of in Carlsbad and taken to landfills elsewhere, 2011
data for Carlsbad was obtained from CalRecycle. The composition of waste was estimated
from the latest such survey, the 2008 CalRecycle Statewide Waste Characterization Study,
which has averages for the southern region of California. The amount of average daily cover,
which is made of plant debris, was also entered.
Wastewater Treatment
Emissions from methane and nitrous oxide generated in the process of wastewater treatment
were determined using the University of San Diego’s EPIC (Energy Policy Initiatives Center)
model. The EPIC estimate of GHG emissions from countywide wastewater treatment was
used and pro-rated to Carlsbad’s share of the county population.
Total Community Emissions
The total community GHG emissions were 705,744 MTCO2e in 2011. Table 2-2 summarizes
the sources and quantities of community emissions, and Figure 2-1 shows the emissions
graphically by sector. The largest sector is transportation, at 39 percent, followed by
commercial and industrial (32 percent), residential (25 percent), solid waste (3 percent) and
wastewater (1 percent).
Figure 2-1: 2011 Community GHG Emissions by Sector (MTCO2e)
39%!
25%!
7%!
3%!
1%!
25%!
Transportation!
Commercial!
Industrial!
Solid!Waste!!
Wastewater!!
Residential!!
2: EMISSIONS INVENTORY
2-6
TABLE 2-2: 2011 COMMUNITY GHG EMISSIONS (MTCO2e)
Sector Subsector Emissions
Residential
Bundled Electricity 92,500
Bundled Natural Gas 83,698
Direct Access Electricity 81
Direct Access Natural Gas 126
Total Residential 176,405
Commercial
Bundled Electricity 125,314
Bundled Natural Gas 37,731
Direct Access Electricity 11,701
Direct Access Natural Gas 3,966
Total Commercial 178,712
Industrial
Bundled Electricity 29,329
Bundled Natural Gas -
Direct Access Electricity 8,765
Direct Access Natural Gas 8,154
Total Industrial 46,248
Transportation
On-Road Total 239,467
Lawn and Garden Equipment 2,449
Construction Equipment 23,830
Industrial Equipment 4,943
Light Commercial Equipment 3,056
Off-Road Subtotal 34,279
Total Transportation 273,745
Solid Waste
Community-generated solid waste 21,719
Landfill Waste-in-Place 2,598
Total Solid Waste 24,317
Wastewater
Total Community-generated
Wastewater 6,317
GRAND TOTAL 705,744
Figure 2-2 shows the emission by source for the three largest sectors: residential, commercial and industrial, and transportation. The largest individual sources are on-road transportation, bundled commercial and industrial electricity, and bundled residential electricity.
DRAFT CARLSBAD CLIMATE ACTION PLAN
2-7
Figure 2-2: 2011 Community GHG Emissions by Source for Three Largest
Sectors (MTCO2e)
Emissions By Source
Electricity
Electricity emissions account for 38 percent of the total emissions. Table 2-3 and Figure 2-3 show electricity use by sector—commercial sector consumes more than half of all electricity in Carlsbad, followed by residential sector, which accounts for just over a third of total
electricity use.
TABLE 2-3: ELECTRICITY EMISSIONS BY SECTOR (MTCO2E)
Sector 2011 Emissions
Residential 92,581
Commercial 137,015
Industrial 38,093
Figure 2-3: Electricity Emissions by Sector
35%!
51%!
14%!
Residential!
Commercial!
Industrial!
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!
2: EMISSIONS INVENTORY
2-8
Natural Gas
Natural gas use accounts for 19 percent of total emissions in Carlsbad. The residential sector
accounts for 63 percent of natural gas use, while the commercial sector accounts for 31
percent. Table 2-4 and Figure 2-4 show natural gas use emissions by sector.
TABLE 2-4: NATURAL GAS EMISSIONS BY
SECTOR (MTCO2e)
Sector 2011 Emissions
Residential 83,824
Commercial 41,697
Industrial 8,154
Figure 2-4: Natural Gas Emissions by Sector
Change Between 2005 and 2011 Community Emissions
Total community emissions in 2005 were 630,310 MTCO2e compared with 705,744 in 2011.
The increase in total GHG emissions of 12 percent in the period parallels the population and
jobs increase, as well as the service population increase (the number of residents plus number
of jobs). While total GHG emissions have increased, emissions per service population
(population plus workers) have held steady since 2005. Table 2-5 summarizes these changes.
63%!
31%!
6%!
Residential!
Commercial!
Industrial!
DRAFT CARLSBAD CLIMATE ACTION PLAN
2-9
TABLE 2-5: POPULATION AND JOBS, 2005 AND 2011
2005 2011 % Change
Carlsbad Populationa, b 94,961 106,403 12.0%
Carlsbad - # of Jobsc 59,309 66,417 12.0%
Carlsbad – Service Populationd 154,270 172,820 12.0%
GHG Emissions (MTCO2e) 630,310 705,744 12.0%
Emissions per Service Population 4.09 4.08 -0.1%
a. 2011 population from the California Department of Finance, Table E-5.
b. The 2005 Inventory used different populations for the community and local government analyses. This is the
population used for the community inventory.
c. Numbers from SANDAG.
d. The service population is the total number of residents plus workers
Table 2-6 shows the source of growth in emissions. The largest increase in emissions came
from commercial electricity usage (37% of increase), followed by residential electricity usage
(29%). All other emissions increased at a slower pace than the rate of population growth, with
emissions from residential natural gas consumption increasing by 9 percent, and all other
sources increasing by 5 percent, or decreasing, in the case of roadway emissions.
For electricity, the increase was largely caused by the increase (35%) in the CO2 generated by
SDG&E electricity since 2005. For example, residential electricity consumption increased by
10 percent but emissions from that source increased by 29 percent. Commercial electricity
consumption went up by 8 percent while related emissions increased by 37 percent—an even
higher increase as some commercial customers in the greater San Diego region switched from
cleaner direct access electricity to sources producing more CO2.
TABLE 2-6: SOURCES OF GROWTH IN GHG EMISSIONS (METRIC TONS CO2E)
Source 2005 CO2e 2011 CO2e Growth % of Growth
Commercial-Electric 98,352 137,015 38,663 37%
Residential-Electric 62,290 92,581 30,291 29%
Residential-NG 74,137 83,824 9,688 9%
Roads 260,467 239,467 -21,000 -8%
Industrial-Electric 32,417 38,093 5,676 5%
Commercial-NG 36,259 41,697 5,438 5%
Off Road 28,963 34,279 5,315 5%
Industrial-NG 3,013 8,154 5,141 5%
Wastewater 4,397 6,317 1,920 2%
Solid Waste 30,015 24,317 -5,698 -5%
TOTAL 630,310 705,744 75,434
2: EMISSIONS INVENTORY
2-10
Table 2-7 shows the sources of emissions, ordered by volume of overall contribution. The
largest contributor continues to be transportation, but that has declined in proportion as
emissions from building energy consumption have grown faster. These sources—roadway
VMT, off-road vehicles, and private electricity and natural gas consumption—account for 96
percent of Carlsbad’s communitywide GHG emissions.
TABLE 2-7: GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS SUMMARY BY SECTOR (METRIC TONS
CO2E)
Sector 2005 % of Total 2011 % of Total
Transportation 289,431 46% 273,745 39%
Commercial / Industrial 170,041 27% 224,960 32%
Residential 136,427 22% 176,405 25%
Solid Waste 30,015 5% 24,317 3%
Wastewater 4,397 1% 6,317 1%
TOTAL 630,310 705,744
2.3 Government Operations Inventory
Government operations represent a small portion (1.2%; see end of this section) of the
communitywide GHG emissions. However, more detailed information is available to characterize GHG emissions by source and sector. The city has the ability to directly influence emissions from government operations, and can provide community leadership in reducing GHG emissions. As described before, the four sectors included in the government operations inventory are buildings and facilities, vehicle fleet, public lighting, and water and
wastewater transport.
Buildings and Facilities
The inputs for this sector are electricity and natural gas. Data was entered by individual
facility along with departmental information. Table 2-8 lists all of the buildings and facilities
operated by the city and electricity and natural gas inputs.
TABLE 2-8: BUILDINGS AND FACILITIES INPUTS; 2011
Department Building Electricity
(kWh)
Natural gas
(therms)
City City Administration 1,203,726 1,738
City City Hall 233,680 5,313
City Farmers Insurance Bldgs 112,057 -
City Hawthorne Equipment Bldg 10,040 -
City Total 1,559,503 7,051
Community Development Hiring Center 6,972 -
Community Development Las Palmas 55,570 -
DRAFT CARLSBAD CLIMATE ACTION PLAN
2-11
TABLE 2-8: BUILDINGS AND FACILITIES INPUTS; 2011
Department Building Electricity
(kWh)
Natural gas
(therms)
Community Development Total 62,542
Fire Fire Station No. 1 63,600 1,358
Fire Fire Station No. 2 32,643 1,069
Fire Fire Station No. 3 33,972 675
Fire Fire Station No. 4 28,867 1,062
Fire Fire Station No. 5 98,720 2,061
Fire Fire Station No. 6 55,180 1,464
Fire Total 312,982 7,689
Golf Course The Crossings 1,056,015 18,019
Library Cole Library 430,160 2,119
Library Cultural Arts Department 14,444 321
Library Dove Library 1,432,492 11,200
Library Library Learning Center 192,000 421
Library Total 2,069,096 14,061
PD/Fire Safety Center 988,001 19,816
Public Works City Yard 88,335 729
Public Works CMWD M&O 189,440 86
Public Works Fleet Yard 72,320 456
Public Works Parks Maintenance 39,694 149
Public Works Total 389,789 1,420
Recreation Calavera Community Center 54,970 -
Recreation Carrillo Ranch 58,080 -
Recreation Harding Community Center 60,120 952
Recreation Parks Total 914,888 3,006
Recreation Senior Center 308,318 3,349
Recreation Stagecoach Community Center 195,920 1,424
Recreation Swim Complex 247,240 34,266
Recreation Trails 65,929 -
Recreation Total 1,905,465 42,997
Housing and Neighborhood Services 31,277 -
TOTAL 8,374,670 111,053
VEHICLE FLEET
The inputs for this sector are all vehicles used by the city. The key data used are fuel
consumed and VMT, broken out by model year, vehicle type, and fuel type. CACP uses fuel
consumption to calculate CO2 emissions and VMT to calculate NO2 and CH4 emissions.
2: EMISSIONS INVENTORY
2-12
Although the vehicle fleet data from the city was broken down by department, the inputs
were loaded into CACP as a single set for the entire city due to the time-consuming nature of
processing and entering this very detailed information.
Table 2-9 summarizes the inputs by vehicle and fuel type. Gasoline accounted for the largest
amount of fuel consumption (167,345 gallons) and greatest vehicle miles traveled (1,965,416
VMT).
TABLE 2-9: GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS VEHICLE FLEET INPUTS
2011
Fuel (gal) VMT
Diesel 62,407 407,826
Light Truck/SUV/Pickup 31,162 298,388
Heavy Truck 31,245 109,438
Gasoline 167,345 1,965,416
Light Truck/SUV/Pickup 76,663 938,733
Passenger Car 85,874 931,979
Motorcycle 1,787 74,024
Heavy Truck 3,021 20,680
Hybrid 3,581 137,096
Passenger Car 2,478 108,136
Light Truck/SUV/Pickup 1,103 28,960
For the analysis in CACP, motorcycle inputs were grouped under passenger cars and hybrid fuel consumption was included with gasoline. Hybrid VMT was assumed at one-third of
listed mileage to account for the likely reality of most hybrid miles being under electric power
during low speed driving on local streets.
Public Lighting
This sector covers electricity consumed from three sources: traffic signals, streetlights, and
other outdoor lighting. As shown in Table 2-10, streetlights make up the great majority of electricity consumption in this sector. Between 2005 and 2011, the city retrofitted its existing streetlights with more energy-efficient lamps.
TABLE 2-10: PUBLIC LIGHTING INPUTS (KWH)
2011 % of Total
Streetlights 4,403,265 85%
Traffic Signals/Controllers 768,784 15%
Outdoor Lighting 17,740 <1%
TOTAL 5,189,789
DRAFT CARLSBAD CLIMATE ACTION PLAN
2-13
Water and Wastewater Transport
This sector covers fuel consumed by pumps and other mechanisms used to convey water and
wastewater: water delivery pumps, sprinklers and irrigation, sewage pumps, and recycled
water pump stations. These systems all consumed electricity plus a small amount (170
gallons) of diesel fuel for water delivery generators.
Table 2-11 shows the electricity consumed by the city’s water and wastewater transport
systems in 2011. The greatest electricity consumption is from sewage pumps (53 percent),
followed by recycle pump stations (34 percent), water delivery pumps (12 percent), and
sprinklers and irrigation (1 percent).
TABLE 2-11: WASTE AND WASTEWATER TRANSPORT
INPUTS (KWH)
2011 % of Total
Sewage Pumps 1,262,824 53%
Recycle Pump Stations 791,732 34%
Water Delivery Pumps 285,345 12%
Sprinklers/Irrigation 22,554 1%
TOTAL 2,362,455
Inventory Results
Emissions by Sector
Government operations in 2011 generated an estimated 8,205 metric tons CO2e in GHG
emissions, as shown in Table 2-12. Emissions for government operations mainly came from
buildings and facilities (42%) and the vehicle fleet (27%), followed by public lighting (21%)
and water and wastewater transportation (10%).
TABLE 2-12: GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS EMISSIONS BY
SECTOR (MTCO2E)
Source 2011 % of Total
Buildings and Facilities 3,410 42%
Vehicle Fleet 2,253 27%
Public Lighting 1,747 21%
Water and Wastewater Transport 795 10%
TOTAL 8,205
2: EMISSIONS INVENTORY
2-14
Emissions by Source
Most of the government operations emissions came from electricity consumption, accounting
for 65 percent of emissions, as shown in Table 2-13. Gasoline produced about 19 percent of
emissions, followed by diesel/propane (8 percent), natural gas (7 percent) and mobile
refrigerants (1 percent).
TABLE 2-13: EMISSIONS BY SOURCE (MTCO2E)
Source 2011 % of Total
Electricity 5,362 65.4%
Gasoline 1,538 18.7%
Diesel / Propane 641 7.8%
Natural Gas 590 7.2%
Mobile Refrigerants 74 0.9%
TOTAL 8,205
Comparison of Government Operations to Citywide Emissions
Table 2-14 shows a comparison of the government operations to citywide emissions.
Government operations account for a very small portion of GHG emissions in 2011,
comprising about 1.2 percent of emissions.
TABLE 2-14: GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS EMISSIONS VS
COMMUNITY EMISSIONS (MTCO2E)
2011
Government operations emissions 8,205
Community emissions 705,744
Government operations as proportion
of community emissions 1.2%
3-1
3
Greenhouse Gas Reduction
Target, Forecasts, and
Emissions “Gap”
This chapter describes the greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets provided by state law,
provides a baseline forecast of community GHG emissions, and models forecasts of future
community and local government GHG emissions through 2035. The chapter also quantifies
GHG reductions from (1) state and federal actions and (2) the updated Draft General Plan
policies and actions, and applies these reductions to the community forecast. The emissions
“gap” between the forecasts (with GHG reductions) and the emissions targets is addressed by
the Climate Action Plan (CAP) GHG reduction strategies in Chapter 4.
3.1 GHG Reduction Target
Governor’s Executive Order S-3-05 and the Global Warming
Solutions Act of 2006
Executive Order S-3-05 (EO S-3-05) and the California Global Warming Solutions Act of
2006 (AB 32) provide the basis for the CAP’s GHG emissions targets. EO S-3-05 commits
California to reduce its GHG emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 and to 80 percent below 1990
levels by 2050. AB 32 codifies the 2020 target and tasks CARB with developing a plan to
achieve this target.
CARB first approved the Scoping Plan in 2008, which provides guidance for local
communities to meet AB 32 and EO S-3-05 targets. The Scoping Plan recommends that local
governments target 2020 emissions at 15 percent below 2005 levels to account for emissions
growth since 1990, as proxy for 1990 emissions, since few localities know those levels.
Total Carlsbad GHG emissions from the 2005 inventory were 630,310 metric tons carbon
dioxide equivalents (MTCO2e) per year. Therefore, the 2020 target under State guidance is a
15 percent reduction from 2005 emissions, which corresponds to a target of 535,763
MTCO2e.
3: GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION TARGET,
FORECASTS, AND EMISSIONS “GAP”
3-2
The long range 2050 target set by EO S-3-05 is an 80 percent reduction from 2020 emissions
target, which represents the level scientists believe is necessary to stabilize the climate. The
2050 target for Carlsbad is citywide emissions of 107,153 MTCO2e. This is a substantial
decrease in overall emissions, over 500,000 MTCO2e below baseline 2005 emissions levels.
While CARB’s Scoping Plan does not specifically set target levels for intermediate years
between 2020 and 2050, the Scoping Plan recommends a linear progression in annual GHG
emissions reductions to meet the final targets.
The horizon year for this CAP is 2035, corresponding with the Draft General Plan horizon.
The CAP uses a linear trajectory in emissions reductions between 2020 and 2050 to
determine the 2035, target. Table 3-1 summarizes these emissions targets and the percentage
reduction from 2005 emissions. Figure 3-1 graphs the emissions targets, following a linear
trajectory, from 2020 to 2035. As can be seen, the baseline exceeds the 2020 reduction target
by 15 percent, and the 2035 target by 49 percent.
TABLE 3-1: 2005 EMISSIONS AND EMISSIONS TARGETS
Year GHG Emissions and Targets Reduction From 2005
Baseline
2005 630,310 MTCO2e N/A
2020 535,763 MTCO2e 15 percent
2035 321,458 MTCO2e 49 percent
Figure 3-1: 2005 Emissions and Emissions Targets
0
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
700,000
800,000
900,000
1,000,000
1,100,000
2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 MTCO2e Emissions Date
Baseline
Targets (AB 32/EO S-3-05)
DRAFT CARLSBAD CLIMATE ACTION PLAN
3-3
3.2 Business as Usual Forecast
The business as usual (BAU) forecast estimates emissions through the year 2035, based on the
growth in emissions from the 2005 to 2011 citywide inventory. The increase in community
emissions from 2005 to 2011 was linearly projected outward to the year 2035. The BAU
forecast simply assumes that emissions will increase in the future at the same growth rate that
occurred between the 2005 and 2011 citywide inventories. Thus, BAU emissions are forecast
to reach 1,007,473 MTCO2e in the year 2035.
Figure 3-2 shows the difference between emissions under the business as usual forecast and
the 2020 and 2035 emissions targets.
Figure 3-2: Business as Usual Forecast and Emissions Targets
0
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
700,000
800,000
900,000
1,000,000
1,100,000
2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 MTCO2e Emissions Date
Business as Usual
Targets (AB 32/EO S-3-05)
3: GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION TARGET,
FORECASTS, AND EMISSIONS “GAP”
3-4
3.3 Community Forecast with General Plan Land Use and
Circulation System
Methodology
e Statewide Energy E ciency Collaborative model (SEEC) is used to predict community
GHG emissions across all sectors to 2035. A product of the collaborative, this tool is based on
the International Council for Environmental Initiatives’ (ICLEI’s) Clean Air and Climate
Protection (CACP) model used to estimate the 2005 and 2011 emissions inventories. e
primary reason for using SEEC rather than CACP is that SEEC includes the e ects of the
Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) and Pavley I Fuel Economy Standards, whereas CACP
requires manual adjustment to account for the state-mandated electrical production and fuel
e ciency improvements. Section 3.4 quanti es other state and federal actions that reduce
GHG emissions and incorporates these actions into the forecast.
e SEEC community forecast predicts all direct GHG emissions11 from sources within the
boundaries of the City of Carlsbad, including fuel combusted in the community12 and direct
emissions from landll s within the community. Indirect emissions associated with the
consumption of energy that is generated outside the borders of the city are also included.
Other indirect or embodied emissions are not covered in the forecast, in accordance with
ICLEI standards. e SEEC community forecast tallies emissions from seven sectors:
• Residential
• Commercial
• Industrial
• Transportation
• Solid Waste
• Land lls
• Wastewater
e emissions projected in the SEEC community forecast use the activity data (or usage)
from the 2005 community inventory as an initial value, and the 2011 inventory to provide an
intermediate value to adjust the model. e predicted growth in each sector is then added
into the model to project future emissions. e following section describes how the predicted
growth in each section was determined.
11 GHGs considered in the report are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and hydro uorcarbons. e emissions have been converted to carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e), which converts the three other GHGs into the equivalent volume of carbon dioxide.
12 is does not include the Encina Power Station, for reasons described in Chapter 2.
13 e 2011 inventory considered land ll emissions as part of solid waste. e SEEC model separates out land lls from solid waste as an emissions source, so the separation has been preserved in this chapter.
13
DRAFT CARLSBAD CLIMATE ACTION PLAN
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Inputs
Residential
Emissions from the residential sector are from electricity and natural gas demand. The
growth in residential electricity and natural gas consumption was assumed to scale with
population growth, estimated at 0.9 percent per year thorough 2035, based on General Plan
buildout estimates.
Commercial
The increase in commercial demand for electricity and natural gas was assumed to scale with
the General Plan employment forecasts to 2035 in the commercial sector by land use
category: commercial, hotel, office, and other, including construction and transportation-
related employment. For 2010 to 2035, an annual growth of 1.1 percent was used.
Industrial
The growth rate in industrial electricity and natural gas demand was based on General Plan
employment forecasts to 2035 in the industrial sector. An annual growth rate of 0.8 percent
was used through 2035.
Transportation—With General Plan Land Use and Circulation System
Transportation emissions are based on the emissions associated with VMT. The VMT
projections were taken from SANDAG GIS models of regional VMT projections clipped to
the city boundaries and adjusted to remove through trips, or trips that did not originate nor
end within city boundaries.14 The SANDAG data was reported as daily weekday VMT. This
was converted to annual VMT by multiplying it by 34715, as recommended by CARB.
The VMT forecasts incorporate GHG reductions from General Plan land use projections and
new roadway construction thorough 2035. These VMT forecasts reflect the General Plan land
use patterns, include the effects of compact and infill, mixed-use, and transit-oriented
development, and the protection of open space. New roadway construction includes the
effects of street extensions and citywide traffic signalization. The land use projections and
new roadway construction are described in detail in the General Plan.
The SEEC model automatically incorporates the effect of Pavley I Fuel Economy Standards.
Table 3-2 shows the citywide VMT for 2011 and projected VMT forecast, used to estimate
transportation emissions.
14 Excluding through trips removes much of the regional traffic through the Interstate 5 Freeway.
15 347 was used instead of 365 to average out the effect of a dip in traffic during the weekend.
3: GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION TARGET,
FORECASTS, AND EMISSIONS “GAP”
3-6
TABLE 3-2: 2011 VMT AND
PROJECTED 2020 AND 2035 VMT16
Year Vehicle Miles Traveled
2011 510,973,969
2020 560,972,562
2035 651,739,086
Solid Waste
Waste emissions from solid waste disposed of in Carlsbad and taken to landfills elsewhere,
was assumed to scale with population growth at 0.9 percent per year through 2035.
Landfill
Emissions from the landfill sector are an estimate of methane generation from the anaerobic
decomposition of all organic waste sent to a landfill. Within city boundaries, landfill
emissions are comprised of leaking methane from the closed Palomar Airport Landfill.
Currently, most of the methane generated at this capped landfill is captured. The EPA
estimates 95 percent methane capture rate for capped landfills and estimates that emissions
follow a first-order exponential decay. Therefore, baseline landfill emissions were estimated
to decrease exponentially over time, at a decay rate of 5 percent over 10 years to 2035, the
largest allowed percentage decrease in the model.
Wastewater
The Carlsbad Municipal Water District’s 2010 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP) was
used to determine the growth in emissions from wastewater treatment.17 The demand for
wastewater treatment was assumed to scale with projected 2035 water deliveries listed in the
UWMP. The UWMP includes the effect of conservation policies. Table 3-3 shows water
deliveries and annual growth rates used in the forecast.
16 VMT includes the effect of an additional 327 units above the growth cap in the Northwest Quadrant by 2035, as
shown in the 2014 Draft General Plan. While the City Council will adjust housing sites or densities at adoption time
so that the development cap is not breached, the inclusion of these units in the CAP represents a conservative
estimate that leads to a slightly higher VMT (and corresponding GHG emissions) above levels anticipated under
General Plan that would be adopted.
17 Carlsbad Municipal Water District serves the majority of the city, with the exception of the southeast corner of the
City, which is served by Olivehaven Municipal Water District, and Vallecitos Water District. The changes in water
demand from the UWMP were assumed to be representative of the city as a whole for the purposes of the SEEC
model.
DRAFT CARLSBAD CLIMATE ACTION PLAN
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TABLE 3-3: PROJECTED UWMP WATER DELIVERY,
USED TO DETERMINE WASTEWATER EMISSIONS
Year Water Delivery (acre-feet
per year, all sectors)
Annual
Percentage
Growth
2005 19,759 -
2010 15,076 -5.3%
2020 20,529 3.1%
2030 21,147 0.3%
2035 22,122 0.9%
Source: 2010 Carlsbad Municipal Urban Water Management Plan
Results
Table 3-4 shows the emissions from the SEEC community forecast for each sector—
residential, commercial, industrial, transportation, solid waste, landfill, and wastewater—and
the sum total community emissions. The forecast includes the reduction from RPS and
Pavley I Fuel Economy Standards, which are quantified separately in Section 3.5, below. The
forecast also includes the effect of the General Plan land use and circulation system on
transportation emissions (compact, infill, mixed-use, and transit-oriented development, open
space protection, new traffic signals and roadway extensions). The Carlsbad General Plan EIR
quantifies the reduction in VMT due to the proposed General Plan in comparison to higher
VMT under the existing General Plan (the No Project alternative).
The greatest projected emissions continue to be from the transportation sector, which
accounts for 41 percent of emissions in 2020 and 36 percent of emissions in 2035. Residential
emissions are the next largest sector, with 26 percent of emissions in 2020 and 28 percent of
the total in 2035. Commercial, industrial, and solid waste, wastewater, and landfill emissions
are the next largest sectors in order of total emissions.
TABLE 3-4: COMMUNITY FORECAST EMISSIONS BY
SECTOR, 2011, 2020, AND 2035 (MTCO2E)
Sector 2011 2020 2035
Residential 176,405 145,419 163,881
Commercial 178,712 126,431 148,978
Industrial 46,248 31,278 35,249
Transportation 273,745 234,113 210,568
Solid Waste 21,719 23,073 26,002
Landfill 2,598 1,204 558
Wastewater 6,317 4,355 4,601
TOTAL 705,744 565,873 589,837
3: GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION TARGET,
FORECASTS, AND EMISSIONS “GAP”
3-8
Figure 3-3: Comparison of Emissions by Sector in 2011, 2020 and 2035
2011 2020
2035
Figure 3-4 shows the change in SEEC-modeled community forecast emissions over time.
Total emissions are projected to decrease from 705,744 MTCO2e in 2011 to 565,873 MTCO2e
in 2020 (a decrease of 20 percent). The initial drop in emissions is mostly caused by the
implementation of the RPS, which causes a decrease in residential, commercial, and
industrial emissions, and Pavley I Fuel Economy Standards, which decrease transportation
emissions. Over time, the decreases in emissions from an increased amount of renewable
power usage and fuel efficiency improvements are canceled out by population growth, which
cause emissions to increase from 2020 values to 589,873 MTCO2e in 2035 (an increase of 4
percent).
In 2020, the total emissions of 565,873 are about 30,000 MTCO2e above the AB 32 target
emissions. The following section quantifies GHG reductions from State and Federal actions
and applies them to the emissions forecast.
39%!
25%!
7%!
3%!1%!
25%!
Transportation!
Commercial!
Industrial!
Solid!Waste!!
Wastewater!!
Residential!!
41%!
22%!
6%!
4%!1%!
26%!
0%!
Transportation!
Commercial!
Industrial!
Waste!!
Wastewater!
Residential!
LandBill!
.2%!
36%!
25%!
6%!
4%!1%!
28%!
0%!
Transportation!
Commercial!
Industrial!
Waste!!
Wastewater!
Residential!
LandBill!
.1%!
DRAFT CARLSBAD CLIMATE ACTION PLAN
3-9
Figure 3-4: Community Forecast with RPS, Pavley I Fuel Economy Standards,
and General Plan Land Use and Roadways
3.4 Government Operations Forecast
Methodology
The SEEC government operations forecast, which is a subset of the community forecast,
covers direct emissions from the sources the City of Carlsbad owns and/or controls. The
emissions from government operations are included in the totals shown in Table 3-4 and
Figure 3-4 above. This section separates out emissions from government operations for
accounting purposes. The government operations forecast includes mobile combustion of
fuel for city vehicles and the use of natural gas to heat city buildings. Indirect emissions
associated with the consumption of electricity, steam, heating, or cooling for city operations
that are purchased from an outside utility are also forecast. All other indirect emissions
sources, including employee commute and the decomposition of government-generated solid
waste, are not included as part of the local government forecast, but rather are counted in the
community forecast. The government operations inventory covers emissions from the
following sectors:
• Buildings and Facilities
• Vehicle Fleet
-
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
700,000
800,000
900,000
1,000,000
1,100,000
2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 MTCO2e Emissions Date
SEEC Forecast with RPS, Pavley I Fuel Economy, and
General Plan Land Use and
Roadways Emissions Targets (AB 32/
S-3-05)
3: GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION TARGET,
FORECASTS, AND EMISSIONS “GAP”
3-10
• Public Lighting
• Water Delivery Facilities
• Wastewater Transport
The government operations forecast uses 2005 inventory to represent baseline emissions, and
the 2011 inventory to provide an intermediate value to adjust the model.
Within each sector, certain types of emissions are assumed to scale with population growth,
projected to grow at 0.9 percent annually through 2035, while other types of emissions are
expected to remain constant or decrease with efficiency improvements. The following
sections describe the assumptions underlying the forecast growth rates for each government
operations sector.
Buildings and Facilities
The 2005 and 2011 inventories of emissions from all buildings and facilities operated by the
city were used to determine the future growth for this sector. The natural gas and electricity
demands were assumed to scale with population for departments such as Police, Fire, and
Parks and Recreation, while others, such as Administration and Utilities, would remain
staffed at current levels. These growth rates were then combined to determine an aggregate
annual growth rate of 0.7 percent, which was applied to the buildings and facilities sector.
Vehicle Fleet
An estimate of the growth in the number of City employees was used to determine City fleet
use. The growth in fleet emissions beyond 2011 was estimated by assuming—similar to the
Buildings and Facilities sector—that certain departments would scale with population
growth, while others would remain staffed at current levels. These growth rates were then
combined to determine an aggregate annual growth rate of 0.6 percent, which was applied to
the city fleet sector.
Public Lighting
From 2005 to 2011, electricity use for streetlights decreased approximately 4 percent due to
the installation of some energy-saving induction streetlights. Following the completion of the
installation of all induction streetlights, the City’s electricity demand for streetlights was
further reduced, which is reflected in the forecast energy demands for this sector.
Water Delivery and Wastewater
The increased demand for energy usage for water delivery and wastewater was assumed to be
proportional to the amount of water delivered by the Carlsbad Municipal Water District
(CMWD), as projected in the 2010 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP). CMWD’s
service area covers about 85 percent of the City, and it was assumed that water and
wastewater usage in the remaining 15 percent of the City, served by Olivenhain Municipal
Water District and Vallecitos Water District, would follow similar water use patterns as
outlined in the 2010 UWMP.
DRAFT CARLSBAD CLIMATE ACTION PLAN
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Results
The city operations forecast for 2020 and 2035 is shown by sector in Table 3-5. Government
operations emissions are projected to decrease from the 2011 inventory total of 8,205
MTCO2e to 5,185 MTCO2e in 2020. The decrease in emissions is primarily due to the
implementation of the RPS and the fuel efficiency gains from Pavley I standards. Emissions
are forecast to then increase at a low rate through the year 2035 to 5,922 MTCO2e, due to
projected increases in city staff in select departments to accommodate an increased need for
city services.
The relative contribution of each sector to the total city operations emissions is generally
constant over time. The two largest emissions sectors are buildings and facilities, comprising
about 40 percent of total emissions, and fleet emissions, which are approximately 33 percent
of the total emissions. Streetlights are about 15 percent of total emissions, followed by
wastewater facilities at 8 percent, and water delivery facilities at 1 percent. Overall,
government operations emissions are forecast to remain a small portion of community
emissions, about 0.9 percent in 2020 and 1 percent in 2035. Chapter 4 discusses mitigation
measures that will reduce government operations emissions.
TABLE 3-5: GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS EMISSIONS INVENTORY
(2011) AND 2020, 2035 FORECAST (MTCO2E)
Sector 2011 2020 2035
Building & Facilities 3,410 2,192 2,409
Streetlights 1,747 902 902
Water Delivery Facilities 79 71 76
Wastewater Facilities 716 470 506
Fleet 2,253 2,092 2,029
TOTAL 8,205 5,185 5,922
3.5 GHG Reductions to Community Forecast from State
and Federal Actions
Methodology
GHG reductions from state and federal actions and other trends to the community forecast
are quantified in this section. These reductions include the following:
• Renewable Portfolio Standard
• Pavley I fuel economy standards
• Low Carbon Fuel Standard
• Title 24 building efficiency improvements
3: GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION TARGET,
FORECASTS, AND EMISSIONS “GAP”
3-12
• Reductions in VMT from rising gasoline prices18
The GHG reductions from these factors were quantified using the EPIC mitigation calculator.
The Energy Policy Initiatives Center (EPIC) at the University of San Diego developed this
model to create business-as-usual projections, set targets, and calculate levels of mitigation
measures for all local jurisdictions in the San Diego region. As the EPIC model was developed
specifically for cities within San Diego County and the mitigation calculator calculates the
effect of the federal and statewide reductions, it was selected to quantify these policies and
actions. GHG reductions from the RPS and Pavley I fuel economy standards were accounted
for in the SEEC model; however, they are quantified separately in this section for
informational purposes.
Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS)
California’s RPS, established in 2002 by the California State Senate in Senate Bill 1078,
accelerated in 2006 and expanded in 2011, is one of the most ambitious renewable energy
standards in the country. The RPS requires that investor-owned utilities like SDG&E supply
33 percent of their electricity from renewable resources by 2020. While a renewable portfolio
standard past 2020 has not been established, the assumption used in the EPIC mitigation
calculator was that the 33 percent renewable standard would be extended through the year
2035—a conservative assumption, given that this is targeted to already be attained by 2020.
Table 3-6 lists the reductions from the RPS in 2020 and 2035.
TABLE 3-6: RPS GHG REDUCTIONS
Year MTCO2e Reductions
2020 48,962
2035 36,160
Pavley I Fuel Economy Standards
In 2009, CARB adopted amendments to the Pavley regulations to reduce GHG emissions in
new passenger vehicles from 2009 to 2016. The standards set became the model for the
updated Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards set by the US EPA. The emissions reductions from the improved fuel efficiency standards were calculated using the EPIC mitigation calculator, and were phased in following the 2011 inventory. Table 3-8 lists the emissions reductions from Pavley I fuel economy standards in 2020 and 2035. These
reductions are already quantified and applied in the SEEC community forecast, and have
been listed separately here for reference purposes.
18 The rise in gasoline prices are not a result of any state or federal policy or action, but are included in this section as
part of a larger systemic trend forecast to occur regardless of other emission reduction measures.
DRAFT CARLSBAD CLIMATE ACTION PLAN
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TABLE 3-8: PAVLEY I FUEL ECONOMY
STANDARD GHG REDUCTIONS
Year MTCO2e Reductions
2020 40,354
2035 48,369
Low Carbon Fuel Standard
The Low Carbon Fuel Standard, adopted by CARB, is performance-based and is designed to reduce the GHG intensity of transportation fuels by 10 percent by 2020. The regulation established annual performance standards that fuel producers and importers must meet beginning in 2011. The Low Carbon Fuel Standard applies to all fuels used for transportation
in California, including gasoline, diesel fuel, E85, compressed or liquefied natural gas, biogas,
and electricity. The Standard is also “lifecycle” based, meaning the entire extraction, recovery, production and transportation of the fuel is taken into account. The default assumption of 10 percent reduction in GHG intensity was assumed to continue through 2035 for the EPIC mitigation calculator. Table 3-9 shows the reductions from the Low Carbon Fuel Standard in 2020 and 2035.
TABLE 3-9: LOW CARBON FUEL
STANDARD GHG REDUCTIONS
Year MTCO2e Reductions
2020 20,545
2035 14,906
Title 24 Building Efficiency Improvements
Title 24 is California’s Building Energy Code, which is updated every three years. In 2010,
Title 24 was updated to include the California Green Building Standards Code, referred to as
CALGreen. CALGreen requires that new buildings reduce water consumption, increase
system efficiencies, divert construction waste from landfills, and install low pollutant-
emitting finish materials. CALGreen has mandatory measures that apply to nonresidential
and residential construction. The most recent CALGreen code became effective in 2014.
The Title 24 building efficiency improvements determine the effect of the CALGreen code
mandatory measures for new building construction using the 2010 code update.19 Table 3-10
lists the GHG reductions from building efficiency improvements in new construction
calculated using the EPIC mitigation calculator in 2020 and 2035.
19 The EPIC mitigation calculator is based on the 2010 CALGreen code. The 2014 CALGreen code and subsequent
updates will likely result in greater GHG reductions as building efficiency standards improve.
3: GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION TARGET,
FORECASTS, AND EMISSIONS “GAP”
3-14
TABLE 3-10: TITLE 24 BUILDING
EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENTS GHG
REDUCTIONS
Year MTCO2e Reductions
2020 1,836
2035 3,582
Reduction in VMT from Rising Gasoline Prices
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) collects, analyzes and disseminates
independent and impartial energy information, including projections of future gasoline
prices. The 2013 EIA gasoline projection estimate a pump price of gasoline of $4.00 per gallon
in 2020 and $6.0020 in 2035 per gallon in California.
The EPIC mitigation calculator measures emissions reductions from changes in fuel
consumption as a result of gasoline price increases. The reductions in GHG emissions based
on the Energy Information Administration gasoline prices are shown in Table 3-11. Although
the projected rise in gasoline prices is not the direct result of a federal or state policy, this
effect was considered in this section, as it is a larger systemic trend that is forecast to occur
regardless of other emissions reductions measures.
TABLE 3-11: GHG REDUCTIONS
FROM RISING GASOLINE PRICES
Year MTCO2e Reductions
2020 12,201
2035 71,316
RESULTS
The annual reductions from the above state and federal actions—RPS, Pavley I Fuel Economy
Standards, Low Carbon Fuel Standard, Title 24 building efficiency improvements, and the
reductions in VMT from rising gasoline prices—were combined. Table 3-12 lists the total SEEC community forecast in 2020 and 2035, juxtaposed with reductions from state and federal actions not accounted for in the SEEC forecast: the Low Carbon Fuel Standard, Title
24 Building Standards, reductions in VMT from higher gasoline prices, and the assumed
continuation of the Renewable Portfolio Standard after the year 2020. Figure 3-5 shows the
SEEC Forecast with General Plan land use and new roadways, as well as state and federal
actions.
20 Both values are listed in 2010 dollars.
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TABLE 3-12: COMMUNITY FORECAST WITH STATE AND FEDERAL ACTIONS (MTCO2e)
Year
Community
Forecast
Emissions
with General
Plan Land
Use and New
Roadways
Low Carbon
Fuel
Standard
Reduction
Title 24 Building
Efficiency
Improvements
Reductions in
VMT from
Rising
Gasoline
Prices
Continuation of
Renewable
Portfolio
Standard, 2020
to 2035*
Total Forecast
Emissions with
General Plan
Land Use and
New Roadways
& State and
Federal Actions
2020 565,873 20,545 1,836 12,201 48,962 482,329
2035 589,837 14,906 3,582 71,316 36,160 463,873
*RPS considered in SEEC forecast through 2020, RPS continuation through 2035 modeled in EPIC
Figure 3-5: Community Forecast with (1) General Plan Land Use and New
Roadways and (2) State and Federal Actions (MTCO2e)
-
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
700,000
800,000
900,000
1,000,000
1,100,000
2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 MTCO2e Emissions Date
SEEC Forecast with (1) General Plan land use and roadways and
(2) State and Federal Actions
Emissions Targets (AB 32/S-3-05)
3: GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION TARGET,
FORECASTS, AND EMISSIONS “GAP”
3-16
3.6 Modified Baseline: GHG Reductions from Additional
General Plan Policies and Actions
Methodology
This section describes General Plan policies and actions that reduce GHG emissions,
quantifies emissions reductions, and explains how these policies and actions will be
implemented. These reductions are from policies and actions in addition to Pavley I, the RPS,
and the General Plan land use and circulation system, which incorporate reductions from
“No Project” conditions which are already reflected in the SANDAG modeling discussed
previously. The General Plan policies and actions are organized according to the following
categories:
• Bikeway System Improvements
• Pedestrian Improvements and Increased Connectivity
• Traffic Calming
• Parking Facilities and Policies
• Transportation Improvements
The California Air Pollution Control Officers Association’s (CAPCOA’s) Quantifying
Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Measures report was developed as a resource for local
governments to assess emissions reductions from GHG mitigation measures. This section
uses the methodology outlined in the CAPCOA report for each category to quantify
emissions reductions from the General Plan policies and actions.21 The reductions are applied
to the community forecast in the following section to get the “modified baseline” forecast.
Bikeway System Improvements
Bikeway System
Improvements
General Plan Policies:
2-P.22, 2-P.23, 2-P.43, 2-P.44, 2-P.51,
2-P.85; 3-P.6, 3-P.11, 3-P.12, 3-P.13, 3-
P.16, 3-P.17, 3-P.18, 3-P.20, 3-P.21, 3-
P.22, 3-P.23, 3-P.24, 3-P.25, 3-P.27, 3-
P.28, 3-P.29, 3-P.30, 3-P.36; 4-P.39
2020 Reduction: 164 MTCO2e
2035 Reduction: 147 MTCO2e
Policy/Action Description
The Carlsbad Bicycle Master Plan, referenced in the General Plan, recommends the
enhancement of the existing bicycle network with the implementation of approximately 6.5
miles of new Class I bike paths, 2.8 miles of new Class II bike lanes, and 4.2 miles of new Class
III bike routes. The planned bikeways include the Coastal Rail Trail, a Class I bike path on
21 While many of the policies and actions quantified in the report are project-level in nature, much of the supporting
literature is from studies on a citywide, countywide, or regional context. The methodology in this section is based on
these regional studies, which is therefore applicable to the General Plan policies and actions listed in this section.
DRAFT CARLSBAD CLIMATE ACTION PLAN
3-17
Carlsbad Boulevard at Ponto, two Class II bike lanes – one on Hillside Drive and another on
Avenida Encinas, and five Class III bike route projects in the northwest quadrant of the city.
Additionally, the Mobility Element identifies the following new connections to improve
connectivity in the area:
• A new Class I trail at the terminus of Cannon Road and extending eastward toward the
City of Oceanside
• A new Class I trail along the Marron Road alignment between El Camino Real and the
City of Oceanside
• A new crossing of the railroad tracks at Chestnut Avenue.
In total, the recommended enhancements will create a total of 13.5 miles of new bike paths, to
result in a total of 111.5 miles of bike paths.
Quantification
An estimated 0.05 percent reduction in transportation GHG emissions is assumed to occur
for every 2 miles of bike lane per square mile in areas with density greater than 2,000 people
per square mile.22 Carlsbad currently has approximately 2,700 people per square mile, greater
than the threshold of 2,000 people per square mile.
With the total bicycle improvements, there would be approximately 2.85 miles of bike lanes per square mile, which corresponds to a 0.07 percent reduction in VMT emissions, or about
164 MTCO2e in 2020, and 147 MTCO2e23 in 2035.
Implementation
The bikeway system enhancements will occur through the implementation of the Carlsbad
Bicycle Master Plan and the General Plan.
Pedestrian Improvements and Increased Connectivity
Pedestrian
Improvements and
Increased
Connectivity
General Plan Policies:
2-P.22, 2-P.23, 2-P.43, 2-P.44, 2-P.45, 2-
P.46, 2-P.48, 2-P.51, 2-P.68, 2-P.75, 2-
P.85; 3-P.6, 3-P.12, 3-P.13, 3-P.16, 3-
P.17, 3-P.18, 3-P.20, 3-P.21, 3-P.22, 3-
P.23, 3-P.24, 3-P.25, 3-P.27, 3-P.28, 3-
P.29, 3-P.36; 4-P.39
2020 Reduction: 2,341 MTCO2e
2035 Reduction: 2,106 MTCO2e
22 Cambridge Systematics. Moving Cooler: An Analysis of Transportation Strategies for Reducing Greenhouse Gas
Emissions. Technical Appendices. Prepared for the Urban Land Institute.
23 In this chapter, reductions based on a portion of VMT have lower reductions in 2035 than in 2020 because they are
assumed to decrease with greater vehicle efficiency standards over time.
3: GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION TARGET,
FORECASTS, AND EMISSIONS “GAP”
3-18
Policy/Action Description
Pedestrian Improvements
Carlsbad has adopted several programs and plans related to improving the walking
environment. The city’s Pedestrian Master Plan guides the future development and
enhancement of pedestrian facilities to ensure that walking becomes an integral mode of
transportation in Carlsbad. The Carlsbad Residential Traffic Management Program provides
a mechanism for community members to report issues relating to speeding and traffic
volumes on residential roadways, assisting the city in “calming” traffic in these areas to make
them more comfortable for pedestrian travel.
Physical barriers to pedestrian access include gaps in sidewalks, high-volume, high-speed
streets, a circuitous roadway system in several parts of the city, and regional infrastructure
such as freeways and railways that presents barriers to pedestrian mobility. There are four
significant concentrations of high pedestrian improvement needs across the City of Carlsbad,
including the following locations:
• The entire northwest quadrant, especially the Carlsbad Village area
• The southern coastal area along Carlsbad Boulevard, between Cannon Road and La
Costa Avenue
• Several locations along El Camino Real, near Camino Vida Roble, Aviara Parkway/Alga
Road and La Costa Avenue
• The southeastern portion of the city, stemming from the intersection of La Costa
Avenue and Rancho Santa Fe Road
A range of potential improvement projects exists throughout the city, as identified in the
pedestrian master plan, to enhance pedestrian mobility, local connectivity, usage, safety and
accessibility. These improvements include filling in gaps in sidewalk connectivity, upgrading
substandard sidewalks, creating new connections to pedestrian attracting designations (such
as access across the railroad track to the beach at Chestnut Avenue, for example), establishing
safe routes to school, enhancing crosswalks, installing pedestrian countdown signals,
improving signage, and providing ADA improvements.
Increased Connectivity
Increasing connectivity in the city is critical to achieving the Carlsbad Community Vision.
There are a number of improvements described in the General Plan that will enhance
connectivity for bicycles and pedestrians, as noted below:
• Cannon Road east of College Boulevard – Provide a bicycle/pedestrian facility that
would begin at the current eastern terminus of Cannon Road and continue eastward to
the city’s eastern boundary.
• Marron Road Connection – Provide a bicycle/pedestrian facility that would begin at the
current eastern terminus of Marron Road and extend eastward to the city’s eastern
boundary.
DRAFT CARLSBAD CLIMATE ACTION PLAN
3-19
• Additional crossings of Interstate-5 and the railroad – Continue to look for
opportunities to add crossings of these two barriers and improve east-west connectivity
to and from the coast. Key connections will include a crossing at Chestnut Avenue
(bicycle, pedestrian, and vehicular) under the freeway and (bicycle and pedestrian)
across the railroad, and a Chinquapin Avenue connection (bicycle, pedestrian, and
vehicular) over the freeway and (bicycle and pedestrian) across the railroad.
Additionally, Caltrans is designing a number of new pedestrian and bicyclist
connections along and across Interstate-5 and near the lagoons as part of the Interstate-
5 North Coast Corridor Public Works Plan. The city will continue to coordinate with
Caltrans on these improvements.
• Improved accessibility to the lagoons and to the coast are envisioned to improve
connectivity to those areas.
Quantification
Providing an improved pedestrian network and increasing connectivity encourages people to
walk more and results in people driving less, causing a reduction in VMT. An estimate of a 1
percent reduction in VMT from pedestrian improvements and connectivity was assumed24,
which corresponds to a reduction of 2,341 MTCO2e in 2020 and 2,106 MTCO2e in 2035.
Implementation
Pedestrian improvements and increased connectivity will occur through implementation of
the Pedestrian Master Plan, the Residential Traffic Management Program, and the General
Plan.
Traffic Calming
Traffic Calming General Plan Policies:
2-P.51; 3-P.12, 3.P-13
2020 Reduction: 585 MTCO2e
2035 Reduction: 526 MTCO2e
Policy/Action Description
The Carlsbad Residential Traffic Management Program provides a mechanism for
community members to report issues relating to speeding and traffic volumes on residential
roadways, assisting the City in “calming” traffic in these areas to make them more safe and
comfortable for pedestrian travel. Traffic calming devices include speed tables, speed bumps,
roundabouts, and other devices that encourage people to drive more slowly or to walk or bike
instead of using a vehicle, especially for short trips in and around residential neighborhoods.
Quantification
CAPCOA’s “Quantifying Greenhouse Mitigation Measures” was used to quantify the effect of traffic calming devices. A 0.25 percent reduction in VMT was assumed to occur from these
24 Center for Clean Air Policy. Transportation Emission Guidebook.
http://www.ccap.org/safe/guidebook/guide_complete.html.
3: GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION TARGET,
FORECASTS, AND EMISSIONS “GAP”
3-20
improvements, which corresponds to a reduction of 585 MTCO2e in 2020 and 526 MTCO2e
in 2035.
Implementation
The traffic calming improvements will occur through the implementation of the Residential
Traffic Management Program and the General Plan.
Parking Facilities and Policies
Parking Facilities and
Policies
General Plan Policies:
2-P.71, 2-P.79; 3-P.24, 3-P.34, 3-P.35, 3-
P.36, 3-P.37
2020 Reduction: 4,682 MTCO2e
2035 Reduction: 4,211 MTCO2e
Policy/Action Description
Getting parking right is critical to ensuring the success of any urban area. Inadequate parking
is inconvenient and frustrating for businesses and residents. Too much parking underutilizes
valuable land, results in lower density development, discourages use of other forms of
transportation (such as public transit), spreads out land uses, and creates gaps in store fronts;
thereby practically requiring the use of the automobile. Additionally, too much parking also requires more driveways for accessibility, introducing conflicts between pedestrians and
vehicles. Overly high parking requirements—particularly in downtown areas or urban
cores—can impact the ability to renovate or repurpose older buildings and revitalize activity
centers that can be better served and connected by enhancing facilities and amenities for
bicyclists and pedestrians. Therefore, it is important to “right size” and manage parking such
that there is enough to support the needs generated by the use, but not so much that it wastes land and impairs other ways of getting around.
The city’s Zoning Ordinance provides standards for parking facilities based on development
types within the city. To promote “right sizing” of parking facilities, the following techniques
are included as part of the General Plan Mobility Element:
• Shared Parking – continue to allow uses that have different parking demands at
different times of the day to share the same parking facilities. This is an effective way to minimize pavement, allow denser land use, provide for more landscaping, and provide
improved walkability within a mixed use area. The best example of shared parking is
an office building and an apartment building as office’s peak parking demand occurs at
10:00 a.m. and apartment’s peak parking demand occurs at 11:00 p.m.
• Collective Parking – allow uses in mixed use projects/areas to utilize up to 50 percent of
project site’s vacant on-street parking to count toward their parking supply requirements.
• Unbundled Parking – rather than provide free guaranteed parking, “unbundle” the
parking from the development and require residents and/or employees to pay for use of
a parking space.
DRAFT CARLSBAD CLIMATE ACTION PLAN
3-21
• Park Once – a strategy in destination districts to enable visitors to “park once” and visit
a series of destinations. Park once strategies work well in areas like the Village and areas
that are well connected by pedestrian and bicycle facilities. The creation of centralized
parking areas supports this strategy.
• In Lieu Parking Fees – continue strategies in appropriate areas by which developers can
contribute fees toward the development of a common parking facility in lieu of
providing on-site parking. This works best in downtown or concentrated commercial
areas, works well to assist in paying for unified structured parking, and provides
developers an opportunity to increase density on their parcels.
• Parking Management Strategies –a business district or businesses manage high demand
parking locations and destinations through a number of different strategies including
demand pricing, time restrictions, valet parking, and other techniques.
• Public-Private Partnerships –the city, business owners, and developers collaborate to
provide both private and public parking opportunities. Instances where this works well
include parcels owned by the city, where a private entity comes in and develops,
manages, and enforces the parking in these public lots.
• Parking Locater Signs – electronic monitoring devices that identify the available
parking in a given facility and utilize changeable message signs to assist travelers in
identifying available parking locations. Please note that this may require modifications
to the city’s zoning ordinance to be implemented in some areas of the city.
• Parking Wayfinding Signs – signs identifying where public parking is available, which
support the “park once” concept.
• Reduced Parking Standards – reduce parking standards in areas that are well served by
transit, provide shuttle accessibility to the COASTER station, provide parking cash out
programs (where employers pay employees to not park on site), or provide other
programs that will reduce parking demand.
• Biking Equals Business Program – businesses provide bicycle parking or corrals and
provide incentives to encourage their patrons and employees to ride rather than drive.
• Transit Equals Business Program – businesses provide their customers and employees
incentives to encourage them to use transit rather than drive.
• Bicycle Corrals in Lieu of Vehicle Parking – for certain businesses, reduce required
onsite parking for vehicles if they provide a bicycle corral that accommodates more
people.
Although there are additional parking strategies that are available and may become available
in the future, most of the strategies work best in smart growth/mixed use development areas
and will be necessary to accomplish the goals and visions identified in the General Plan and
the General Plan Mobility Element.
Quantification
According to CAPCOA’s Quantifying GHG Mitigation Measures, parking strategies have
estimated VMT reductions. Reduced parking standards and other policies reducing parking
3: GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION TARGET,
FORECASTS, AND EMISSIONS “GAP”
3-22
availability have an estimated 5 to 12.5 percent VMT reduction, unbundled parking cost has a
2.6 to 13 percent VMT reduction, and parking management strategies have a 2.8 to 5.5
percent VMT projection.25 Conservatively assuming the combined effect of these parking
reduction strategies would result in the lower end of the strategies results, and considering
that the strategies would be most applicable in future growth and infill areas, the cumulative
reduction from implementations would result in a 2 percent VMT reduction to give an
estimated 4,682 MTCO2e reduction by 2020, and a 4,211 MTCO2e reduction by 2035.
Implementation
The parking strategies will occur through the implementation of the Zoning Ordinance and
the General Plan.
Transportation Improvements
Transportation
Improvements
General Plan Policies:
2-P.46, 2-P.68; 3-P.6, 3-P.15, 3-P.16, 3-
P.23, 3-P.27, 3-P.28, 3-P.31, 3-P.32
2020 Reduction: 1,475 MTCO2e
2035 Reduction: 1,327 MTCO2e
Policy/Action Description
Transit in Carlsbad includes bus service, ADA paratransit service, and the COASTER
commuter rail; indirectly, transit service is also provided by the Sprinter light rail system,
Amtrak rail service, and Metrolink commuter rail. Future transit service in the city will
primarily be coordinated by the North County Transit District (NCTD). In addition, there
are several planned transit improvements for Carlsbad that are part of San Diego Association
of Governments (SANDAG) regional planning efforts. These are reflected in the General Plan
Mobility Element:
• Coastal rail improvements are proposed for the tracks serving the COASTER and
Surfliner trains in San Diego County along the Los Angeles to San Diego Rail Corridor.
These proposed improvements include double tracking, bridge replacements, and
station improvements. Improvements to the COASTER service (2020 and 2030) are
also proposed and would increase service and reduce headways.
• Route 471 (2020) is a proposed rapid bus providing frequent service between Carlsbad
and San Marcos via Palomar Airport Road. This route will operate with 10 minute
headways during peak and off-peak hours. In the city, this rapid bus route is envisioned
to be supported by signal priority at intersections.
• AMTRAK will add service to Carlsbad.
• As previously described, the above future transit improvements will continue to
advance the backbone transit infrastructure. However, one key component to
improving transit use is improving the “first mile/last mile” access and experience for
transit users. This typically includes end of trip facilities (bike racks, showers, changing
25 The maximum reduction provided from the combination of all parking policies in the CAPCOA report is a 20
percent reduction in VMT
DRAFT CARLSBAD CLIMATE ACTION PLAN
3-23
rooms, etc.) and better connectivity from the transit stop to the ultimate destination via
bicycle facilities, pedestrian facilities, local transit circulators, etc.
• Carlsbad’s future transit effectiveness will depend on major employers assisting with
providing some of these “first mile/last mile” facilities through transportation demand
management (TDM) measures. TDM is envisioned to include shuttle circulators to
major employers and destinations, showers and changing rooms at those locations, and
a host of other typical TDM techniques that would support transit usage and the
connection to the ultimate destination. This Mobility Element also supports TDM
through potential incentives (such as reduced parking standards for TDM
implementation) to further support transit access to these destinations.
• The final component to improving transit use in the city is working with NCTD to
improve the transit experience, particularly along the bus routes. This includes
improving bus stops in the city to ensure that they are well lit, have seating, and are
covered to protect users from inclement weather.
The city has also implemented a state-of-the-practice traffic signal management (TSM)
system. This system integrates traffic signals in the city to a single access point, allowing city
staff to monitor and update signal timings to improve safety and mobility for all users in the
city. The Mobility Element supports further implementation of this program and use of other
technologies that become available, which have the ability to improve mobility for all users of
the city’s transportation system.
Quantification
Transportation system improvements can result in VMT reductions. According to
CAPCOA’s Quantifying Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Measures, transit system improvements can result in the following reductions: 0.02 to 3.2 percent VMT reduction from a bus rapid
transit system, 0.1 to 8.2 percent VMT reduction from expanding the transit network, 0.02 to
2.5 percent VMT reduction from increasing transit service frequency and speed, and 0.5 to
24.6 percent VMT reduction from increasing transit accessibility. Reductions from TSM were
estimated using Cambridge Systematics’ Moving Cooler report as a 0.01 percent VMT
reduction. Conservatively assuming the combined effect of these strategies, summing the low end of the VMT reduction ranges gives a 0.63 percent reduction in VMT emissions.
Implementation
Transit improvements will primarily be coordinated by NCTD and will also be implemented
by SANDAG regional planning efforts.
Results
Table 3-13 shows the GHG reductions from each of the above General Plan policies and actions. The largest reduction comes from parking facilities and policies, followed by
pedestrian improvement and increased connectivity, transportation improvements, traffic
calming, and bikeway system improvements. VMT emissions are projected to fall in the
future due to higher fuel efficiency standards; however, as the efficiency gains are expected to
be largely achieved by 2020 but the VMT is projected to continue climbing in the future, the
3: GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION TARGET,
FORECASTS, AND EMISSIONS “GAP”
3-24
effect of the VMT reductions are greater in 2020 than in 2035 for all General Plan policies
and actions considered in this section. For example, the reductions from traffic calming in
2035 are 526 MTCO2e, which is less than the reduction in 2020 of 585 MTCO2e. The
reductions from these policies and actions are incorporated into the community emissions
forecast in the following section.
TABLE 3-13: GHG REDUCTIONS FROM ADDITIONAL GENERAL PLAN POLICIES AND ACTIONS
Year
Bikeway System
Improvements
Pedestrian
Improvements
and Increased
Connectivity
Traffic
Calming
Parking
Facilities
and
Policies
Transportation
Improvements
Total GHG
Reductions
from
Additional
General Plan
Policies and
Actions
2020 164 2,341 585 4,682 1,475 9,247
2035 147 2,106 526 4,211 1,327 8,317
3.7 Modified Baseline and the GHG Emissions “Gap”
Table 3-14 shows the total community emissions with the reductions from the following
policies and actions:
• General Plan land use and circulation system
• State and federal actions
• Additional General Plan policies and actions
Figure 3-6 shows the “modified baseline forecast,” which incorporates the reductions
discussed thus far in comparison to the emissions targets. Emissions drop steeply to 2020
from the combined effect of GHG reduction policies and actions, continue a gradual decline
to 2030, but then start rising again after that, given that no increases in federal or state
standards relating to fuel efficiency or renewable energy are assumed, even though these may
well occur by that time. With the effect of all the GHG reductions considered in this chapter,
the total community forecast emissions are 473,082 MTCO2e in 2020, and 455,556 MTCO2e
in 2035. Table 3-14 shows that Carlsbad will meet its target for 2020 without any additional
measures. However, by 2035, there is a GHG emissions “gap” of 134,098 MTCO2e —
approximately one-third of the total projected community emissions.
TABLE 3-14: MODIFIED BASELINE FORECAST (FORECAST COMMUNITY EMISSIONS
WITH GENERAL PLAN LAND USE AND ROADWAYS, STATE AND FEDERAL ACTIONS,
AND ADDITIONAL GENERAL PLAN POLICIES AND ACTIONS)
Year
Total Modified Baseline
Forecast (MTCO2e)
GHG Emissions Targets
(Linear Scaling of AB 32/S-3-
05) (MTCO2e) Emissions “Gap” (MTCO2e)
2020 473,082 535,763 Target Met
2035 455,556 321,458 134,098
DRAFT CARLSBAD CLIMATE ACTION PLAN
3-25
Figure 3-6: Modified Baseline Forecast (Forecast Community Emissions with
General Plan Land Use and Roadways, State and Federal Actions, and
Additional General Plan Policies and Actions)
Conclusion
The emissions targets are met in the year 2020, with forecast emissions of 473,082 MTCO2e
meeting the target by about 63,000 MTCO2e. There is an emissions “gap” in the year 2035 of
about 134,000 MTCO2e between the forecast emissions of 455,556 MTCO2e and the
emissions target of 321,458 MTCO2e. Chapter 4 contains CAP GHG reduction measures to
close the gap between forecast emissions and emissions targets in the year 2035.
-
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
700,000
2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 MTCO2e Emissions Date
SEEC Forecast with (1) General Plan land use and
roadways (2) State and Federal Actions and (3)
Additional General Plan Policies and Actions
Emissions Targets (AB 32/S-3-05)
3: GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION TARGET,
FORECASTS, AND EMISSIONS “GAP”
3-26
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4-1
4
CAP GHG Reduction
Measures
The forecast emissions in Chapter 3 incorporate reductions from (1) state and federal actions, (2) General Plan land use and roadways, and (3) additional General Plan policies and actions.
This chapter describes additional GHG reduction measures to close the emissions “gap”
between emissions targets and forecast emissions for 2035. These are:
• Residential, commercial and industrial photovoltaic systems
• Building cogeneration
• Single-family, multi-family and commercial efficiency retrofits
• Commercial commissioning
• CALGreen building code
• Solar water heater/heat pump installation
• Efficient lighting standards
• Increased zero-emissions vehicle travel
• Transportation Demand Management (TDM)
• Citywide renewable projects
• Water delivery and conservation
The sections below describe the GHG reduction measures and explain how they will be
implemented. The GHG reductions from these measures were quantified using the Energy
Policy Initiatives Center (EPIC) mitigation calculator, a tool developed by the University of
San Diego for cities within San Diego County. The EPIC mitigation calculator includes a “business as usual” (BAU) forecast for each measure estimating GHG reductions from trends
already underway that will occur without any additional city intervention, based on regional
San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) forecasts. For example, under the BAU forecast for
residential photovoltaic (PV) systems, the EPIC mitigation calculator estimates that by the
year 2035, energy produced by residential PV systems in the City of Carlsbad will be about
15.9 megawatts (MW), which will offset about 6,233 metric tons CO2e (MTCO2 e).
4: CAP GHG REDUCTION MEASURES
4-2
The GHG reduction measures describe goals, amount of reduction in 2035, and actions to
meet the target levels. The actions are categorized as short-term (one to two years), mid-term
(two to five years), or long-term (longer than five years), based on when they will be
implemented following adoption of the CAP. The mixture of short-term, mid-term, and
long-term actions presented for each measure are intended to meet the goals in a realistic
timeframe and provide an effective combination to reach the targets set forth. The “already-
projected” amount is based on the forecast BAU emissions reduction, followed by a target
level to reach the goal of the measure. The measures are then described in greater detail, as is
the method of quantifying the GHG emissions reduction, and the responsibility and
implementation of the measure is discussed. Each measure qualitatively describes costs and
benefits, both to the city and the private sector. Overall benefits of GHG emissions reductions
include decreased costs through energy efficiency, reduced risk to human health and welfare,
and less global climate change.
4.1 Residential, Commercial and Industrial Photovoltaic
Systems
Measure A: Promote Installation of Residential Photovoltaic Systems
Goal: Promote installation of residential PV systems to produce
an additional 9.1 MW per year above already projected
amounts, or the equivalent of 2,682 more homes with PV
systems, by 2035.
2035 Reduction: 10,136 MTCO2e
Actions:
A-1: Temporarily—for a period of one year—suspend residential and commercial PV system permit
fees, together with a publicity campaign to promote PV systems installation (Short-term)
A-2: On a continuing basis, ensure that regulatory provisions - such as complying with regulations for
zoning, structure height, permit submittal and review, etc. - do not hinder residential and
commercial PV system installation. (Short-term)
A-3: Evaluate the feasibility of adopting an ordinance, similar to those passed by Lancaster and
Sebastopol, which requires all new homes install PV panels to offset a portion of their energy use.
(Mid-term)
Already-Projected Amount: Solar photovoltaic (PV) systems convert solar energy into
electricity. The projected power generation26 of residential PV systems at 4,685 homes is 15.9
MW27 in the year 2035, which is enough to fully power these homes.28
26 The maximum amount of power produced is also referred to as solar capacity.
27 Solar capacity (MW) was converted into an annual energy total (kWh per year) as follows: The standard assumption
is about 5 hours of production per day per solar system. The capacity was multiplied by 5 hours per day times 365
days per year to get a total production in kWh per year. Therefore, 15.9 MW converts to 29,017,500 kWh per year.
28 Average household energy use was calculated as follows: The California per capita electricity use in 2010 was 2,337
kWh (source: http://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=CA). The average household size in 2010 was 2,65 people per household
DRAFT CARLSBAD CLIMATE ACTION PLAN
4-3
Target: The target is 25 MW in the year 2035, which is the equivalent amount of production
to power 7,367 homes.29
GHG Reduction Measure Description: PV systems convert solar energy into electricity.
Producing renewable energy locally through residential, commercial, and industrial PV
systems reduces the need to construct costly new power plants that produce air pollution, use
natural resources, and impact the environment.
The San Diego region has among the highest rates of solar energy production in the nation,
producing an annual average of about 6.5 kWh per square meter per day, according to the
National Renewable Energy Laboratories. A 2006 estimate30 found that existing PV
technology could supply over 100 percent of the peak electricity demands for San Diego
County, and over half of the total energy load. Measure A is to promote the installation of PV
systems on single-family and multi-family homes above the already-projected amount (4,685
homes) by an additional 2,682 homes, or a total of about 15 percent of homes.
Quantification of GHG Emissions Reductions: The EPIC mitigation calculator was used to
quantify emission reductions for Measure A.
Responsibility and Implementation: The City of Carlsbad currently participates in three
Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programs: CaliforniaFIRST, FigTREE, and
California HERO. PACE programs provide financing to eligible property owners for
sustainable energy projects, thereby offering a source of funding for residential PV systems.
Property owners can finance PV system installations and energy efficiency improvements
through a voluntary assessment on their property tax bills. Several other financing options are
available to residents, including Federal Housing Financing Administration- (FHFA) insured
Energy Efficient Mortgages, HUD Title 1 Home Improvements Loans, and FHA PowerSaver
Loans.
The city will temporarily suspend residential and commercial solar PV system permit fees.
The city will also on a continuing basis ensure that regulatory provisions—such as complying
with regulations for zoning, structure height, permit submittal and review process, etc.—do
not hinder PV panel installation.
Costs and Benefits:
Private: Private costs would come from the installation and maintenance of a residential PV
system, which can be supported by PACE programs and other incentives. Benefits would
accrue from reduced energy bills and increased property values.
(source: http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/2010_census/cb11-cn137.html). Therefore, the average
household energy use in 2010 was: 6,193.1 kWh per year.
29 It was assumed that residential PV systems produce the equivalent amount of energy to the amount consumed in
each household on an annual basis.
30 Anders, Scott and Bialek, Tom. 2006. Technical Potential for Rooftop Photovoltaics in the San Diego Region.
Available: http://www.sandiego.edu/documents/epic/060309_ASESPVPotentialPaperFINAL_000.pdf.
4: CAP GHG REDUCTION MEASURES
4-4
City: City costs would occur from the analysis of potential regulatory barriers and the
evaluating the feasibility of requiring new homes to install PV systems. Revenue would be lost
when permit fees are temporarily suspended.
Measure B: Promote Installation of Commercial and Industrial Photovoltaic Systems
Goal: Promote installation of commercial and industrial PV
systems to produce an additional 10.7 MW per year above
projected amounts, or roughly 15 percent of projected
commercial and industrial electricity use, by 2035.
2035 Reduction: 13,336 MTCO2e
Actions: (See also actions A1 and A2 above).
B-1: Adopt a commercial energy conservation ordinance requiring all new nonresidential developments
with more than 50 cars surface parked or on roofs of parking structures to use PV panels over at
least half of the surface/roof-parked cars, or provide equivalent energy conservation/generation by
other means (over and above other requirements). (Mid-term)
B-2: Evaluate the feasibility of adopting an ordinance requiring existing nonresidential developments to
install PV panels to offset a portion of their energy use. (Mid-term)
Already-Projected Amount: The projected power generation from commercial and
industrial PV systems is 22.3 MW in the year 2035, which is about 30 percent of projected
commercial and industrial electricity use.
Target: The target is the PV production of 33 MW in the year 2035, which is the equivalent
amount of power production to supply about 45 percent of projected commercial and
industrial demand.
GHG Reduction Measure Description: Photovoltaic (PV) systems convert solar energy into
electricity. Measure B promotes the installation of PV systems on commercial buildings and
industrial facilities above the already-projected amount of 22.3 MW, by an additional 10.7
MW. Together with the already-projected amount of power generation, Measure B would
reach the target PV production of 33 MW in 2035.
Quantification of GHG Emissions Reductions: The EPIC mitigation calculator was used to
quantify emission reductions for Measure B.
Responsibility and Implementation: See Measure A (above) for implementation.
Costs and Benefits:
Private: Private costs would result from the installation and maintenance of commercial and
industrial PV systems. Benefits would accrue from reduced energy bills and increased
property values.
City: City costs would occur from removing potential regulatory barriers and preparing and
enforcing a nonresidential PV systems ordinance. Revenue would be lost when permit fees
are temporarily suspended.
DRAFT CARLSBAD CLIMATE ACTION PLAN
4-5
4.2 Building Cogeneration
Measure C: Promote Building Cogeneration for Large Commercial and Industrial Facilities
Goal: Promote building cogeneration for large commercial and
industrial facilities, with the goal of producing 6.9 MW.
2035 Reduction: 1,067 MTCO2e
Actions:
C-1: Promote cogeneration by publicizing grant opportunities and financial incentives, such as the Self-
Generation Incentive Program and feed in tariffs for cogeneration systems, for renovations of
existing buildings by posting these on the city’s website and by other means. (Short-term)
C-2: Install cogeneration systems on large city facilities that can benefit from the installation of these
systems, and apply for funding through the Energy Efficiency Financing for Public Sector Projects
program, or other similar funding sources. (Mid-term)
C-3: Require cogeneration systems for large commercial and industrial facilities that have on-site
electricity production, both for new construction and retrofits. (Mid-term)
Already-Projected Amount: The forecast capacity of building cogeneration systems is 6.9
MW in the year 2035.
Target: The target is to reach the already-projected amount.
GHG Reduction Measure Description: Building cogeneration, also known as combined heat
and power (CHP), is the use of building power stations to simultaneously generate electricity
and heat. Instead of purchasing electricity from a utility and burning fuel in an on-site
furnace to produce needed heat, an industrial or commercial user can use building
cogeneration to provide both electricity and heat in one energy-efficient step. Examples of
facilities able to use building cogeneration include manufacturing plants, hospitals, water and
wastewater treatment facilities31, and large office buildings.
Building cogeneration reduces building energy costs, provides stability in the face of
uncertain electricity prices, and enhances energy reliability. Building cogeneration also
provides the opportunity to improve critical infrastructure resiliency, by allowing critical
facilities to run without any interruption in service if the electrical grid is impaired. Measure
C is to promote the installation of building cogeneration systems on large commercial and
industrial facilities to reach the projected capacity of 6.9 MW by 2035.
Quantification of GHG Emissions Reductions: The EPIC mitigation calculator was used to
quantify emission reductions for Measure C.
Responsibility and Implementation: The City of Carlsbad will apply for funding to install
cogeneration systems on city facilities that would benefit from the use of these systems. The
city will also publicize incentives for the construction of cogeneration systems, and require
31 The Encina wastewater treatment plant operates a cogeneration plant that produces over 60 percent of the electricity
used by the facility.
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cogeneration systems for new construction and retrofits of large commercial and industrial
facilities through the permitting process, where the facility has on-site non-renewable
electricity generation.
A number of funding sources exist to provide financial support for the installation of
cogeneration systems. Funding for cogeneration systems for city facilities is available through
the Energy Efficiency Financing for Public Sector Projects program. In addition to city
government buildings, the program also applies to schools and other public or institutional
facilities. There is no minimum loan amount, but the maximum loan amount per application
is $3 million. The interest rate is 1 percent, and loans must be repaid from energy cost savings
within 15 years, including principal and interest.
The Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) provides financial incentives for the
installation of new qualifying technologies, including cogeneration, that are installed to meet
all or a portion of the electric energy needs of a facility.32 SGIP is funded by the California
Public Utilities Commission, and administered by the California Center for Sustainable
Energy in SDG&E’s service area. San Diego’s 2014 share is approximately $10 million per
year. Under the SGIP program, cogeneration systems receive an incentive of $1.83 per watt
produced. SDG&E also offers seminars on the benefits of cogeneration and fuel cell options
for large facilities.
For cogeneration systems that produce electricity in excess of the facility’s needs, the state of
California has initiated a feed-in tariff, which provides a cost-based price for renewable
energy produced.
Costs and Benefits:
Private: Private costs would come from the installation and maintenance of building
cogeneration systems, and which could be reduced through funding programs, such as SGIP.
Benefits would accrue from reduced energy bills and increased property values.
City: City costs would come from promoting cogeneration systems, and incorporating the
consideration of cogeneration into the permitting process for commercial and industrial
facilities. Benefits could accrue from reduced energy bills for city facilities that utilize
cogeneration systems.
32 See the 2014 Self-Generation Incentive Program Handbook. Available:
https://www.selfgenca.com/documents/handbook/2014
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4.3 Single-family, Multi-family, Commercial, and City
Facility Efficiency Retrofits
Measure D: Encourage Single-Family Residential Energy Efficiency Retrofits
Goal: Encourage single-family residential efficiency retrofits with
the goal of a 50 percent energy reduction compared to baseline
in 30 percent of the total single-family homes citywide by 2035
(approximately 5,000 single-family homes out of a total of
17,000).
2035 Reduction: 1,132 MTCO2e
Actions:
D-1: Publicize available incentive and rebate programs, such as SDG&E’s Residential Energy Efficiency
Program, on the city’s website and by other means. (Short-term)
D-2: Create a citywide “Energy Challenge,” similar to the Department of Energy’s Better Buildings
Challenge, to promote cost-effective energy improvements, while having residents and building
owners commit to reducing energy consumption. (Short-term)
D-3: Adopt a residential energy conservation ordinance, which requires residential property owners to
conduct and disclose an energy audit at the time of renovations over $50,000, to ensure that
homes and residential developments meet specified low cost energy efficiency measures—such as
requisite ceiling insulation, insulated pipes, water heater blankets and exterior door weather
stripping. (Mid-term)
Already-Projected Amount: There is no projection for retrofits that would occur without
this measure.
Target: The target is a 50 percent energy reduction in 30 percent of single-family homes citywide by the year 2035.
GHG Reduction Measure Description: As single-family homes use a large portion of the
city’s total energy and older homes are substantially less efficient than newly constructed
homes, there is a large opportunity to reduce GHG emissions through the retrofitting of
existing homes. When a single-family homeowner seeks to make improvements over $50,000 in valuation, the owner would be required to conduct an energy audit, and meet low-cost energy efficiency measures—such as improving insulation, providing weather stripping,
promoting natural lighting and ventilation, and using “smart” thermostats to regulate energy
use for heating and cooling.
Quantification of GHG Emissions Reductions: The EPIC mitigation calculator was used to
quantify emission reductions for Measure D.
Responsibility and Implementation: Homeowners would implement this measure. SDG&E offers a Residential Energy Efficiency Program, which offers residential customers rebates to
improve the efficiency of appliances, such as water heaters, washers, refrigerators, air
conditioners, building insulating, and ceiling fans. The City will publicize this and related
programs on its website and by other means.
4: CAP GHG REDUCTION MEASURES
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Costs and Benefits:
Private: Private costs would come from homeowners conducting energy audits and
implementing efficiency retrofits. The cost of these retrofits is frequently 1 percent or less of
the total renovation cost. Benefits would occur through reduced energy costs. Rebates are
available as described above.
City: City costs would come from promoting incentive programs, creating an “Energy
Challenge” program, and adopting and enforcing a residential energy conservation
ordinance.
Measure E: Encourage Multi-Family Residential Efficiency Retrofits
Goal: Encourage multi-family residential efficiency retrofits with
the goal of a 50 percent energy reduction in 30 percent of the
projected amount of multi-family homes citywide by 2035
(approximately 10,000 out of a total of 35,000).
2035 Reduction: 351 MTCO2e
Actions: See Measure D (above).
Already-Projected Amount: There is no projection for retrofits that would occur without
this measure.
Target: The goal is a fifty percent energy reduction in thirty percent of the projected amount
of multi-family homes citywide by the year 2035.
GHG Reduction Measure Description: Multi-family residential retrofits provide an
opportunity to reduce building energy use. Multi-family residential retrofits are similar to the
single-family retrofits described in Measure D, but can provide increased energy savings; for
example, increasing insulation between residential units benefits both units. Other examples
of multi-family residential retrofits include replacing incandescent and halogen lamps with
LED or CFL lamps, installing energy-efficient windows and efficient appliances, and using
“smart” thermostats to regulate energy use for heating and cooling.
Quantification of GHG Emissions Reductions: The EPIC mitigation calculator was used to
quantify emission reductions for Measure E.
Responsibility and Implementation: Multi-family residential unit owners would implement
this measure. SDG&E offers a Residential Energy Efficiency Program, which offers residential
customers rebates to improve the efficiency of appliances, such as water heaters, washers,
refrigerators, air conditioners, building insulating, and ceiling fans. The City will publicize
this and related programs on its website and by other means.
Costs and Benefits:
Private: Private costs would come from multi-family residential unit owners conducting
energy audits and implementing efficiency retrofits. Benefits would occur through reduced
energy costs. Rebates are available as described above.
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City: City costs would come from promoting incentive programs, and creating an “Energy
Challenge” program.
Measure F: Encourage Commercial and City Facility Efficiency Retrofits
Goal: Encourage commercial and city facility efficiency retrofits
with the goal of a 40 percent energy reduction in 30 percent of
commercial square footage citywide and in city facilities by
2035.
2035 Reduction: 18,377 MTCO2e
Actions:
F-1: Undertake a program of energy efficiency retrofits for city-owned buildings, with the goal of 40
percent reduction in energy use, beginning with retrofits that would result in the most substantial
energy savings. (Short-term)
F-2: Promote available incentive and rebate programs, such as SDG&E’s Energy Efficiency Business
Rebates and Incentives Program, on the city’s website and by other means. (Short-term)
F-3: Adopt a commercial energy conservation ordinance, which requires property owners to ensure that
commercial buildings meet specified energy efficiency measures—such as requisite heating,
ventilation, and air conditioning improvements, service water system requirements, and improved
refrigeration equipment, at the time of conducting renovations over $50,000 in valuation. (Mid-term)
Already-Projected Amount: There is no projection for retrofits that would occur without
this measure.
Target: The target is a forty percent energy reduction in thirty percent of the projected
amount of commercial square footage and in city facilities.
GHG Reduction Measure Description: Relatively straightforward fixes to commercial and
city-owned buildings can significantly reduce spending on fuel and electricity for commercial
buildings. Examples of retrofits include installing efficient boilers and equipment, installation
of high-quality windows, efficient lighting, and other building energy improvements.
Quantification of GHG Emissions Reductions: The EPIC mitigation calculator was used to
quantify emission reductions for Measure F.
Responsibility and Implementation: Building owners would implement this measure for
commercial buildings.33 Funding is available through incentive and rebate programs, such as
SDG&E’s Energy Efficiency Business Rebates and Incentives Program. SANDAG is preparing
an Energy Roadmap for the city, which will identify energy conservation measures the city
33 AB 1103, the California Nonresidential Building Energy Use Disclosure Program, requires an owner of a
nonresidential building to benchmark the building’s energy use data and disclose the energy use prior to the sale of
the building, or the lease and financing of the entire building. This benchmark data can be used to guide
implementation of efficiency measures for buildings renovated after a recent sale.
4: CAP GHG REDUCTION MEASURES
4-10
can use to reduce energy use in city municipal operations.34 Funding for city retrofits can be
provided through the Energy Efficiency Financing for Public Sector Projects program,
described above in Measure C.
Costs and Benefits:
Private: Private costs would come from building owners and business owners implementing
efficiency retrofits. Benefits would occur through reduced energy costs. Costs could be offset
through incentive and rebate programs.
City: City costs would come from retrofitting city facilities, providing resources to help guide
building owners to implement this measure, promoting available incentive and rebate
programs, and adopting and enforcing a commercial energy conservation ordinance.
4.4 Commercial and City Facility Commissioning
Measure G: Promote Commercial and City Facility Commissioning
Goal: Encourage commercial and city facility commissioning, or
improving existing and new building operations, with the goal of
a 40 percent energy reduction in 30 percent of commercial
square footage citywide and in city-owned buildings by 2035.
2035 Reduction: 18,377 MTCO2e
Actions:
G-1: Promote commissioning programs on the city’s website such as San Diego RCx, and similar
programs for commercial buildings. (Short-term)
G-2: Commission city facilities to improve building operations and reduce energy costs, with a goal of 40
percent energy reduction in 30 percent of city facility square footage. (Mid-term)
Already-Projected Amount: There is no projection for commercial commissioning that
would occur without this measure.
Target: The target is a 40 percent energy reduction in 30 percent of existing and new
commercial square footage citywide and in city facilities.
GHG Reduction Measure Description: Commercial commissioning is a systematic process
of ensuring that a building performs according to its design and the occupant’s operational
needs. Commissioning allows the design developed to be successfully constructed and
operated. Examples includes measuring temperatures and flow rates from heating,
ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems to calibrate to a known standard, as well as
reviewing operations to verify that controls are properly functioning.
34 SANDAG. 2014. “Energy Roadmap for Local Governments.” Available:
http://www.sandag.org/index.asp?classid=17&projectid=373&fuseaction=projects.detail. Accessed: February 25,
2014.
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Quantification of GHG Emissions Reductions: The EPIC mitigation calculator was used to
quantify emission reductions for Measure G.
Responsibility and Implementation: The City is responsible for commissioning city
facilities. Building owners would implement this measure for commercial buildings.
Programs exist to offer assistance with the commissioning. San Diego RCx, a SDG&E
program, provides a free engineering study to qualified buildings to identify opportunities to
save energy. After opportunities are identified, the program offers financial assistance to help
pay the cost of implementing measures, which are typically low or no cost. Once
implementation is complete, energy savings are confirmed with the utility, and the program
pays the building owner the cost of the improvements.
Costs and Benefits:
Private: Private costs would come from building owners paying for building commissioning,
which may be offset entirely through commissioning programs. Benefits would occur
through reduced energy costs.
City: City costs would come from commissioning city facilities and from promoting
commissioning programs to help guide building owners to implement this measure. Benefits
would occur through reduced energy costs.
4.5 Green Building Code
Measure H: Implement Green Building Measures
Goal: Implementation of a 5 percent improvement in energy
efficiency above the City of Carlsbad residential green building
code (based on CALGreen, the statewide green building code),
for new construction.
2035 Reduction: 179 MTCO2e
Action:
H-1: Adopt residential and commercial energy conservation ordinances requiring a 5 percent
improvement in energy efficiency for residential and nonresidential new construction, above the
existing City of Carlsbad green building code. (Short-term)
Already-Projected Amount: There are no projections for this measure.
Target: The target is a five percent improvement in energy efficiency above the mandatory
requirements set in CALGreen.
GHG Reduction Measure Description: CALGreen, also known as Title 24, is California’s Building Energy Code. CALGreen requires that new buildings reduce water consumption, increase system efficiencies, divert construction waste from landfills, and install low
pollutant-emitting finish materials. CALGreen has mandatory measures that apply to
nonresidential and residential construction. The most recent CALGreen code was adopted in
4: CAP GHG REDUCTION MEASURES
4-12
2013 and became effective in 2014. This measure applies a five percent improvement in
energy efficiency above CALGreen as part of a local Green Building Code.
Quantification of GHG Emissions Reductions: The EPIC mitigation calculator was used to
quantify emission reductions for Measure H.
Responsibility and Implementation: The City of Carlsbad shall adopt a Green Building
Code with a standard of five percent improvement in energy efficiency above CALGreen,
which would also apply to any subsequent updates of the CALGreen Building Code. The
Green Building Code would apply to new construction within the city.
Costs and Benefits:
Private: Private costs would occur in implementing the improvements in energy efficiency
above the CALGreen code in new construction.
City: There is no cost to the City of Carlsbad, other than adopting the ordinance.
4.6 Efficient Lighting Standards
Measure I: Promote Replacement of Incandescent and Halogen Bulbs with LED or Other Energy
Efficient Lamps
Goal: Replace 50 percent of incandescent and halogen light
bulbs citywide with LED or similarly efficient lighting by 2035. 2035 Reduction: 21,900 MTCO2e
Actions:
I-1: Replace 50 percent of incandescent or halogen light bulbs in city facilities with LED or similarly
efficient lighting, or follow SANDAG Energy Roadmap recommendations for lighting in city
facilities, whichever results in greater energy savings. (Short-term)
I-2: Promote the use of LED or other energy efficient lamps by publicizing rebate programs and
information from SDG&E on the benefits of the use of LED or other energy efficient lighting on the
city’s webpage. (Short-term)
I-3: Evaluate the feasibility of adopting a minimum natural lighting and ventilation standard, developed
based on local conditions. (Mid-term)
Already-Projected Amount: There are no projections for this measure.
Target: The target is to replace 50 percent of incandescent and halogen bulbs citywide with
LED bulbs or similarly efficient lighting by 2035.
GHG Reduction Measure Description: Replace inefficient incandescent and halogen light bulbs with more efficient light bulbs to reduce the amount of energy needed to power the bulbs, which will reduce the demand for electricity and thus the amount of GHG emissions
created by the electrical power generation. Under AB 1109 (2007), minimum energy
efficiency standards are structured to reduce statewide electrical consumption by 50 percent
DRAFT CARLSBAD CLIMATE ACTION PLAN
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or greater from 2007 levels for indoor residential lighting and by 25 percent or greater from
2007 levels for indoor commercial and outdoor lighting by 2018. The improved efficiency
standards from AB 1109 will help to meet the goals of this measure. SANDAG is preparing an
Energy Roadmap for the city, which may include lighting replacement recommendations for
city facilities. Either the measures in the Energy Roadmap or the goal of 50 percent of
incandescent and halogen light bulbs will be followed for city facilities, whichever results in
greater energy savings.
Quantification of GHG Emissions Reductions: An estimated 17 percent of residential and
commercial energy nationwide35 and about 25 percent in California36 is used for lighting.
Applied to citywide energy use, 25 percent corresponds to about 78,000 MTCO2e of forecast
emissions in 2035 (from the SEEC community forecast with General Plan land use and
roadways). LED light bulbs reduce energy consumption and therefore GHG emissions by 75
percent37 compared to incandescent lighting. This measure assumes that about 75 percent of
the bulbs citywide are currently incandescent or halogen, and sets the target of replacing half
of these bulbs38 with more efficient ones by 2035. New construction could set at a goal of 75
percent of bulbs to be LED or similarly efficient. This would overall lead to a 28 percent39
decrease in emissions compared to halogen/incandescent bulbs, which equates to emissions
reductions of 21,900 MTCO2e.
Responsibility and Implementation: Carlsbad’s street lights were replaced in 2011 with
energy-saving induction units, leading to a reduction of approximately 1,240 MTCO2e per
year (already taken into account). The City has been and will continue to replace light bulbs
within City facilities with LED or similarly efficient lighting. For residential and commercial
customers, SDG&E currently does not offer rebates for the purchase of LED or similarly
efficient lighting, but the City will promote rebates as they come available on its website and
by other means. The City will also provide information on the benefits of the use of LED and
efficient lighting from SDG&E and other sources.
Costs and Benefits:
Private: Private costs would be from purchasing LED light bulbs for new construction, and
replacing existing light bulbs over time. Benefits would be from reduced energy costs and
reduced cost to replace light bulbs (as LED lights last substantially longer).
City: City costs would come from replacing existing inefficient lighting in City facilities with
more efficient light bulbs over time, providing information to homeowners and business
35 http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=99&t=3
36 California Public Utilities Commission; http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/NR/rdonlyres/6234FFE8-452F-45BC-A579-
A527D07D7456/0/Lighting.pdf
37 http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=find_a_product.showProductGroup&pgw_code=LB
38 It is estimated that 75 percent of lighting within the City is currently incandescent.
39 75 percent reduction in energy use in half of the 75 percent total incandescent bulbs is (75 percent)*(75 percent)*(50
percent)= 28 percent reduction
4: CAP GHG REDUCTION MEASURES
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owners to encourage a switch to LED or other efficient lamps, and evaluating the feasibility of
a natural lighting and ventilation ordinance.
4.7 Solar Water Heater/Heat Pump Installation
Measure J: New Construction Residential and Commercial Solar Water Heater Installation
Goal: Install solar water heaters or heat pumps on all new
residential and commercial construction. Retrofit up to 30
percent of existing homes and commercial buildings to include
solar water heaters or heat pumps.
2035 Reduction: 11,604 MTCO2e
Actions:
J-1: Promote the installation of solar water heaters and heat pumps by publicizing incentive, rebate and
financing programs, such as PACE programs and the California Solar Initiative for renovations of
existing buildings by posting this information on the city’s website and by other means. (Short-term)
J-2: Adopt residential and commercial energy conservation ordinances requiring new residential and
commercial buildings to install solar water heaters or heat pumps, or use alternative energy (such
as PV-generated electricity) for water heating needs. (Mid-term)
Already-Projected Amount: There are no solar water heaters/heat pumps projected to be
installed.
Target: The target is to install solar water heaters or heat pumps on all new residential and
commercial construction, and retrofit up to 30 percent of existing homes and commercial
buildings to include solar water heaters or heat pumps.
GHG Reduction Measure Description: Solar water heaters use water heated by the sun to
provide domestic and commercial hot water. Solar water heaters reduce the demand for
energy used to heat water. A solar water heater can contribute 30 to 80 percent40 of the energy
needed for residential water heating. Heat pumps are devices that use a small amount of
energy to move heat from one location to another.
Quantification of GHG Emissions Reductions: The EPIC mitigation calculator was used to
quantify emission reductions for Measure J.
Responsibility and Implementation: The three PACE programs described in Measure A also
provide financing for the installation of solar water heaters and heat pumps to improve
residential energy efficiency. The California Solar Initiative has a low-income solar water
heating rebate program and solar thermal program, which offers rebates for solar water
heaters. Installation of solar water heaters on all new residential and commercial water
40 California Energy Commission. 2009. Go Solar California: A Step by Step Tool Kit for Local Governments to Go
Solar. Available: http://www.energy.ca.gov/2009publications/CEC-180-2009-005/CEC-180-2009-005.PDF.
DRAFT CARLSBAD CLIMATE ACTION PLAN
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heaters could occur through city ordinance. Retrofit of existing homes could occur through a
combination of additional encouragement and incentives.
Costs and Benefits:
Private: Private costs would occur through the installation of residential and commercial
solar water heaters, which would be passed onto building owners. Benefits would occur
through reduced water heating costs.
City: City costs would occur from adopting and enforcing an ordinance requiring new homes
and commercial buildings to install solar water heaters or heat pumps.
4.8 Transportation Demand Management
Measure K: Promote Transportation Demand Management Strategies
Goal: Promote Transportation Demand Management Strategies
with a goal of achieving a 10 percent increase in alternative
mode use by workers in Carlsbad, for a total of 32 percent
alternative mode use.
2035 Reduction: 23,549 MTCO2e
Actions:
K-1: Adopt a citywide transportation demand management (TDM) plan, as described in the General
Plan Mobility Element, detailing a mix of strategies to reduce travel demand, specifically of single
occupancy vehicles. SANDAG’s 2012 “Integrating Transportation Demand Management Into the
Planning and Development Process”41 provides a guide to designing and implementing a TDM plan
and will be used as a reference document to develop the city’s TDM plan. TDM strategies
evaluated in the plan include parking ordinances, subsidized or discounted transit programs, transit
marketing and promotion, carsharing, parking pricing, and bike parking. (Mid-term)
K-2: Adopt a TDM ordinance, defining a minimum trip generation threshold for nonresidential
development projects. The city will set performance requirements for minimum alternative mode
use based on project type. All projects above the threshold shall submit a TDM plan, which
includes a description of how the minimum alternative mode use will be achieved and maintained
over the life of the project. Potential TDM trip reduction measures can include carpool and vanpool
ridematching services; designated employees as contacts for trip reduction programs; providing a
direct route to transit in coordination with NCTD; developing public-private transit partnerships;
passenger loading zones; pedestrian connections; showers and clothes lockers; long–term bicycle
parking and shuttle programs. (Mid-term)
Already-Projected Amount: There are no projections for this measure. As of 201242,
alternative (non-single occupancy vehicle use—such as working at home, carpooling, transit,
41 Available: http://www.icommutesd.com/documents/tdmstudy_may2012_webversion_000.pdf.
42 American Community Survey. 2012. Selected Economic Characteristics for Carlsbad, California. Available:
http://factfinder2.census.gov/.
4: CAP GHG REDUCTION MEASURES
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walking and biking) mode use by Carlsbad workers is 22 percent. Of these alternative uses,
most workers work at home (44 percent) and carpool (36 percent), followed by public transit
(10 percent), other means (including biking, 6 percent), and walking (5 percent).
Target: The Carlsbad General Plan promotes the use of Transportation Demand
Management (TDM), but does not specify a target goal. This measure specifies a goal of
achieving an additional 10 percent use of alternative modes, for an overall 32 percent
alternative mode use by workers employed in Carlsbad. This is projected to be achieved
through 40 percent alternative mode use by workers in new nonresidential buildings, and 30
percent alternative mode use by workers in existing (as of 2013) nonresidential buildings.
GHG Reduction Measure Description: Chapter 3 quantifies emissions reductions from the
Carlsbad General Plan due to bikeway system improvements, pedestrian improvements,
traffic calming, parking facilities and policies, and transportation improvements. This
measure is distinct from these reductions because it focuses on TDM, or the application of
strategies and policies to reduce travel demand, or redistribute it in time and space. This
measure reduces VMT by shifting single occupancy vehicle use to alternative modes,
reducing the average commute length, promoting an alternate work schedule, and promoting
telecommuting.
Quantification of GHG Emissions Reductions: The EPIC mitigation calculator was used to
quantify emission reductions for Measure K.
Responsibility and Implementation: The City of Carlsbad will develop a TDM plan
describing strategies to reduce travel demand. The city will also develop an ordinance
applying to nonresidential developments meeting a specified minimum trip generation
threshold, providing connections to public transportation whenever possible. The city will
facilitate a coordinated effort between local businesses and NCTD to develop a route
expansion and ridership plan wherever feasible. SANDAG’s iCommute program assists
commuters by providing free carpool and ridematching services, a subsidized vanpool
program, the Guaranteed Ride Home program, SchoolPool carpooling programs for parents,
and information about teleworking, all of which can support the city’s TDM goals.
Costs and Benefits:
Private: Private costs could include need for a TDM coordinator for private businesses,
providing on-site facilities (showers, lockers), and shuttle programs. Benefits would accrue
from reduced spending on gasoline, and reduced traffic from less employee commute.
City: City costs would result from developing, implementing, and enforcing a TDM plan and
ordinance. Implementation costs would include conducting an outreach and education
campaign to promote the benefits of TDM.
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4.9 Increased Zero-Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) Travel
Measure L: Promote an Increase in the Amount of Zero-Emissions Vehicle Travel
Goal: Promote an increase in the amount of ZEV43 miles
traveled from a projected 15 percent to 25 percent of total
vehicle miles traveled by 2035.
2035 Reduction: 54,158 MTCO2e
Actions:
L-1: Working with industry partners, construct a “PV to EV” pilot project to install a PV charging station
at a city facility (such as the Faraday Center), to charge city ZEVs. The purpose of the pilot project
would be to evaluate the feasibility of incorporating more ZEV into the city’s fleet. (Short-term)
L-2: Prepare a community-wide charging station siting plan, which evaluates site visibility and exposure,
EV driving ranges, high volume destinations, locations with high ownership or interest in EVs, and
cost of construction. (Short-term)
L-3: Construct ZEV charging stations based on the community-wide charging station siting plan
described in L-1 above. The ZEV charging stations will be funded by grant funds when available,
and the city will post signage directing ZEVs to charging stations. (Mid-term)
L-4: Offer dedicated ZEV parking, and provide charging stations adjacent to ZEV parking as identified in
the community-wide charging station siting plan. (Mid-term)
L-5: Adopt requirements for ZEV parking for new developments. (Mid-term)
L-6: Adopt a residential energy conservation ordinance, similar to Palo Alto, requiring the installation of
EV chargers or pre-wiring in new residential construction and major renovations. (Mid-term)
L-7: Update the city’s Fleet Management Program to include a low and zero-emissions vehicle
replacement/purchasing policy. Increase the proportion of fleet low and zero–emissions vehicle
miles traveled to 25 percent of all city-related VMT by 2035. (Mid-term)
Already-Projected Amount: According to the EPIC mitigation calculator, 15 percent of the
vehicle miles traveled in 2035 are projected to be from ZEVs.
Target: The target is to increase the proportion of vehicle miles traveled from 15 percent to
25 percent by the year 2035.
GHG Reduction Measure Description: Driving ZEVs reduces carbon emissions by
eliminating direct tailpipe emissions of carbon dioxide and other GHGs. The production of
electricity used to power electric vehicles generates GHGs; however, SDG&E electricity
generates much less GHGs than the direct combustion of fossil fuels. Furthermore, electric
vehicles can be charged at home or the workplace using energy produced by PV panels,
eliminating GHG emissions completely, at least for the months when PV panels produce the
full amount of electricity needed for operations. The ability to provide entirely emissions-free
43 Zero-Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) is a vehicle that emits no tailpipe pollutants from the onboard source of power. ZEVs
include electric vehicles, fuel cell vehicles, and plug-in hybrids, when in electric mode.
4: CAP GHG REDUCTION MEASURES
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transportation through the use of PV panels to charge ZEVs should be capitalized on
whenever possible.
Quantification of GHG Emissions Reductions: The EPIC mitigation calculator was used to
quantify emission reductions for Measure L.
Responsibility and Implementation: The city will promote an increase in the amount of
electric vehicle travel by constructing ZEV charging stations using the community-wide
station siting plan. Grant funding for the construction of the ZEV charging stations can come
from the California Energy Commission’s Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure grant, or
other similar grant programs. The city would be responsible for operating (including
electricity provision, for stations not using PV panels) and maintaining charging stations.
The city will also promote the use of ZEVs by offering dedicated ZEV parking and adopting
requirements for ZEV parking for new development. The city will create an ordinance
requiring the installation of ZEV chargers or pre-wiring in new residential construction and
major renovations.44 The City of Carlsbad will increase the city fleet mix of ZEVs, hybrids,
and other low- or zero-emissions vehicles to increase low and zero–emissions vehicle miles
traveled to 25 percent by 2035.
Costs and Benefits:
Private: The private cost would be the purchase of an electric vehicle and the cost of
electricity to power the electric vehicle, for community members who elect to purchase an
electric vehicle. Costs may also occur from installing EV chargers or pre-wiring into new
residential construction or major renovations. Benefits would accrue from reduced spending
on gasoline.
City: City costs would be from planning for, constructing, operating (including providing
electricity, for stations not using PV panels) and maintaining ZEV charging stations, which
may be offset by potential user fees or grants from the California Energy Commission, or
other similar agencies. City costs may occur from developing ordinances to require the
installation of ZEV chargers in new residential construction and major renovations. City
costs may also occur from fleet purchases of ZEV vehicles. Benefits would accrue from
reduced spending on gasoline.
44 Assembly Bill 1092 (2013) requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to propose minimum
building standards for the installation of future electric vehicle charging infrastructure for parking spaces in multi-
family dwellings and nonresidential development.
DRAFT CARLSBAD CLIMATE ACTION PLAN
4-19
4.10 Citywide Renewable Projects
Measure M: Develop More Citywide Renewable Energy Projects
Goal: Produce the equivalent amount of energy to power 2,000
homes (roughly equivalent to a 5 percent reduction) by 2035
from renewable energy projects.
2035 Reduction: 4,580 MTCO2e
Actions:
M-1: Conduct a feasibility study to prioritize citywide renewable energy projects. (Short-term)
M-2: Incorporate renewable energy measures such as PV system installation on city buildings and
parking lots, or microturbine installation on city facilities, with the goal of producing approximately
12,000 megawatt-hours per year. (Long-term)
M-3: Pursue available funding sources for the construction of renewable energy projects by the city,
such as Energy Efficiency Financing for Public Sector Projects and SGIP. (Long-term)
Already-Projected Amount: There is no projected amount for this measure.
Target: The target is the production of 12,341 megawatt-hours per year, approximately the
energy required to power 2,000 homes.
GHG Reduction Measure Description: The City of Carlsbad has a number of renewable
energy projects in various stages of planning and development. The Maerkle Reservoir
Hydropower Project, which has been permitted by the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission (FERC), is estimated to produce about 833 MWh per year. Other planned
projects include a second pressure-reducing hydroelectric generator, similar to the Maerkle
Reservoir Hydropower Project, and a potential solar PV project in Alga Norte Community
Park.
Quantification of GHG Emissions Reduction: The production of 12,341 megawatt-hours
per year was converted into MTCO2e using the 2010 SDG&E coefficient of 742.2 lb CO2e per
megawatt-hour. This corresponds to a reduction of 4,580 MTCO2e.
Responsibility and Implementation: The City of Carlsbad would be responsible for
conducting a feasibility study, determining suitable renewable technologies, siting renewable
projects, and constructing and maintaining the renewable energy projects. Funding sources
include the Energy Efficiency Financing for Public Sector Projects, which includes renewable
energies such as PV systems and other distributed generation technologies, as well as the
SGIP, as described above in Measure C.
Costs and Benefits:
Private: There are no direct private costs from this measure.
City: City costs are planning (including a feasibility study), constructing and maintaining the
renewable facilities, some of which may be offset through the funding sources described
above. Benefits accrue from electricity savings to City through net energy metering.
4: CAP GHG REDUCTION MEASURES
4-20
4.11 Water Utilities System Improvements
Measure N: Reduce GHG Intensity of Water Utilities45 Supply Conveyance, Treatment, and
Distribution
Goal: Reduce the intensity of GHG emissions from water utilities
(including water supply, wastewater, and recycled water)
conveyance, treatment, and distribution by 8 percent by 2035.
2035 Reduction: 5,968 MTCO2e
Action:
N-1: Improve water utilities (including water supply, wastewater, and recycled water) conveyance,
treatment and distribution, and other system improvements. (Long-term)
Already-Projected Amount: The goal of an 8 percent reduction by 2035 is the default value
in the EPIC mitigation calculator.
Target: The target is to achieve the already-projected amount.
GHG Reduction Measure Description: This measure estimates emissions reductions from
changes in the efficiency of water utilities (including water supply, wastewater, and recycled
water) conveyance, treatment, and distribution facilities within the City of Carlsbad.46 This
combines improvements in overall system efficiency, the reduction in GHG intensity of
electricity used to move water, wastewater, and recycled water, and replacing potable water
needs with expanded recycled water supply. Carlsbad’s Sewer Master Plan, for example, calls
for eliminating several sewer lift stations and replacing them with gravity pipelines, which
would reduce energy usage.47 The Encina Water Pollution Control Facility exemplifies GHG
reductions from water treatment; the facility currently is able to satisfy 60 percent of its
energy needs through methane capture and cogeneration and has a long-term goal of energy
independence from purchased energy. The 2012 Carlsbad Municipal Water District Recycled
Water Master Plan estimates that, by 2030, recycled water demand could double from 4,100
acre-feet/year to about 9,100 acre-feet/year. Expanding the recycled water system would
appreciably reduce the need for more expensive imported water needs in the future.
Quantification of GHG Emissions Reduction: The EPIC mitigation calculator was used to
quantify emission reductions for Measure N, which estimates wastewater emissions
45 For purposes of this measure, water utilities include potable water treatment and conveyance, sewer conveyance, and
recycled water treatment and conveyance systems.
46 Note: The GHG reductions from water conservation measures detailed in the 2010 Carlsbad Municipal Water
District Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP) have already been considered in the GHG forecasts. Further GHG
reductions may be possible through greater conservation efforts than those outlined in the UWMP, including
Ordinance No. 44 (2009); however, these have not been quantified in this CAP.
47 The City is replacing three sewer lift stations, which use a combined total of approximately 6,200 kWh of electricity
per year with gravity pipelines, in addition to other planned rehabilitation upgrades included in the Sewer Master
Plan.
DRAFT CARLSBAD CLIMATE ACTION PLAN
4-21
reductions from methane capture, reductions from water treatment and distribution facilities,
and changes in the supply network, including greater use of recycled water.
Responsibility and Implementation: The City of Carlsbad would be responsible for making
the improvements to water supply conveyance, treatment, and distribution, which could
occur through improvements to the Carlsbad Municipal Water District’s system.
Costs and Benefits:
Private: There would be no private costs for this measure.
City: Costs to the City of Carlsbad are from implementing the improvements to the water
utilities system. Benefits occur by reducing energy costs and having newer water delivery
infrastructure.
Measure O: Encourage the Installation of Greywater and Rainwater Collection Systems
Goal: Encourage the installation of greywater and rainwater
collection systems with a goal of 15 percent of homes by 2035.
2035 Reduction: 1,205 MTCO2e
Actions:
O-1: Host workshops on greywater and rainwater collection systems through the Carlsbad Municipal
Water District, or partner with existing workshop providers, for homeowners interested in installing
systems suitable for their property. (Mid-term)
O-2: Create a design reference manual, or provide links to an existing one, for the design of greywater
and rainwater collection systems. (Mid-term)
O-3: Evaluate the feasibility of offering a rebate for residential greywater systems that require a permit
to cover the cost of obtaining a permit. (Mid-term)
Already-Projected Amount: There is no projection for this measure.
Target: The target is for fifteen percent of homes to have greywater and rainwater collection
systems installed by 2035.
GHG Reduction Measure Description: Greywater is wastewater generated from hand
washing, laundry machines, and showers and baths that have not been contaminated by any
toilet discharge. Greywater can be recycled onsite for toilet flushing and subsurface (below
ground) landscape irrigation using a greywater system. The regulations for the design,
construction and use of greywater systems are in Chapter 16A of the California Plumbing
Code. Some small greywater systems that involve laundry machines or single fixtures only are
exempt from permits. More complicated greywater systems require building permits from the
City. Rainwater harvesting is the practice of collecting rainwater from hard surfaces, such as
roofs, and storing it in barrels or cisterns, which can be used for landscape irrigation.
Measure O is to promote the use of on-site greywater and rainwater collection systems for
residences.
4: CAP GHG REDUCTION MEASURES
4-22
Quantification of GHG Emissions Reductions: Nationwide, about seven percent of U.S.
GHG emissions are from water and wastewater service provision to urban populations.48 For
this measure, it was assumed that seven percent of the citywide emissions are from water
provision and wastewater services.49 Therefore, about 32,000 MTCO2e of 2035 emissions are
from water provision and wastewater services.
If maximally pursued, the use of greywater and rainwater collection systems could reduce
water demands by 25 percent on a statewide scale.50 For this measure, it was assumed the 25
percent reduction in water demand would scale to individual houses that implement
greywater and rainwater collection systems. A goal of 15 percent of homes with greywater
and rainwater harvesting systems was chosen. A 25 percent reduction of water use in 15
percent of homes corresponds to a GHG reduction of about 1,205 MTCO2e.
Responsibility and Implementation: Homeowners would be responsible for the installation
of greywater and rainwater collection systems. The City of Carlsbad will, through the
Carlsbad Municipal Water District, host greywater and rainwater harvesting workshops, or
partner with existing workshop providers. The City will also reference or develop a greywater
and rainwater collection system design manual and consider offering a rebate for residential
greywater systems that require a permit to cover the cost of obtaining a permit.
Costs and Benefits:
Private: Costs to homeowners would be from constructing and maintaining greywater and
rainwater collection systems. Benefits would accrue over time through water savings.
City: Costs to the City of Carlsbad are from hosting workshops and developing or reviewing
greywater and rainwater collection manuals to adopt.
4.12 Combined Effect of CAP GHG Reduction Measures and
Forecast with CAP
Table 4-1 shows a summary of the CAP GHG reduction measures. While the individual
measures may be implemented over different timescales, for the purposes of calculating their
impact in this section, it was assumed that the effect of all measures would begin in the mid-
term time frame and increase linearly to reach the full reduction potential in the year 2035.
Table 4-2 shows proposed residential energy conservation, commercial energy conservation,
and transportation demand management ordinances adjacent to the applicable reduction
measures.
48 Source: V. Novotny. 2010. “Urban Water and Energy Use: From Current US Use to Cities of the Future.” Cities of the
Future/Urban River Restoration. Water Environment Federation. 9: 118-140.
49 The 7 percent estimate was used for the purpose of this reduction measure because the Chapter 2 inventory did not
directly quantify all emissions associated with water use, but rather included those as part of commercial, industrial
and residential energy use (e.g. heating water).
50 Source: J. Loux, R. Winer-Skonovd, E. Gellerman. 2012. “Evaluation of Combined Rainwater and Greywater Systems
for Multiple Development Types in Mediterranean Climates.” Journal of Water Sustainability. 2(1): 55-77.
DRAFT CARLSBAD CLIMATE ACTION PLAN
4-23
As a whole, the CAP GHG reduction measures were designed to enable Carlsbad to achieve
its GHG reduction target in the year 2035. The combined GHG reduction from these
measures is 185,919 MTCO2e in 2035, which cover the emissions “gap” identified in Chapter
3. Table 4-3 adds the effect of the CAP GHG reduction measures to the community forecast,
and compares the resulting forecast with CAP GHG reduction measures to emission targets.
As proposed, this CAP meets the emissions targets for both 2020 and 2035. Figure 4-1 shows
the forecast with CAP reduction measures compared to the emissions targets to demonstrate
that both 2020 and 2035 targets will be met with the implementation of this CAP.
For this CAP to successfully be implemented, the City of Carlsbad must play a prominent role
in implementing the CAP GHG reduction measures. In addition to responsibility and
implementation covered for each measure in this chapter, the following chapter discusses
how the CAP will be revised and updated in the future to ensure that the targets are met.
TABLE 4-1: CAP GHG REDUCTION MEASURES SUMMARY
Measure
Letter
GHG Reduction Measures GHG Reduction in
2035 (MTCO2e)
A Install residential PV systems 10,136
B Install commercial and industrial PV systems 13,336
C Promote building cogeneration for large commercial and industrial
facilities
1,067
D Encourage single-family residential efficiency retrofits 1,132
E Encourage multi-family residential efficiency retrofits 351
F Encourage commercial and city facility efficiency retrofits 18,377
G Promote commercial and city facility commissioning, or improving
building operations
18,377
H Implementation of Green Building Code 179
I Replace Incandescent bulbs with LED bulbs 21,900
J New construction residential and commercial solar water
heater/heat pump installation & retrofit of existing residential
11,604
K Promote Transportation Demand Management 23,549
L Increase zero-emissions vehicle travel 54,158
M Develop more citywide renewable energy projects 4,580
N Reduce the GHG intensity of water supply conveyance, treatment
and delivery
5,968
O Encourage the installation of greywater and rainwater systems 1,205
Total GHG Reductions 185,919
4: CAP GHG REDUCTION MEASURES
4-24
TABLE 4-2: LIST OF PROPOSED ORDINANCES AND APPLICABLE MEASURES
PROPOSED ORDINANCES Applicable Measures
Residential Energy Conservation Ordinance A1, D, E, H, I, J, L
Commercial Energy Conservation Ordinance B, F, H, I, J, L
Transportation Demand Management Ordinance K
1 If solar panel requirement found feasible
TABLE 4-3: FORECAST COMMUNITY EMISSIONS WITH CAP GHG REDUCTION
MEASURES AND TARGETS
Year Modified
Baseline
Forecast
(From Chapter
3) (MTCO2e)
CAP GHG
Reduction
Measures
(Phased in
Linearly to 2035)
(MTCO2e)
Forecast
Community
Emissions with
CAP GHG
Reduction
Measures
GHG Emission
Targets
(Linear Scaling
of AB 32/S-3-05)
(MTCO2e)
Emission
Target
Met?
2020 473,082 53,120 419,962 535,763 Yes
2035 455,556 185,919 269,639 321,458 Yes
DRAFT CARLSBAD CLIMATE ACTION PLAN
4-25
Figure 4-1: Forecast Community Emissions with CAP Reduction Measures and
Targets
-
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
700,000
2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 MTCO2e Emissions Date
Forecast with CAP Reduction
Measures
Emissions Targets (AB 32/S-3-05)
4: CAP GHG REDUCTION MEASURES
4-26
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5-1
5
Project Review Checklist
and Monitoring Progress
This chapter describes how the City of Carlsbad will review development projects to achieve the reduction measures in Chapter 4, consistent with State CEQA Guidelines Section
15183.5(b)(1)(D).
For discretionary projects seeking to use CEQA streamlining provisions, in an environmental
document the city may refer to the required measures in this CAP as mandatory conditions
of approval or as mitigation. This will enable projects to benefit from CEQA streamlining
provisions, while ensuring that the city can achieve the reduction targets outlined in this plan.
5.1 Project Review Thresholds and Checklist
Compliance with CAP
During the course of project review, city will evaluate whether a project is subject to
provisions of this CAP, using the screening criteria below. Once this is established, a project
can comply with the CAP in one of two ways:
• Checklist Approach. The Project Review Checklist below provides direction about
measures to be incorporated in individual projects, which will be used during the
normal development review process. Project features that help a project meet the
provisions of the CAP would then become part of project conditions of approval.
• Self-Developed Program Approach. Rather than use the standard checklist, project
proponents can develop their own program that would result in the same outcome as
the checklist; approval would be subject to city review.
CEQA Streamlining
Project Review Checklist
The Project Review Checklist is applicable for all land use development projects subject to
CEQA review. The County of San Diego’s 2013 Guidelines for Determining Significance for
5: PROJECT REVIEW CHECKLIST AND MONITORING PROGRESS
5-2
Climate Change were used to establish a “bright line” threshold of 2,500 MTCO2e per year.51
Table 5-1 lists the project review thresholds for a range of project types and sizes to identify
the “bright line” threshold; projects equal to or exceeding these thresholds would be subject
to CAP measures.52
TABLE 5-1: PROJECT REVIEW THRESHOLDS
Project/Plan Type Screening Threshold
Single-Family Housing 85 dwelling units
Multi-family Housing 130 dwelling units
Assisted Living Facility 240 dwelling units
University/College (four years) 336 students
Library 81,000 square feet
Restaurant 12,000 square feet
Hotel 100 rooms
Retail Store/Shopping Center 30,000 square feet
Convenience Market (24 hour) 2,000 square feet
Office 60,000 square feet
Hospital/Medical Office 45,000 square feet
Warehouse 140,000 square feet
Industrial 75,000 square feet
Source: Adapted from Table 3, 2013 County of San Diego Guidelines for Determining Significance for Climate Change.
Note: Proposed project land use types will be compared with the land use types included in the screening table above to
determine applicability. A shopping center includes a group of commercial establishments that is developed as a unit. Industrial facilities would typically involve assembly of processed or partially processed materials into products and would have an energy demand that is not substantially higher than office buildings of the same size and scale. Industrial
facilities would not typically generate dust, other air pollutants, light, or noise that it perceptible beyond the boundary of the subject property.
For proposed projects above the screening thresholds, project proponents should complete
the CAP Project Review Checklist (Table 5-2). For each item on the checklist, project
proponents should indicate whether or not the measure is included as part of the project, or if
it is not applicable. The checklist is designed to meet the targets set for the measures
presented in Chapter 4. The checklist is preliminary and illustrative of the items of that will
51 The City of San Diego’s 2013 Draft Significance Thresholds for Greenhouse Gas Emissions contain the same bright
line threshold of 2,500 MTCO2e. The methodology used to develop the threshold is referred to as the “gap-based
approach,” and is described in detail in both the City’s draft and County’s adopted significance thresholds.
52 If a proposed project is below the screening criteria, GHG emissions would still be reduced through compliance with
applicable City of Carlsbad ordinances and regulations.
DRAFT CARLSBAD CLIMATE ACTION PLAN
5-3
be included in the finalized checklist. The city will provide a final checklist incorporating
requirements in ordinances drafted for the CAP.
TABLE 5-2: PRELIMINARY CAP PROJECT REVIEW CHECKLIST
RENEWABLE ENERGY PRODUCTION
1. For new nonresidential projects with more than 50 cars surface
parked or on roofs of parking structures, would the project include PV
panels over at least half of the surface/roof-parked cars or other
equivalent renewable energy production?
Included Not Applicable
Explanation:
Describe the measures taken to meet this requirement, if applicable.
COGENERATION
2. For the construction or retrofit of a large commercial or industrial
facility with an on-site electricity production, would the proposed project
include a building cogeneration system?
Included Not Applicable
Explanation:
ENERGY CONSERVATION ORDINANCES
3. For residential and commercial construction or renovations in excess
of $50,000, would the proposed project meet the requirements in the
applicable energy conservation ordinance?
Included Not Applicable
Explanation:
GREEN BUILDING CODE
4. Would the proposed project meet the energy efficiency standard of 5
percent above Title 24 standards (CALGreen)?
Included Not Applicable
Explanation:
5: PROJECT REVIEW CHECKLIST AND MONITORING PROGRESS
5-4
TABLE 5-2: PRELIMINARY CAP PROJECT REVIEW CHECKLIST
SOLAR WATER HEATERS/HEAT PUMPS
5. For residential and commercial projects, does the project include solar
water heaters to reduce the energy needed for residential water heating
by 50 percent, or heat pumps to reduce the heating/cooling load by 50
percent?
Included Not Applicable
Explanation:
TRANSPORTATION DEMAND MANAGEMENT
6. For proposed projects that meet the minimum trip generation
thresholds set in the City of Carlsbad Transportation Demand
Management (TDM) ordinance, does the project include a TDM plan,
containing a description of how minimum alternative mode use will be
achieved and maintained over the life of the project?
Included Not Applicable
Explanation:
Include TDM plan if applicable.
ZERO-EMISSIONS VEHICLES
7. For proposed projects subject to the City of Carlsbad off-street
parking requirements, does the proposed project provide preferential
parking for electric vehicles and/or charging stations for electric vehicle
use?
Included Not Applicable
Explanation:
OTHER GHG REDUCTION MEASURES AND/OR FEATURES
8. Describe other GHG reductions measures and/or features of the
proposed project:
Included Not Included
Explanation:
DRAFT CARLSBAD CLIMATE ACTION PLAN
5-5
A completed CAP Project Review Checklist, including supporting documentation for
applicable measures, demonstrates a proposed project complies with the CAP.
5.2 Monitoring Progress
This CAP serves as a toolkit for the City of Carlsbad to reduce community-wide GHG
emissions and meet emissions targets. Climate action planning, however, is an iterative
process, and requires monitoring progress and periodically revisiting assumptions and
provisions. Figure 5-1 shows the steps in the process of climate action planning.
Figure 5-1: Process of Climate Action Planning
(Source: CoolCalifornia, http://www.coolcalifornia.org/article/climate-action-planning)
To continue the process of climate action planning, the City of Carlsbad will follow these steps:
• Monitoring
• Updating GHG inventory and the CAP
• Update Project Review Checklist
Monitoring
The City of Carlsbad will periodically monitor and report on progress towards achieving the
emissions targets. This periodic assessment will contain data on residential, industrial, and
commercial energy use. New opportunities for GHG reductions, including new funding
sources and the ability to link city reduction actions to the city’s Capital Improvement Plan
and other programs can also be incorporated into future updates of the CAP.
5: PROJECT REVIEW CHECKLIST AND MONITORING PROGRESS
5-6
Updating GHG Inventory and the CAP
As part of the periodic monitoring assessments, the city will assess whether information on
GHG inventory or targets is substantially out of date. If so, the city will take necessary actions
to update the inventory and goals and actions that reflect the adoption of new technologies
and programs to reduce GHG emissions.
Updating Project Review Checklist
The Project Review Checklist will be finalized by the City of Carlsbad and updated as
necessary to reflect lessons learned through project streamlining. Federal, state, and San
Diego Air Pollution Control District actions will be monitored to identify future changes to
federal or state standards or guidelines that affect implementation of the CAP. Any changes
to California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines will also be integrated into the
Project Review Checklist.
Appendix A
Climate Change
Informational Resources
Combating climate change requires education and personal action. This section contains resources on climate change and its impacts, calculating individual carbon footprints, and ways to reduce individual carbon footprints.
Education
The evidence is clear that climate change is happening. Humans are largely responsible for
recent climate change. International scientific bodies, federal agencies, and state agencies
have numerous resources that summarize the current scientific understanding of climate
change and the latest projections of climate change impacts.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is the leading international body for the assessment of climate change:
• http://www.ipcc.ch/
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has documented recent
impacts and future trends of climate change:
• http://climate.nasa.gov/effects
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) has information of climate change,
and it’s effects:
• http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/basics/
Cal-Adapt, a product of the Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) program, funded by the
California Energy Commission, provides California-specific climate change research,
including interactive climate tools:
• http://cal-adapt.org/
Carbon Footprint
A carbon footprint is a measure of the total amount of GHG emissions produced by an
individual. It can be thought of as a personal inventory of one’s impacts on climate change.
APPENDIX A: CLIMATE CHANGE INFORMATIONAL RESOURCES
2
There are a number of online calculators that estimate personal carbon footprints.
Individuals can use the following carbon footprint calculators as a guide to help reduce
personal carbon emissions.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/ind-calculator.html
Cool California
• http://www.coolcalifornia.org/calculator
Cool Climate Network
• http://coolclimate.berkeley.edu/carboncalculator
Nature Conservancy
• http://www.nature.org/greenliving/carboncalculator/index.htm
Conservation International
• http://www.conservation.org/act/live_green/carboncalc/Pages/default.aspx
Earth Lab
• https://www.earthlab.com/createprofile/reg.aspx
Carbon Footprint
• http://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator1.html
EarthLab
• http://www.earthlab.com/carbon-footprint/California-carbon-calculator.aspx
Global Footprint Network
• http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/gfn/page/calculators/
Reducing your Carbon Footprint
Reducing one’s personal carbon footprint saves money, decreases impact on the
environment, and helps fight climate change. The following links provide resources from
federal and state agencies on changes one can make in his or her day-to-day life to diminish
GHG emissions.
U.S. EPA: What can you do at home?
• http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/wycd/home.html
REVIEW DRAFT CARLSBAD CLIMATE ACTION PLAN
3
U.S. EPA: What can you do at school?
• http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/wycd/school.html
U.S. EPA: What can you do on the road?
• http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/wycd/road.html
U.S Department of Energy: Save energy, save money
• http://energy.gov/energysaver/energy-saver
California Environmental Protection Agency: Climate change resources for individuals
• http://www.climatechange.ca.gov/individuals.html
California Air Resources Board: Low emissions vehicles
• http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/consumer_info/advanced_clean_cars/consumer_acc.htm
APPENDIX A: CLIMATE CHANGE INFORMATIONAL RESOURCES
4
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Appendix B
Carlsbad 2011 Community
and Local Government
Operations Greenhouse
Gas Inventories
MEMORANDUM
To: David de Cordova
From: Chris Ford, Josh Pollak
Re: Carlsbad Community Greenhouse Gas Inventory Update – 2011
Date: August 26, 2013
This memo highlights the approach taken to update the City’s 2005 Greenhouse Gas (GHG)
Emissions Inventory with 2011 data and compares the inputs and outputs. A separate memo will
cover local government operations. The content of these memos will then contribute to the
summary of Carlsbad’s GHG emissions in the forthcoming Climate Action Plan (CAP); the
memos may be placed in an appendix to the CAP.
This memo reviews the assumptions employed, the quantitative inputs and methodology of
estimating the emissions by sector, and the outputs.
Technical terms and acronyms that appear in this memo are listed in Table 1.
Table 1: Technical Terms and Acronyms
CACP Clean Air and Climate Protection software, a model developed by ICLEI to inventory and
forecast GHG emissions
CAP Climate Action Plan
CARB California Air Resources Board, the agency responsible for setting statewide GHG emission
reduction targets. CARB also maintains several GHG emission calculation models.
CO2e Carbon dioxide equivalents, a measure of GHGs that converts non-CO2 emissions to the
same impact as carbon dioxide
EMFAC The EMissions FACtors model developed by CARB to measure various emissions from
vehicles. There are multiple versions of EMFAC which focus on different vehicle types.
EPA US Environmental Protection Agency
GHG Greenhouse gases, mainly carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide (N2O), and
methane (CH4)
ICLEI An organization that provides standards and models for measuring and forecasting GHG
emissions
SDG&E San Diego Gas and Electric, the energy utility for Carlsbad
Service
Population
Residents + employees, a rough measure of how many people may be generating emissions
within a defined area.
VMT Vehicle Miles Traveled, a measure of the annual amount of driving within an area, used to
calculate GHG emissions from vehicles
Page 2 of 10
ASSUMPTIONS
As with the 2005 inventory, ICLEI’s CACP1 model was used to estimate emissions from
residential, commercial, and industrial consumption of energy and solid waste disposal; CARB’s
EMFAC models were used to calculate transportation emissions; and other sources were used for
wastewater and Palomar landfill emissions.
Between 2005 and 2011, the population and jobs of Carlsbad increased by an estimated 12
percent as did the service population of Carlsbad—the number of residents plus number of jobs,
reflecting the number of people who may generate GHG emissions. Since 2005, Carlsbad’s share
of the county population has increased from 3.13 percent to 3.41 percent, due to a faster rate of
growth than the overall county. Table 2 summarizes these changes.
Table 2: Population and Jobs, 2005 and 2011
2005 2011 % Change
San Diego County Population1 3,034,388 3,115,810 2.7%
Carlsbad Population1, 2 94,961 106,403 12.0%
Carlsbad - % of County Population 3.13% 3.41% 8.9%
Carlsbad - # of Jobs3 59,309 66,417 12.0%
Carlsbad – Service Population 154,270 172,820 12.0%
1. The 2011 populations for the county and Carlsbad come from the California Department of Finance, Table E-5.
2. The 2005 Inventory used different populations for the community and local government analyses. This is the
population used for the community inventory.
3. Numbers from SANDAG.
Electricity Coefficients
Electricity coefficients measure how much GHG emission and air pollution is created by various
sources of electricity generation. They are measured as pounds of emission per megawatt hour
(lb/MWh). The CACP model includes “back end” settings and assumptions that can be adjusted
from defaults:
• Bundled customers purchase electricity from SDG&E. The CACP model has built-in
values for SDG&E, although the most recent data is from 2007. Dudek provided 2010
numbers from SDG&E from the Climate Registry, which are the most recent available;
these 2010 numbers were substituted in for the 2007 data.
• CACP also allows the manual entry of coefficients. This is used for direct electricity
consumers, who purchase power from elsewhere, with SDG&E handling delivery to the
customer. The power is purchased from across the region. We used the regional energy
coefficients from the EPA’s 2009 eGRID tables, which are the most recent available.
Table 3 compares the coefficients used for the 2005 and 2011 inventories. The table shows that
since 2005, the pounds of GHG emissions (carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane) produced
per megawatt hour of electricity fell for both SDG&E and regional power generation—except for
1 The 2011 update utilized the CACP 2009 Version 3.0 software.
Page 3 of 10
CO2 emissions from SDG&E power, which rose significantly (35%). The reason for this
difference is unknown; SDG&E would not respond to our questions. The coefficients for SDG&E
in 2005 were notably lower than in all other recent years, however, with a major decline from
2004 to 2005, followed by large increases between 2005 and 2007, and thereafter. This pattern
suggests that SDG&E’s low energy coefficients for 2005 were abnormal, with the 2010
coefficients (used for the 2011 Inventory) more in line with recent trends.
A second issue shown by Table 3 is that in 2005, SDG&E power was significantly cleaner than
power purchased from elsewhere (about 24% less CO2), but by 2009-2010 SDG&E power
produced more GHG emissions than other regional power (12% more CO2).
Table 3: Electricity Coefficients (lb/MWh)
Year CO2 N2O CH4
Bundled Service (SDG&E)
20051 546.50 0.011 0.030
20102* 739.05 0.0081 0.0302
% Increase +35% -26% +1%
Direct Access Electricity (eGRID)
2005 724.12 0.00808 0.03024
20093* 658.68 0.00617 0.02894
% Change -9% -24% -4%
*Data used for Carlsbad 2011 inventory update.
1. Data from CACP model.
2. Data from www.climateregistry.org
3. 2009 eGRID coefficients for N2O and CH4 converted from
lb/GWh by dividing by 1,000. All 2009 coefficients are the “subregion annual total output emission rate.”
Natural Gas Coefficients
The default values in the CACP model were used; they are the same as those used in 2005.
Transportation
We used the default assumptions for San Diego County within CARB’s GHG emissions models,
EMFAC2007 and OFFROAD2007 (from 2007) and EMFAC2011 (from 2011).
Solid Waste
The default values in the CACP model were used; they are the same as those used in 2005.
INPUTS AND METHODOLOGY
This section describes the data used to calculate 2011 emissions and the manner in which the data
was acquired, transformed, and used. The 2005 emissions measurement process was organized
Page 4 of 10
around source sector; this structure was maintained for the 2011 effort. The table at the end of this
section compares the 2005 and 2011 inputs.
Residential / Commercial / Industrial (RCI)
The inputs for these three sectors are the same: inputs are electricity and natural gas consumed,
broken into bundled and direct access, and entered into CACP. All of the data is from SDG&E.
• Bundled electricity is produced for SDG&E and transmitted by SDG&E. The electricity
coefficients for SDG&E, based on the utility’s mix of power sources and technology,
determine the CO2e produced.
• Direct access electricity is produced elsewhere in the region but ultimately transmitted to
the consumer by SDG&E. Given the wide mix of possible producers, regional electricity
coefficients are applied to determine CO2e.
• Natural gas produces the same CO2e regardless of source.
Table 4 shows the 2011 RCI inputs compared to the 2005 inputs. There were some changes
between bundled and direct access service—see the data file for those details. Most energy
consumption increased between 1.4 and 2.5 percent per year. The exceptionally high industrial
natural gas consumption in 2005 appears to include use by the Encina Power Station, which was
removed from the final numbers of that inventory; the 2011 Inventory data does not include the
station.
Table 4: RCI Inputs
2005 2011 Change Avg Annual
Residential Electric (kWh) 249,286,797 275,033,189 10% 1.7%
Natural Gas (therms) 13,861,471 15,769,481 14% 2.2%
Commercial Electric (kWh) 379,244,330 411,249,580 8% 1.4%
Natural Gas (therms) 6,779,454 7,844,336 16% 2.5%
Industrial Electric (kWh) 114,639,521 116,341,521 1% 0.2%
Natural Gas (therms) 234,647,345* 1,536,470 - -
*Includes use by Encina Power Station
Table 5 summarizes the communitywide consumption of electricity and natural gas. Electricity
consumption grew at the rate of job creation and below the rate of population growth, but natural
gas consumption grew faster than the city.
Table 5: Communitywide Summary of Electricity and Gas Consumption
2005 2011 Change Avg Annual
Electric (kWh) 743,170,648 802,624,290 8% 1.3%
Natural Gas (therms)* 20,640,925 23,613,817 14% 2.3%
*Excludes industrial
Page 5 of 10
Transportation – Vehicles
The 2005 inventory used the EMFAC2007 model created by CARB due to its “regionally-
specific information on the mix of vehicle classes and model years, as well as ambient conditions
and travel speeds, that determine fuel efficiency.” As inputs, emissions from local roadway VMT
and freeway VMT were determined separately.
• Local roadway VMT was taken from the Caltrans HPMS (Highway Performance
Monitoring System), which provides a citywide daily VMT for all local roadways except
federal and state highways (i.e., I-5).
• Daily VMT for I-5 was acquired from SANDAG regional GIS files and clipped to the
city limits.
• EMFAC2007 apparently produced CO2 and CH4 outputs in short tons (2,000 pounds) for
each VMT, broken down by gasoline and diesel.
• CH4 was converted into CO2e by multiplying it by 21.
• Daily CO2e was multiplied by 365 days and converted to metric tons, which are 1,000
kilograms, but multiplying “short tons” by 0.9072.
• The State highway CO2e was also multiplied by 0.94 to convert weekday only data into
average 7-day data.
For the 2011 inventory update, SANDAG provided 2008 and 2011 VMT data for two scenarios:
the first which captures all VMT within the City of Carlsbad, the second excluding pass-through
trips, or trips neither originating nor ending within the City of Carlsbad. Examples of pass-
through trips are trips on the I-5 freeway and other major streets where drivers do not begin or
end within the City of Carlsbad. Table 6 shows a comparison of VMT from 2005 and 2011 both
including and excluding pass-through trips. In both 2005 and 2011, the VMT excluding pass-
through trips was less than one-half of the total VMT.
Table 6: Annual Vehicle Miles Travelled within City of Carlsbad Including and
Excluding Pass-Through Trips
2005* % of
Total
2011 % of
Total
VMT including pass-through trips 1,077,348,687 - 1,203,623,632 -
VMT excluding pass-through trips 505,241,237 47% 510,973,969 42%
*Estimated by linear interpolation of 2008 SANDAG data
The 2011 Inventory uses VMT excluding pass-through trips to capture transportation emissions
from trips originating or ending within the City of Carlsbad. Residents, commuters and the City
have a limited ability or are unable to influence pass-through trips, which contribute a substantial
amount to VMT totals. Therefore, pass-through trips were excluded from this inventory.
Table 7 compares the 2005 annual VMT to 2011 VMT. The VMT in Carlsbad grew at a slower
rate than population growth. The low rate of growth in VMT could have been caused by regional
economic slowdown.
Page 6 of 10
Table 7: Annual Vehicle Miles Travelled within City of Carlsbad Excluding Pass-
Through Trips
2005* 2011 Change Avg Annual
VMT 505,241,237 510,973,969 1% 0.2%
*Estimated by linear interpolation from 2008 SANDAG data
The inventory update uses CARB’s latest model, EMFAC2011, which is made up of three
modules, -SG, -LDV, and –HD. The SG module covers all vehicle types, while LDV calculates
light duty vehicles and HD calculates heavy duty vehicles.
• Carbon dioxide emissions were calculated using the SG module. The model was set to
San Diego County, CY 2011, Annual, using the citywide annual VMT for 2011. We used
the CO2 emissions output that assumes Pavley I and low carbon fuel standard (LCFS).
• Methane emissions are not calculated by the SG module, so the LDV module was used to
calculate CH4 from light duty vehicles, with emissions from heavy duty vehicles
calculated using a formula. We used the following process:
o The SG module automatically distributes overall VMT into different vehicle
types using a regionally-specific mix.
o These SG vehicle types were compared to the vehicle models in the LDV module
and manually categorized into light and heavy duty.
o The VMT for light duty vehicles was then entered into the LDV module, which
calculated CH4 for light duty vehicles.
o For heavy duty vehicles, we summed the Total TOG Emissions and multiplied by
0.0408 to get CH4. Calculation is from CARB:
http://www.arb.ca.gov/msei/emfac2011-faq.htm#emfac2011_web_db_qstn07
Transportation – Off Road
As with the 2005 inventory, CARB’s OFFROAD2007 model was used. It was run with the
settings: 2011 CY, Mon-Sun (all days), Annual, HC emissions as TOG, Area = San Diego
County; all equipment, fuel, and horsepowers.
The model generates emission outputs for 16 categories across San Diego County. The 2005
inventory used 4 categories that generate the most emissions: lawn and garden equipment,
construction equipment, industrial equipment, and light commercial equipment.
The CO2, N2O, and CH4 emissions are calculated in short tons per day for the county. These
emissions were then pro-rated by the city’s share of the county population, multiplied by 365
days, and converted to metric tons.
Solid Waste
For methane emissions from the one landfill in the city limits, the closed Palomar Airport
Landfill, we used the same data from 2005 – it is unlikely to have changed much, if at all.
Page 7 of 10
For emissions from solid waste disposed of in Carlsbad and taken to landfills elsewhere, 2011
data for Carlsbad was obtained from CalRecycle. The composition of waste was estimated from
the latest such survey, the 2008 CalRecycle Statewide Waste Characterization Study, which has
averages for the southern region of California. The amount of average daily cover, which is made
of plant debris, was also entered.
Wastewater
As in 2005, the EPIC estimate of GHG emissions from countywide wastewater treatment was
used and pro-rated to Carlsbad’s share of the county population. For unknown reasons,
countywide GHG emissions from wastewater treatment went up significantly from 2005 to 2011,
increasing by 32 percent. While this emissions increase was not caused by Carlsbad per se, the
community is considered responsible for it. That said, these emissions from wastewater make up
a very small proportion of Carlsbad’s overall GHG emissions.
OUTPUTS
The majority of emissions growth came from commercial and residential electricity and natural
gas consumption, although this was highly influenced by the large increase in emissions from
SDG&E electricity generation since 2005. Transportation emissions decreased by 5 percent,
though VMT rose by 1 percent, likely a sign that cleaner vehicles are making an impact.
Emissions from solid waste decreased along with the decline in the tonnage of waste disposed,
possibly due to the economic recession, while emissions from wastewater treatment went up
regionally but are a relatively small number. Table 8 summarizes the sources and amounts of
communitywide emissions.
Table 8: GHG Emissions 2005 vs. 2011 (metric tons CO2e)
Sector Subsector
2005
Emissions
2011
Emissions
%
Growth
Avg Annual
Rate
Residential Bundled Electricity 62,105 92,500
Bundled Natural Gas 74,137 83,698
Direct Access Electricity 185 81
Direct Access Natural
Gas - 126
Total Residential 136,427 176,405 29% 4.38%
Commercial Bundled Electricity 83,303 125,314
Bundled Natural Gas 35,843 37,731
Direct Access Electricity 15,049 11,701
Direct Access Natural
Gas 416 3,966
Total Commercial 134,611 178,712 33% 4.84%
Industrial Bundled Electricity 16,812 29,329
Bundled Natural Gas 3,013 -
Direct Access Electricity 15,605 8,765
Direct Access Natural - 8,154
Page 8 of 10
Gas
Total Industrial 35,430 46,248 31% 4.54%
Transportation On-Road Total 260,467 239,467 -8% -1.39%
Lawn and Garden
Equipment 2,099 2,449 17% 2.60%
Construction Equipment 19,861 23,830 20% 3.08%
Industrial Equipment 4,349 4,943 14% 2.16%
Light Commercial
Equipment 2,654 3,056 15% 2.38%
Off-Road Subtotal 28,963 34,279 18% 2.85%
Total Transportation 289,430 273,745 -5% -0.9%
Solid Waste
Community-generated
solid waste 27,417 21,719 -21% -3.81%
Landfill Waste-in-Place 2,598 2,598 0% 0.00%
Total Solid Waste 30,015 24,317 -19% -3.45%
Wastewater
Total Community-
generated Wastewater 4,397 6,317 44% 6.23%
GRAND TOTALS 630,310 705,744 12% 1.90%
The RCI numbers in the above table can be hard to compare, due to growth in energy
consumption being mixed with switches between bundled service and direct access. Table 9
summarizes emissions by power source and sector. From this table, it is clear that the relative and
absolute increase in emissions from electricity is a major contributor to the communitywide
growth in emissions.
Table 9: Emissions from Electricity and Natural Gas Summarized
Category 2005 CO2e 2011 CO2e % Growth AARG
Residential-Electric 62,290 92,581 49% 6.8%
Residential-NG 74,137 83,824 13% 2.1%
Commercial-Electric 98,352 137,015 39% 5.7%
Commercial-NG 36,259 41,697 15% 2.4%
Industrial-Electric 32,417 38,094 18% 2.7%
Industrial-NG 3,013 8,154 171% 18.0%
OVERALL RCI 306,468 401,365 31% 4.6%
Page 9 of 10
CONCLUSIONS
Overall the communitywide GHG emissions from Carlsbad increased by 12 percent between
2005 and 2011, equivalent to the rate of population and job household growth during that time.
As a result, the GHG emissions per service population held steady since 2005, as shown in Table
10.
Table 10: Emissions per Service Population
2005 2011 % Change
GHG Emissions (MTCO2e) 630,310 705,745 12.0%
Service Population 154,270 172,820 12.0%
Emissions per Service Population 4.09 4.08 -0.1%
Table 11 shows where the growth in emissions came from. The largest contributors to additional
emissions came from commercial electricity usage (37%), followed by residential electricity
usage (29%). All other emissions increased lower than the rate of population growth, with
emissions from residential natural gas consumption increasing by 9 percent, and all other sources
increasing by 5 percent, or decreasing, in the case of roadway emissions.
For electricity, this increase is largely fueled by the large increase (35%) in the CO2 generated by
SDG&E electricity since 2005. For example, residential electricity consumption increased by 10
percent but emissions from that source increased by 29 percent. Commercial electricity
consumption went up by 8 percent while related emissions increased by 37 percent—an even
higher increase as some commercial customers switched from cleaner direct access electricity to
“dirtier” sources.
Table 11: Sources of Growth in GHG Emissions (metric tons CO2e)
Source 2005 CO2e 2011 CO2e Growth % of Growth
Commercial-Electric 98,352 137,015 38,663 37%
Residential-Electric 62,290 92,581 30,291 29%
Residential-NG 74,137 83,824 9,688 9%
Roads 260,467 239,467 -21,000 -8%
Industrial-Electric 32,417 38,093 5,676 5%
Commercial-NG 36,259 41,697 5,438 5%
Off Road 28,963 34,279 5,315 5%
Industrial-NG 3,013 8,154 5,141 5%
Wastewater 4,397 6,317 1,920 2%
Solid Waste 30,015 24,317 -5,698 -5%
TOTALS 630,310 705,744 75,434
Table 12 shows the sources of emissions, ordered by volume of overall contribution. The largest
contributor continues to be transportation, but that has declined in proportion as emissions from
Page 10 of 10
energy consumption have grown faster. These sources—roadway VMT, off-road vehicles, and
private electricity and natural gas consumption—account for 96 percent of Carlsbad’s
communitywide GHG emissions.
Table 12: Greenhouse Gas Emissions Summary by Sector (metric tons CO2e)
Sector 2005 % of Total 2011 % of Total
Transportation 289,431 46% 273,745 39%
Commercial / Industrial 170,041 27% 224,960 32%
Residential 136,427 22% 176,405 25%
Solid Waste 30,015 5% 24,317 3%
Wastewater 4,397 1% 6,317 1%
TOTAL 630,310 705,744
MEMORANDUM
To: David de Cordova
From: Chris Ford
Re: Carlsbad Government Operations Greenhouse Gas Inventory Update – 2011
Date: June 18, 2013
This memo summarizes the approach taken to update the 2005 Greenhouse Gas (GHG)
Emissions Inventory from City of Carlsbad government operations with 2011 data and
compares the inputs and outputs. A separate memo covers community emissions, updated
with 2011 data. That memo is referenced in this one to minimize repetition of information.
The content of these memos will contribute to the summary of Carlsbad’s GHG emissions in
the forthcoming Climate Action Plan (CAP); the memos may be placed in an appendix to the
CAP.
Technical terms and acronyms that appear in this memo are listed in Table 1.
Table 1: Technical Terms and Acronyms
CACP Clean Air and Climate Protection software, a model developed by ICLEI to inventory and
forecast GHG emissions
CAP Climate Action Plan
CARB California Air Resources Board, the agency responsible for setting statewide GHG emission
reduction targets. CARB also maintains several GHG emission calculation models.
CO2e Carbon dioxide equivalents, a measure of GHGs that converts non-CO2 emissions to the
same impact as carbon dioxide
EPA US Environmental Protection Agency
FTE Full-Time Equivalent employees
GHG Greenhouse gases, mainly carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide (N2O), and
methane (CH4)
ICLEI An organization that provides standards and models for measuring and forecasting GHG
emissions
SDG&E San Diego Gas and Electric, the energy utility for Carlsbad
VMT Vehicle Miles Traveled, a measure of the annual amount of driving within an area, used to
calculate GHG emissions from vehicles
Page 2 of 10
ASSUMPTIONS
As with the 2005 inventory, ICLEI’s CACP1 model was used to estimate emissions from local government operations across all sectors. Unlike with community emissions, CACP was the
only model employed.
Three sectors analyzed— employee commute, stationary refrigerants, and solid waste—are “Scope 3” emissions. These emissions are not part of the government operations emissions inventory as they are indirectly caused by the City, but this memo reports on their impact.
Employees
Between 2005 and 2011, the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) employees at the City of
Carlsbad increased by 4.2 percent, growing from 793 to 826 FTE. This percent change is used
to estimate pro-rated increases in certain emissions since 2005.
Electricity Coefficients
Electricity coefficients measure how much GHG emission and air pollution is created by various sources of electricity generation. The government operations inventory uses the same electricity coefficients as the community inventory; see that other memo for a discussion on
the increase in GHG emissions per megawatt hour from SDG&E electricity since 2005.
Natural Gas Coefficients
The default values in the CACP model were used; they are the same as those used in 2005.
Transportation
Local government emissions from vehicles were estimated using the CACP model. For NO2 and CH4 emissions, CACP only includes emissions factors through model year 2005. The
CACP instructions include additional factors that can be manually entered for model years
2006-2008; we also got newer information from the latest US EPA Inventory of US GHG Emissions and Sinks report, the source used by ICLEI. This 2013 version of the EPA report2 includes newer emissions factors, although the applicable date is not specified; the factors for gasoline are similar to the 2008 factors, therefore they were applied for model years 2009 onwards. Table 2 shows the emissions factors we entered into CACP for gasoline vehicles
with model years of 2006 and later.
Table 2: Emissions Factors from Gasoline Fueled Vehicles, Model Years 2006 On
Fuel Vehicle Type Model Year NO2 factor CH4 factor
Gasoline Passenger car 2006 0.0057 0.0161
Gasoline Passenger car 2007 0.0041 0.0170
Gasoline Passenger car 2008 0.0038 0.0172
1 The 2011 update utilized the CACP 2009 Version 3.0 software.
2 We found the 2013 report, which includes newer factors in Annex 3 of the report, although the applicable
date is not specified. http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/usinventoryreport.html
Page 3 of 10
Table 2: Emissions Factors from Gasoline Fueled Vehicles, Model Years 2006 On
Fuel Vehicle Type Model Year NO2 factor CH4 factor
Gasoline Passenger car 2009+ 0.0036 0.0173
Gasoline Light trucks 2006 0.0089 0.0159
Gasoline Light trucks 2007 0.0079 0.0161
Gasoline Light trucks 2008 0.0066 0.0163
Gasoline Light trucks 2009+ 0.0066 0.0163
Gasoline Heavy trucks 2006 0.0175 0.0326
Gasoline Heavy trucks 2007 0.0173 0.0327
Gasoline Heavy trucks 2008 0.0171 0.0327
Gasoline Heavy trucks 2009+ 0.0134 0.0333
Sources: 2006-08 model years from ICLEI Local Government Operations Inventory Instructions, referencing
LGO Protocol table G.12: Based on U.S. EPA Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-
2008 (2010). 2009+ model years from EPA Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-
2011 (2013), Annex 3.
The 2013 EPA report’s emissions factors for diesel are the same as for model years 1996-2004,
so diesel vehicles were handled through the regular CACP calculation.
Solid Waste
The default values in the CACP model were used.
INPUTS AND METHODOLOGY
This section describes the data used to calculate 2011 emissions and the manner in which the
data was acquired, transformed, and used. The table at the end of this section compares the
2005 and 2011 inputs.
Buildings and Other Facilities
The inputs for this sector are electricity and natural gas. Data was entered by individual
facility with departmental information also entered. Since the 2005 inventory through 2011, a
number of new or expanded facilities have been added to the City’s operations: Fire Station
No. 6, Senior Center expansion, Recycled Water Facility, Aviara Community Park, Hidden
Canyon Park, Pine Avenue Park, The Crossings golf course, and the Hawthorne Equipment
Building. During the same period, the Library Learning Center replaced the Adult Learning
Center and Centro de Informacion. These additional facilities account for the majority of the
change in electricity and natural gas consumption.
Table 3 lists all of the buildings and facilities operated by the city, comparing electricity and
natural gas inputs between 2005 and 2011. Overall, the City’s facilities consumed 21 percent
more electricity and 10 percent more natural gas in 2011 compared to 2005.
Table 3: Building and Facilities Inputs
Page 4 of 10
2005 2011 % Change
Department Building Electricity
(kWh)
Natural gas
(therms)
Electricity
(kWh)
Natural gas
(therms)
Electricity
(kWh)
Natural gas
(therms)
City City Administration 1,099,520 1,430 1,203,726 1,738 9% 22%
City City Hall 294,080 8,552 233,680 5,313 -21% -38%
City Farmers Insurance
Bldgs
167,055 71 112,057 - -33% -100%
City Hawthorne
Equipment Bldg
N/A N/A 10,040 - N/A
City Total 1,560,655 10,053 1,559,503 7,051 0% -30%
Community
Development
Hiring Center 6,299 - 6,972 - 11%
Community
Development
Las Palmas 22,720 - 55,570 - 145%
Community Development Total 29,019 62,542 116% -
Fire Fire Station No. 1 85,720 900 63,600 1,358 -26% 51%
Fire Fire Station No. 2 29,847 676 32,643 1,069 9% 58%
Fire Fire Station No. 3 33,713 525 33,972 675 1% 29%
Fire Fire Station No. 4 31,434 544 28,867 1,062 -8% 95%
Fire Fire Station No. 5 108,560 2,231 98,720 2,061 -9% -8%
Fire Fire Station No. 6 N/A N/A 55,180 1,464 - N/A
Fire Total 289,274 4,876 312,982 7,689 8% 58%
Golf Course The Crossings 1,056,015 18,019 - -
Library Adult Learning
Center
9,078 - - - - -
Library Cole Library 454,560 3,835 430,160 2,119 -5% -45%
Library Cultural Arts
Department
17,506 381 14,444 321 -17% -16%
Library Dove Library 1,288,533 15,487 1,432,492 11,200 11% -28%
Library Library Learning
Center
32,960 766 192,000 421 483% -45%
Library Total 1,802,637 20,469 2,069,096 14,061 15% -31%
PD/Fire Safety Center 1,163,336 20,845 988,001 19,816 -15% -5%
Public Works City Yard 100,861 474 88,335 729 -12% 54%
Public Works CMWD M&O 197,920 754 189,440 86 -4% -89%
Public Works Fleet Yard 72,640 1,158 72,320 456 0% -61%
Public Works Parks Maintenance 29,474 117 39,694 149 35% 27%
Public Works Total 400,895 2,503 389,789 1,420 -3% -43%
Recreation Calavera Community
Center
70,318 - 54,970 - -22% -
Recreation Carrillo Ranch 58,320 - 58,080 - 0% -
Recreation Harding Community
Center
76,040 1,063 60,120 952 -21% -10%
Page 5 of 10
Table 3: Building and Facilities Inputs
2005 2011 % Change
Department Building Electricity
(kWh)
Natural gas
(therms)
Electricity
(kWh)
Natural gas
(therms)
Electricity
(kWh)
Natural gas
(therms)
Recreation Parks Total 773,551 2,122 914,888 3,006 18% 42%
Recreation Senior Center 224,100 6,319 308,318 3,349 38% -47%
Recreation Stagecoach
Community Center 215,360 1,602 195,920 1,424 -9% -11%
Recreation Swim Complex 202,520 31,116 247,240 34,266 22% 10%
Recreation Trails 7,115 - 65,929 - 827% -
Recreation Total 1,627,324 42,222 1,905,465 42,997 17% 2%
Housing and Neighborhood
Services
22,736 - 31,277 - 38% -
TOTALS 6,895,876 100,968 8,374,670 111,053 21% 10%
Public Lighting
This sector covers electricity consumed from three sources: traffic signals, streetlights, and
other outdoor lighting. As shown in Table 4, streetlights make up the great majority of
electricity consumption in this sector. Between 2005 and 2011, this sector consumed 4
percent less electricity, with the small increase in traffic signal and controller use more than
offset by the declines in streetlight and outdoor lighting consumption. During this period, the
city retrofitted its existing streetlights with more energy-efficient lamps.
Table 4: Public Lighting Inputs (kWh)
2005 % of Total 2011 % of Total % Change
Streetlights 4,652,801 86% 4,403,265 85% -5%
Traffic Signals/Controllers 750,417 14% 768,784 15% 2%
Outdoor Lighting 20,988 0% 17,740 0% -15%
TOTALS 5,424,206 5,189,789 -4%
Water and Wastewater Transport
This sector covers fuel consumed by pumps and other mechanisms used to convey water and
wastewater: water delivery pumps, sprinklers and irrigation, sewage pumps, and recycled
water pump stations. These systems all consumed electricity plus a small amount (170
gallons) of diesel fuel for water delivery generators.
Table 5 shows the electricity consumed by the City’s water and wastewater transport systems
in 2005 and 2011. During that time, electricity used by these systems increased by 29 percent.
Much of that change can be attributed to a major increase in electricity used by recycle pump
stations, as the city’s recycled water facility came online in late 2005. Sewage pumps also used
significantly more electricity (22% increase), as did sprinklers and irrigation (72% increase)
Page 6 of 10
although the amount was comparatively small. Water delivery pumps actually decreased in electricity consumption by 21 percent.
Table 5: Waste and Wastewater Transport Inputs (kWh)
2005 % of Total 2011 % of Total % Change
Recycle Pump Stations 418,980 23% 791,732 34% 89%
Sewage Pumps 1,038,941 57% 1,262,824 53% 22%
Water Delivery Pumps 360,237 20% 285,345 12% -21%
Sprinklers/Irrigation 13,151 1% 22,554 1% 72%
TOTALS 1,831,309 2,362,455 29%
Vehicle Fleet
The inputs for this sector are all the vehicles used by the City. The key data used are fuel
consumed and VMT, broken out by model year, vehicle type, and fuel type. CACP uses fuel
consumption to calculate CO2 emissions and VMT to calculate NO2 and CH4 emissions.
Although the vehicle fleet data from the City was broken down by department, the inputs
were loaded into CACP as a single set for the entire City due to the time consuming nature of
processing and entering this very detailed information.
Table 6 summarizes the inputs in 2005 and 2011 by vehicle and fuel type. There likely was
some different categorization in terms of vehicle types in 2005, especially between light and
heavy trucks, but overall fuel consumed and VMT by fuel type should be comparable. While
there was a notable increase in diesel consumption and VMT, this was more than offset by a
sharp decline in gasoline consumption and VMT.
Table 6: Vehicle Fleet Inputs
2005 2011 % Change
Fuel (gal) VMT Fuel (gal) VMT Fuel (gal) VMT
Diesel 54,589 284,526 62,407 407,826 14% 43%
Light Truck/SUV/Pickup 8,443 87,570 31,162 298,388
Heavy Truck 46,146 196,956 31,245 109,438
Gasoline 207,286 2,580,657 167,345 1,965,416 -18% -24%
Passenger Car 99,396 1,487,843 85,874 931,979
Motorcycle 2,374 N/A 1,787 74,024
Light Truck/SUV/Pickup 88,329 982,401 76,663 938,733
Heavy Truck 17,187 110,413 3,021 20,680
Hybrid - - 3,581 137,096
Passenger Car 2,478 108,136
Light Truck/SUV/Pickup 1,103 28,960
Page 7 of 10
For the analysis in CACP, motorcycle inputs were grouped under passenger cars and hybrid fuel consumption was included with gasoline. Hybrid VMT was assumed at one-third of listed mileage to account for the likely reality of most hybrid miles being under electric power
during low speed driving on local streets.
Mobile Refrigerants
Refrigerants come from stationary and mobile sources. Stationary sources are described under Scope 3 emissions.
Mobile source refrigerants come from estimated leakage from the vehicle fleet. The 2005 inventory undertook a very complex and thorough analysis based on attributes of each
vehicle in the fleet, using the make, model, year, and time in service to determine refrigerant
type and capacity and calculate estimated emissions. Ultimately, the GHG emissions from mobile refrigerants made up less than one percent of government operations emissions in 2005.
Given the small impact of these mobile refrigerants and the time already invested in the 2005 analysis, we used the 2005 output and pro-rated it for 2011 based on the relative sizes of the
vehicle fleet. The 2005 fleet had 264 vehicles compared to 291 vehicles in the 2011 fleet, a 10
percent increase. Therefore, we estimated a 10 percent increase in GHG emissions from mobile sources for 2011.
Scope 3 Emissions
These emissions are not part of the government operations inventory as they are indirectly caused by the City.
Employee Commute
The City conducted an employee commute survey in 2009 which was applied to the 2005 inventory. Given that only two years elapsed between the survey and the year of this GHG emissions inventory update, it was assumed that the mode split, fuel consumption, and VMT data from the survey were still applicable. As with the 2005 inventory, the results from usable survey responses were extrapolated to apply to all City FTE. Since the 2011 FTE is 4.2 percent
higher than the 2005 FTE, the fuel usage and VMT inputs for 2011 were 4.2 percent higher
than in 2005.
Stationary Refrigerants
Stationary sources come from equipment installed in facilities. The 2005 inventory identified refrigerants used to service equipment in five buildings: Las Palmas, Harding Community Center, City Administration, the Safety Center, and the Senior Center. The 2011 inventory
identified refrigerant use in four buildings: City Administration, City Hall, Dove Library, and
the Senior Center. Refrigerants use was less in 2011 than in 2005, by around half (117.50 kg compared to 234.51 kg).
Solid Waste
The City undertook a thorough evaluation of solid waste generated by City facilities in 2005. Given that solid waste generation is typically correlated to number of people, we pro-rated
Page 8 of 10
the amount of solid waste based on the increase in FTE between 2005 and 2011, which was 4.2 percent.
Sectors Not Considered
The City does not operate port, airport, wastewater, or solid waste facilities, provide transit
services, or generate electric power.
CONCLUSIONS
City operations in 2011 generated an estimated 8,205 metric tons CO2e in GHG emissions, compared to an estimated 6,556 metric tons CO2e in 2005, an increase of 25 percent, as shown in Table 7. City operations still accounted for a very small proportion of the GHG
emissions from Carlsbad in 2011, making up 0.8 percent of emissions, the same as in 2005.
Table 7: Government Operations Emissions – 2005 vs. 2011 (metric tons CO2e)
2005 2011 % Change
Total emissions 6,556 8,205 25.2%
Carlsbad - Service Population 154,270 172,820 12.0%
Community emissions 925,248 1,030,353 11.4%
Government operations as
proportion of community emissions 0.7% 0.8% 13.1%
The rate of growth in government emissions between 2005 and 2011 was higher than the
rates of increase in Carlsbad’s service population (12.0%) and communitywide GHG
emissions (11.4%). The main reasons for the increase in government operations emissions appear to be twofold:
• A sharp increase in electricity consumed by water and wastewater transport services, especially recycled water pumps; and
• More emissions from electricity per megawatt hour, an issue that also affected
communitywide emissions and further discussed in that memo.
Emissions by Sector
Emissions for government operations mainly came from buildings and facilities (42%) and
the vehicle fleet (27%), followed by public lighting (21%) and water and wastewater transportation (10%), as shown in Table 8.
Compared to 2005, the proportion of city government emissions from buildings and facilities
increased from 35 percent to 42 percent, increasing by 50 percent and making up more than
two-thirds of the growth in emissions. As explained above, this is largely due to the opening
of new buildings and recreation facilities since 2005.
Meanwhile, compared to 2005, the proportion of emissions from lighting and water/wastewater transport stayed largely the same, but the actual emissions from these sectors grew by 29 percent and 72 percent, respectively. Note that public lighting emissions
Page 9 of 10
increased by despite that sector consuming 4 percent less electricity in 2011 compared to 2005. This outcome is a result of the much greater amount of emissions produced per megawatt hour of electricity in 2011 compared to 2005.
Meanwhile, vehicle fleet emissions decreased by 9 percent during the same period, due to
major decreases in the miles driven and gallons of gasoline consumed.
Table 8: Emissions by Sector (metric tons CO2e)
Source 2005
% of
Total 2011
% of
Total
2005 to 2011
Increase
% Growth % of
Growth
Buildings and Facilities 2,266 35% 3,410 42% 1,144 50% 69%
Vehicle Fleet 2,474 38% 2,253 27% -221 -9% -13%
Public Lighting 1,354 21% 1,747 21% 393 29% 24%
Water and Wastewater
Transport 461 7% 795 10% 334 72% 20%
TOTALS 6,556 8,205 1,650 25%
Emissions by Source
Most of the government operations emissions in 2011 came from electricity consumption, accounting for 65 percent of emissions, an increase from 59 percent in 2005. GHG emissions
from electricity increased by 52 percent between 2005 and 2011, as shown in Table 9.
Electricity was the source of almost all of the increase in emissions—more than the total
increase, in fact, but offset by the decline in emissions from gasoline. Emissions from gasoline
dropped by 17 percent, which caused gasoline to decline from 31 to less than 19 percent of
government operation emissions between 2005 and 2011. Emissions from diesel grew by 13 percent and from natural gas and mobile refrigerants by 10 percent each, although all from
relatively small bases.
Table 9: Emissions by Source (metric tons CO2e)
Source 2005
% of
Total 2011
% of
Total
2005 to 2011
Increase % Growth
% of
Growth
Electricity 3,534 58.7% 5,362 65.4% 1,828 52% 111%
Gasoline 1,853 30.8% 1,538 18.7% -315 -17% -19%
Diesel / Propane 566 9.4% 641 7.8% 75 13% 5%
Natural Gas 537 8.9% 590 7.2% 53 10% 3%
Mobile Refrigerants 67 1.1% 74 0.9% 7 10% 0%
TOTALS 6,557 8,205 1,648 25%
Page 10 of 10
Sector 3 Emissions
Employee commute and solid waste emissions were estimated for 2011 based on pro-rating various indicators and loading them into the CACP model for calculation. See the
Assumptions section above for more details.
• Employee commute emissions were estimated at 2,567 metric tons CO2e in 2011, compared to 2,417 metric tons CO2e in 2005, an increase of 6.2 percent.
• Stationary refrigerant emissions were estimated at 173 metric tons CO2e in 2011, compared to 399 metric tons CO2e in 2005, a decrease of 57 percent.
• Solid waste emissions were estimated at 144 metric tons CO2e in 2005, the same as in 2011.
Appendix C
References
Anders, Scott and Bialek, Tom. 2006. Technical Potential for Rooftop Photovoltaics in the
San Diego Region. Available:
http://www.sandiego.edu/documents/epic/060309_ASESPVPotentialPaperFINAL_00
0.pdf. Accessed on: March 5, 2014.
California Air Resources Board (CARB). 2011. Emissions Factors On-Road Motor Vehicles
(EMFAC 2011). Available: http://www.arb.ca.gov/msei/categories.htm. Accessed on:
August 26, 2013.
California Energy Commission. 2009. Go Solar California: A Step by Step Tool Kit for Local
Governments to Go Solar. Available:
http://www.energy.ca.gov/2009publications/CEC-180-2009-005/CEC-180-2009-
005.PDF. Accessed on: March 5, 2014.
California Public Utilities Commission. 2010. California’s Long-Term Energy Efficiency
Strategic Plan. “Chapter 13: Lighting.” Available:
http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/NR/rdonlyres/6234FFE8-452F-45BC-A579-
A527D07D7456/0/Lighting.pdf. Accessed on: March 5, 2014.
Cambridge Systematics. 2009. “Moving Cooler: An Analysis of Transportation Strategies for
Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions.” Technical Appendices. Prepared for the
Urban Land Institute. Accessed on: March 5, 2014.
Carlsbad Municipal Water District. 2011. 2010 Urban Water Management Plan. Available:
http://www.carlsbadca.gov/services/departments/water/Documents/2010-
UWMP.pdf. Accessed on: March 5, 2014.
Center for Clean Air Policy. 2014. Transportation Emission Guidebook. Available:
http://www.ccap.org/safe/guidebook/guide_complete.html. Accessed on: March 5,
2014.
Center for Sustainable Energy California. 2014. Self-Generation Incentive Program
Handbook. Available: https://www.selfgenca.com/documents/handbook/2014.
Accessed on: March 5, 2014.
City of Carlsbad. 2014. Draft General Plan.
APPENDIX C: REFERENCES
2
City of San Diego. 2013. Draft Significance Thresholds for Greenhouse Gas Emissions.
Available:
http://www.sandiego.gov/planning/genplan/cap/pdf/ghg_significance_thresholds_03
2213.pdf. Accessed on: March 5, 2014.
Energy Star. 2014. “Light Bulbs.” Available:
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=find_a_product.showProductGrou
p&pgw_code=LB. Accessed on: March 5, 2014.
ICLEI. 2009. Clean Air and Climate Protection (CACP). Available:
http://www.icleiusa.org/tools/cacp-2009. Accessed on: August 26, 2013.
J. Loux, R. Winer-Skonovd, and E. Gellerman. 2012. “Evaluation of Combined Rainwater
and Greywater Systems for Multiple Development Types in Mediterranean Climates.”
Journal of Water Sustainability. 2(1): 55-77. Available:
http://www.jwsponline.com/uploadpic/Magazine/pp%2055-77%20JWS-A-12-
002%20New.pdf. Accessed on: March 5, 2014.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). 2014. “Trends in Atmospheric
Carbon Dioxide.” Available: http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/. Accessed
on: March 5, 2014.
SANDAG. 2012. Integrating Transportation Demand Management Into the Planning and
Development Process: a reference for cities. Available:
http://www.icommutesd.com/documents/tdmstudy_may2012_webversion_000.pdf.
Accessed on: March 5, 2014.
SANDAG. 2014. “Energy Roadmap for Local Governments.” Available:
http://www.sandag.org/index.asp?classid=17&projectid=373&fuseaction=projects.det
ail . Accessed: February 25, 2014.
U.S. Census Bureau. 2012. American Community Survey. Selected Economic Characteristics
for Carlsbad, California. Available: http://factfinder2.census.gov/. Accessed on:
March 5, 2014.
U.S. Energy Information Administration. 2013. “How much electricity is used for lighting in
the United States?” Available: http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=99&t=3.
Accessed on: March 5, 2014.
United States Census Bureau. 2011. “Census Bureau Releases 2010 Census Demographic
Profiles for Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Minnesota,
Montana, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Puerto Rico and Wisconsin.” Available:
http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/2010_census/cb11-cn137.html.
Accessed on: March 5, 2014.
United States Department of Energy. 2011. 2010 California Energy Use. Available:
http://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=CA/. Accessed on: March 5, 2014.
United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 2013. “Sources of Greenhouse Gas
Emissions.” Available:
DRAFT CARLSBAD CLIMATE ACTION PLAN
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http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/sources/transportation.html.
Accessed on: March 5, 2014.
V. Novotny. 2010. “Urban Water and Energy Use: From Current US Use to Cities of the
Future.” Cities of the Future/Urban River Restoration. Water Environment
Federation. 9: 118-140. Available: http://aquanovallc.com/wp-
content/uploads/2010/09/URBAN-WATER-AND-ENERGY-USE.pdf. Accessed on:
March 5, 2014.
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Appendix D
Applicable General
Plan Policies
Chapter 2: Land Use and Community Design
2-P.22 Build and operate commercial uses in such a way as to complement but not
conflict with adjoining residential areas. This shall be accomplished by:
a. Controlling lights, signage, and hours of operation to avoid adversely impacting surrounding uses. b. Requiring adequate landscaped buffers between commercial and residential
uses. c. Providing bicycle and pedestrian links between commercial centers and
surrounding residential uses, and providing bicycle-parking racks. d. Ensuring building mass does not adversely impact surrounding residences.
2-P.23 Ensure that commercial development is designed to include:
a. Integrated landscaping, parking, signs, and site and building design b. Common ingress and egress, safe and convenient access and internal
circulation, adequate off-street parking and loading facilities. Each commercial site should be easily accessible by pedestrians, bicyclists, and automobiles to nearby residential development. c. Architecture that emphasizes establishing community identity while
presenting tasteful, dignified and visually appealing designs compatible with their surroundings.
d. A variety of courtyards and pedestrian ways, bicycle facilities, landscaped parking lots, and the use of harmonious architecture in the construction of
buildings
2-P.43 Evaluate each discretionary application for development of property with regard
to the following specific criteria:
a. Site design and layout of the proposed buildings in terms of size, height and location, to foster harmony with landscape and adjacent development. b. Site design and landscaping to provide buffers and screening where
appropriate, conserve water, and reduce erosion and runoff. c. Building design that enhances neighborhood quality, and incorporates
considerations of visual quality from key vantage points, such as major transportation corridors and intersections, and scenic vistas.
APPENDIX D: APPLICABLE GENERAL PLAN POLICIES
2
d. Site and/or building design features that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the life of the project, as outlined in the Climate Action Plan.
e. Provision of public and/or private usable open space and/or pathways designated in the Open Space, Conservation, and Recreation Element.
f. Contributions to and extensions of existing systems of streets, foot or bicycle paths, trails, and the greenbelts provided for in the Mobility, and Open Space,
Conservation, and Recreation elements of the General Plan. g. Compliance with the performance standards of the Growth Management
Plan. h. Development proposals which are designed to provide safe, easy pedestrian
and bicycle linkages to nearby transportation corridors. i. Provision of housing affordable to lower and/or moderate-income
households. j. Policies and programs outlined in Local Coastal Program where applicable.
k. Consistency with applicable provisions of the Airport Land Use Compatibility Plan for McClellan-Palomar Airport.
2-P.44 Require new residential development to provide pedestrian and bicycle linkages,
when feasible, which connect with nearby shopping centers, community centers,
parks, schools, points of interest, major transportation corridors and the Carlsbad
Trail System.
2-P.45 At the time existing shopping centers are renovated or redeveloped, where
feasible, require connections to existing residential neighborhoods through new
pedestrian pathways and entrances, mid-block crossings, new or wider sidewalks,
and pedestrian-scaled street lighting.
2-P.46 Enhance walkability on a citywide scale by installing benches and transit shelters
and adding landscaping, wayfinding and pedestrian-scaled lighting. Consider
ways to improve rail and freeway overpass/ underpass areas, with lighting,
sidewalk improvements and art installations.
2-P.48 Improve beach access through a variety of mechanisms, including:
a. In the Village and adjacent areas, identify the primary pedestrian connections and entrances to the beach through signage, a consistent landscaping scheme,
change in paving materials, wider sidewalks and preservation of view corridors. Identify opportunities for additional access points as improved
connectivity and facilities are provided, particularly if new beachfront activity areas are established.
b. In the Barrio neighborhood, provide a pedestrian crossing under or over the rail corridor at Chestnut Avenue.
c. Identify and implement more frequent pedestrian crossings along Carlsbad Boulevard. Identify and prioritize crossings from residential neighborhoods
and existing bicycle and pedestrian trails.
For more detailed policies on pedestrian and bicycle movement, see Chapter 3: Mobility.
2-P.51 Plan and design Carlsbad Boulevard and adjacent public land (Carlsbad
Boulevard coastal corridor) according to the following guiding principles:
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3
a. Carlsbad Boulevard shall become more than a road. This transportation corridor shall provide for recreational, aesthetic and community gathering opportunities that equal the remarkable character of the land. b. Community safety shall be a high priority. Create destination that provides a safe public environment to recreate. c. Strategic public access and parking is a key to success. Development shall capitalize on opportunities to add/enhance multiple public access points and
public parking for the beach and related recreational amenities. d. Open views are desirable and important to maintaining the character of the
area. Preservation and enhancement of views of ocean, lagoons, and other water bodies and beaches shall be a high priority in road, landscaping, and amenity design and development. e. Enhance the area’s vitality through diversity of recreational land uses. Carlsbad Boulevard development shall provide for amenities, services and goods that attract a diversity of residents and visitors. f. Create vibrant and sustainable public spaces. Development shall provide for unique and vibrant coastal gathering spaces where people of all age groups and interests can gather to enjoy recreational and environmental amenities and supporting commercial uses.
g. Connect community, place and spirit. Design shall complement and enhance connectivity between existing community and regional land uses.
h. Environmentally sensitive design is a key objective. Environmentally sensitive development that respects existing coastal resources is of utmost importance. i. A signature scenic corridor shall be created through design that honors the coastline’s natural beauty. The resulting improvements will capture the ‘essence’ of Carlsbad; making it a special place for people from throughout the region with its natural beauty and vibrant public spaces. Properly carried out, the realigned boulevard will maximize public views and encourage everyone to slow down and enjoy the scenery. j. Reimagining of Carlsbad Boulevard shall be visionary. The reimagined Carlsbad Boulevard corridor will incorporate core community values
articulated in the Carlsbad Community Vision by providing: a) physical connectivity through multi-modal mobility improvements including
bikeways, pedestrian trails, and a traffic-calmed street; b) social connectivity through creation of memorable public spaces; and c) economic vitality through a combination of visitor and local-serving commercial, civic, and recreational uses and services.
2-P.68 Enhance the walkability and pedestrian orientation of the Village, including along Carlsbad Village Drive, to enhance the small, beach town atmosphere and improve access to and utilization of transit.
2-P.71 Address parking demand by finding additional areas to provide parking for the
Village and beach areas, and by developing creative parking management strategies, such as shared parking, maximum parking standards, “smart” metering, utilizing on-street parking for re-use of existing buildings, etc.
2-P.75 Create a cohesive, pedestrian-scale streetscape that includes improved sidewalks, streetscape, signage and way-finding, and which celebrates the Barrio’s heritage
and provides better connections between the Barrio and Village and across the
railroad at Chestnut Avenue.
APPENDIX D: APPLICABLE GENERAL PLAN POLICIES
4
2-P.79 West of the railroad tracks:
• Decommission, demolish, remove and remediate the Encina Power Station site, including the associated structures, the black start unit and exhaust stack
according to the provisions of a settlement agreement dated January 14, 2014, between and among the City of Carlsbad and the Carlsbad Municipal Water
District (CMWD), Cabrillo Power I LLC and Carlsbad Energy Center LLC, and San Diego Gas and Electric Company (SDG&E).
• The desalination plant shall remain on approximately 11 acres (six acres for the desalination plant and approximately five acres of non-exclusive
easements) west of the railroad tracks.
• Redevelop the Encina Power Station site, along with the SDG&E North Coast
Service Center site, with a mix of visitor-serving commercial uses, such as retail and hotel uses, and with new community-accessible open spaces along
Agua Hedionda Lagoon and the waterfront (Carlsbad Boulevard). Encourage community gathering spaces, outdoor dining, and other features to maximize
potential views of the ocean and the lagoon. Encourage shared parking arrangements so that a greater proportion of development can be active space
rather than parking.
• Determine specific uses, development standards, infrastructure, public
improvements, site planning and amenities through a comprehensive planning process (e.g., specific plan, master plan, etc.) resulting in a
redevelopment plan approved by the City Council. The redevelopment plan boundaries should include the Encina Power Station and the SDG&E North
Coast Service Center sites.
• Work with SDG&E to identify a mutually acceptable alternative location for
Its North Coast Service Center. Work with SDG&E, as part of a long-term plan, to identify and ultimately permit an alternate site for its Encina
substation.
2-P.85 Allow small pockets of higher density residential at the edges of the corridor, as
shown on the Land Use Map, to enable residents to live closer to jobs, with
opportunities for enhanced bicycle and pedestrian paths that link residential and
employment uses. Ensure that residential uses incorporate noise attenuation
criteria in accordance with the Airport Land Use Compatibility Plan.
Chapter 3: Mobility
3-P.6 Utilize transportation demand management strategies, non-automotive
enhancements (bicycle, pedestrian, transit, train, trails, and connectivity), and
traffic signal management techniques as long-term transportation solutions and
traffic mitigation measures to carry out the Carlsbad Community Vision.
3-P.11 Evaluate implementing a road diet to three lanes or fewer for existing four-lane
streets currently carrying or projected to carry 25,000 average daily traffic
volumes or less in order to promote biking, walking, safer street crossings, and
attractive streetscapes.
3-P.12 Design new streets, and explore funding opportunities for existing streets, to
minimize traffic volumes and/or speed, as appropriate, within residential
neighborhoods without compromising connectivity for emergency first
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5
responders, bicycles, and pedestrians consistent with the city’s Carlsbad Active
Transportation Strategies. This should be accomplished through management
and implementation of livable streets strategies and such programs like the
Carlsbad Residential Traffic Management Plan.
3-P.13 Consider innovative design and program solutions to improve the mobility,
efficiency, connectivity, and safety of the transportation system. Innovative design
solutions include, but are not limited to, traffic calming devices, roundabouts,
traffic circles, curb extensions, separated bicycle infrastructure, pedestrian
scramble intersections, high visibility pedestrian treatments and infrastructure,
and traffic signal coordination. Innovative program solutions include, but are not
limited to, webpages with travel demand and traffic signal management
information, car and bike share programs, active transportation campaigns, and
intergenerational programs around schools to enhance safe routes to schools.
Other innovative solutions include bicycle friendly business districts, electric and
solar power energy transportation systems, intelligent transportation systems,
semi- or full autonomous vehicles, trams, and shuttles.
3-P.15 Encourage Caltrans, SANDAG, NCTD, and adjacent cities to improve regional
connectivity and service consistent with regional planning efforts. This includes
expansion of Interstate-5 with two HOV lanes in each direction and associated
enhancements, a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) route along Palomar Airport Road,
shuttle bus services from COASTER stations, and other enhancements to
improve services in the area.
3-P.16 Engage Caltrans, the Public Utilities Commission, transit agencies, the Coastal
Commission, and railroad agency(s) regarding opportunities for improved
connections within the city, including:
• Improved connections across the railroad tracks at Chestnut Avenue and other locations
• Completion and enhancements to the Coastal Rail Trail and/or equivalent trail along the coastline
• Improved connectivity along Carlsbad Boulevard for pedestrians and
bicyclists, such as a trail
• Improved access to the beach and coastal recreational opportunities
• Improved crossings for pedestrians across and along Carlsbad Boulevard
3-P.17 Implement connections and improvements identified in this Mobility Element,
including those identified in policy 3-P.15, as well as:
• Extension of College Boulevard from Cannon Road to El Camino Real
• Completion of the Poinsettia Lane connection near El Camino Real (Reach E)
• Extension of Camino Junipero to the eastern city boundary
• A bicycle/pedestrian trail/pathway connecting the eastern terminus of Marron Road to the east
• A bicycle/pedestrian trail/pathway connecting the eastern terminus of Cannon Road to the east, and coordination with adjacent agencies to
appropriately link to their facilities
APPENDIX D: APPLICABLE GENERAL PLAN POLICIES
6
3-P.18 Support pedestrian and bicycle facilities at all Interstate-5 and State Route 78
interchanges.
3-P.20 Update the pedestrian, trails and bicycle master plans, as necessary, to reflect
changes in needs, opportunities and priorities.
3-P.21 Implement the projects recommended in the pedestrian, trails and bicycle master
plans through the city’s capital improvement program, private development
conditions and other appropriate mechanisms.
3-P.22 Identify and implement necessary pedestrian improvements on pedestrian-
prioritized streets with special emphasis on providing safer access to schools,
parks, community and recreation centers, shopping districts, and other
appropriate facilities.
3-P.23 Implement the Safe Routes to School and Safe Routes to Transit programs that
focus on pedestrian and bicycle safety improvements near local schools and
transit stations. Prioritize schools with access from arterial streets for receiving
Safe Routes to School projects.
3-P.24 Improve and enhance parking, connectivity, access, and utilization for
pedestrians and bicycles to COASTER stations, utility corridors, and open spaces
consistent with city planning documents.
3-P.25 Evaluate incorporating pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure within the city as
part of any planning or engineering study, private development, or capital project
where bicyclists or pedestrians are a prioritized or non-prioritized mode.
3-P.27 Engage the community in the policy setting and planning of street, bicycle,
pedestrian, transit, and connectivity studies, plans and programs.
3-P.28 Require developers to improve pedestrian and bicycle connectivity consistent
with the city’s bicycle and pedestrian master plans and trails master planning
efforts. In addition, new residential developments should demonstrate that a safe
route to school and transit is provided to nearby schools and transit stations
within a half mile walking distance.
3-P.29 Work with existing neighborhoods and businesses to improve pedestrian and
bicycle connectivity and safety consistent with the city’s pedestrian and bicycle
master plans and trails master planning efforts.
3-P.30 Actively pursue grant programs such as SANDAG’s Active Transportation Grant
Program and Smart Growth Incentive Program to improve non-automotive
connectivity throughout the city. The emphasis of grant-funded projects shall be
on implementation, which includes planning documents that guide and prioritize
implementation, programs that encourage the use of active transportation modes,
education for the use of active transportation modes, or physical improvements
themselves.
REVIEW DRAFT CARLSBAD CLIMATE ACTION PLAN
7
3-P.31 Partner with other agencies and/or developers to improve transit connectivity
within Carlsbad. As part of a comprehensive transportation demand management
(TDM) strategy and/or with transit oriented development (TOD), a shuttle
system could be established that connects destinations and employment centers
like LEGOLAND, hotels, the Village, McClellan-Palomar Airport, business parks,
the COASTER and Breeze transit stations, and key destinations along the coast.
The system could incorporate shuttle service in adjacent cities to maximize
connectivity.
3-P.32 Encourage NCTD, SANDAG and other transit providers to provide accessibility
for all modes of travel to the McClellan-Palomar Airport area.
3-P.34 Develop flexible parking requirements to provide the “right amount” of on-site
vehicle parking. Such requirements will include implementation of innovative
parking techniques, implementing effective TDM programs to reduce parking
demand, and consideration of other means to “right size” the parking supply.
3-P.35 Require new employment development to provide secure bicycle parking on-site.
Major employers should provide shower and changing rooms for employees as
appropriate.
3-P.36 Assist Village businesses to manage parking in the Village area to maximize
parking efficiency. Any potential parking-related revenues generated in this area
should be reinvested into the Village area for implementing livable streets and
other parking, pedestrian, and bicycle enhancements, including way-finding
signage and maintenance of associated infrastructure.
3-P.37 Consider supporting new development and existing businesses with various
incentives (such as parking standards modifications) for implementing TDM
programs that minimize the reliance on single-occupant automotive travel during
peak commute hours.
Chapter 4: Open Space, Conservation, and Recreation
4-P.39 Prepare a comprehensive Trails Master Plan update, that expands the existing and
planned 61-mile trail system, with the following objectives:
• Connectivity between off-road trails and major on-road pedestrian and bicycle routes, such that future improvements in the trail system also
contribute to linkages between important sites (beaches, lagoons, schools, commercial centers, master planned communities, and others)
• Design and designate trails as multi-use to be accessible for all user groups, including walkers, bicyclists, and equestrians (as land use policy allows). Ensure that the network provides an appropriate amount of resources for each trail type or user group
• Greenway and trail linkages from major recreational/open space areas to other land use areas or activities, including, but not limited to, residential neighborhoods, places of employment, parks, schools, libraries, and viewpoints
APPENDIX D: APPLICABLE GENERAL PLAN POLICIES
8
• Linkages/multi-use trails connecting businesses and residential neighborhoods to the beaches
DYETT & BHATIA
Urban and Regional Planners
755 Sansome Street, Suite 400
San Francisco, California 94111
415 956 4300 415 956 7315