Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation
At a Glance
Industry
Real Estate
Project Types
Clean and Renewable Energy, Data Analysis, Engagement and Behavior Change, Sustainability and Energy Management Strategy
Year
2019
Location
San Francisco, CA
Summary
Carlyn Petrella helped the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation conduct a greenhouse gas inventory and develop a carbon goal for their real estate portfolio.
Goals
The Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation (TNDC) is a non-profit organization that develops, owns, and operates a portfolio of 42 multi-family, affordable housing buildings across San Francisco. TNDC understands the exponential impact climate change has on the most vulnerable citizens and strives to be a climate steward in the affordable housing sector. TNDC enlisted EDF Climate Corps fellow Carlyn Petrella to conduct a greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory and develop a carbon reduction goal. TNDC endeavors to gain an understanding of their operation’s climate impact and use that knowledge to strategically reduce their emissions, while fulfilling their commitment to building equitable, healthy, and sustainable communities.
Solutions
Petrella worked with TNDC’s Senior Sustainability Manager to collect data and set up new systems for its GHG inventory. TNDC utilized a 2018 baseline for the portfolio’s Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions and plan was created to complete a Scope 3 inventory in the next phase of data collection. Once the 2018 baseline was validated, TNDC set a target of 50% reduction in their GHG emissions per square foot of building space by 2038. As a first step in the carbon reduction plan, TNDC entered in to a clean-power agreement with the CleanPower San Francisco (SF) program to procure 100% renewable electricity. This will result in an estimated 20% reduction in emissions across the portfolio. As with many multi-family housing buildings, a significant portion of TNDC’s emissions originate from the use of natural gas for space and domestic water heating. Phase 2 of the GHG reduction plan includes decreasing natural gas use by electrification upgrades and installing solar thermal and PV systems when possible.
Potential Impact
For TNDC to meet its proposed 2038 goals, the Clean Power SF power-switching agreement will reduce TNDC’s overall emissions by 19% annually, avoiding 26,000 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions—the equivalent of 30,000 miles driven by an average passenger vehicle. Moving forward the long-term Clean Power SF agreement will provide 100% renewable energy ensuring TNDC’s electrification efforts have access to cleaner, renewable sources of energy.