The city’s developed land use totals 8,662 acres—62% of the total area of the community. According to the US Census, this land supports 21,239 households with 2.21 people per household and 2.45 households per developed land use acre. The community-wide density, including all zoning districts is 3.2 residents per acre. Based on the population changes over the last decade, La Crosse may see a population increase of up to 2.6% by 2030. Studies have found that for every 1% increase in population-weighted urban density, household travel emissions reduce by 0.12% to 0.48%. Based on these, establishing zoning ordinances and incentives guiding future growth into options that increase the density of existing developed land will have positive impacts on decreasing total community-wide emissions per household.

The recommended actions in the CAP are:

1. Implement the La Crosse Energy Action Plan's community-wide EE strategies.
2. Modify City-funded housing programs to include energy efficiency improvements and renewable
   energy upgrades.
3. Contract with an organization to reduce the cost for low-income residents to receive professional home energy audits and recommendations for energy use reduction and monitoring. Develop a program to identify and implement measures that increase the durability, safety, and efficiency of their homes. Goal: 500 households annually, each achieving 15% energy reductions.
4. Promote existing commercial and industrial energy efficiency audit and upgrade programs. Develop energy efficiency programs for businesses that don’t own their own building. Use the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce’s Energy Smart program as a model. Goal: 15% of commercial/industrial buildings by 2030 achieving a 20% efficiency increase per location.
5. Revive/expand Mayor's Home Energy Challenge to increase weatherization projects.
6. Develop an energy benchmark reporting program for large commercial and multifamily residential buildings using Energy Star Portfolio Manager; automate Water Utility and Recycling and Refuse billing for easy uploading to Portfolio Manager.
7. Communicate available energy efficiency incentives to residents, focusing on low-income and minority residents.
8. Inform businesses of financing opportunities for energy efficiency improvements, focusing on women- and minority-owned businesses. Information campaigns may include Focus on Energy programs, energy efficiency performance contracting, Property-Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing; Clean Energy Credit Unions; and Federal, State, County, Utility, and City incentive programs.
9. Create loans to homeowners to finance energy and water efficiency retrofits to expand the availability of funding beyond the City's Housing Rehab Loan Program.
10. Develop and adopt a rental housing energy efficiency policy by 2027 requiring multi-family housing to report energy efficiency to qualify for rental licensing. Program to include an energy efficiency rating system (ENERGY STAR or HERS).
11. Expand the City's on-line "Energy Resources" to include tools and resources to support residents and businesses in identifying energy efficiency opportunities. Resources should include the DOE Home Energy Saver, EPA Home Energy Yardstick, ENERGY STAR Home Advisor, and the City's Net Zero Energy Guide.
12. Adopt a performance ratings/labeling program for all homes listed for sale so that prospective buyers can make informed decisions about energy costs and carbon emissions. Rating program to require Energy Audit/Energy Efficiency Program participation.
13. Create an on-line "one-stop shop" for building and development energy efficiency and renewable energy information and resources as an expansion to the City's existing "Energy Resources" website content. Resource should include the City's anticipated Net Zero Energy Guide and checklist, Solar Ready Guide as well as content connecting residents and businesses with resources for energy efficient products, costs, rebates, incentives, contractors, etc.
14. Capture and use waste heat from industrial/commercial processes.
15. Identify and engage in opportunities to assist with accessing funding, feasibility assessments, information/educational content or other technical resources for businesses and organizations to support and promote micro-grid, and district heating and cooling projects, especially where 'waste' energy or geothermal can be utilized.

High-performance buildings are those which deliver a higher level of energy-efficiency performance—typically 30% better than buildings designed to meet code—while Net Zero buildings are high-performance buildings which also generate as much energy on-site as they consume. Based on the City’s recent new building permit history (shown to the right), as much as 6% of the community’s housing stock and 10-20% of the community’s commercial building stock may be renovated or replaced over a 10 year timeframe. This means that a significant portion of the community’s building infrastructure could be positively influenced through climate action strategies that guide increased adoption of cost effective high-performance and Net Zero energy building practices.

The recommended actions in the CAP are:

1. Require City-financed projects and projects receiving planned unit zoning, conditional use permitting, or other zoning action to be built to meet or exceed an energy efficiency standard, like Sustainable Buildings 2030 (SB2030), LEED Gold, Enterprise Green Communities, the National Green Building Standard ICC/ASHRAE 700, or an equivalent certification.
2. Launch a platform to share best practices, providing training, and promote the City’s Net Zero Energy Guide and Checklist and Solar-Ready Guide, holding regular workshops with building owners, designers, and contractors on green building best practices.
3. Identify and secure support required to build homes under the City Replacement Housing Program to a Net Zero or Net Zero Ready standard. Promote projects as an example for community. Encourage Habitat for Humanity and other housing entities to meet the same standard.
4. Develop competitive Request for Proposals (RFP) for effective and innovative Net Zero pilot projects. Focus on "Net zero building in every neighborhood" to establish visibility of strategies within the community. RFPs should encourage redevelopment on infill properties and existing surface parking lots along development corridors. RFP's should focus on equity, affordability, livability, and compliance/support of Climate Action Plan goals.
5. Assemble a database drawing from successful energy efficiency and renewable energy projects completed by the City and other institutions and businesses in the community. Establish a communication and education program to share lessons learned through these case studies to support broader scale adoption.

Within La Crosse, approximately 62% of residential heating is provided by natural gas, 29.2% by electricity, 4.2% by propane gas, 2.1% by fuel oil and 1.2% by wood.2 Approximately 0.5%, or 137 households, have no heat of any type in their home. As La Crosse’s electric grid nears carbon neutrality, building heating fuel will become an increasingly important target for emission reductions. Reduction, and ultimately the elimination of all fossil fuel heating (oil, propane, natural gas) will be required to achieve community-wide carbon reductions.

The recommended actions in the CAP are:

1. Coordinate an annual group purchase program to help reduce the costs of energy-efficient heating systems such as heat pumps. Goal: 80 households annually.
2. Educate contractors, installers, and homeowners about benefits of electrification and other on-site fossil fuel combustion reduction strategies, currently available technology such as heat pumps, and manufacturer resources for installation training and support. Collaborate with Focus on Energy to establish electrification resources website and workshops.
3. Share and promote Focus on Energy's electrification resources and information with public.
4. Promote incentives for low-income residents to electrify their homes. Goal: Target 10% residential market conversion (250 households annually) and 5% commercial/industrial market conversion (an estimated 25 commercial businesses, 10 industrial businesses annually) by 2030.
5. Create heat pump grant to incentivize fuel switching. Incentive could be coordinated or combined with energy efficiency / weatherization incentives.
6. Collaborate with other municipalities to actively lobby and advocate for the elimination of the State's preemption of local natural gas bans.

The GHG emissions associated with grid-provided electricity use is anticipated to continue to reduce over the years. Including a focus on consumer driven renewable energy purchases, however, is still a critical need to meet our GHG reduction goals. For residents and businesses that are unable to install on-site solar, purchase of renewable energy through Xcel Energy provides those property owners an opportunity to achieve Net Zero electricity use while supporting an important mechanism in cleaning the State’s electric grid. Meanwhile, for owners of properties well suited for solar, increasing utilization of on-site renewable energy has multiple benefits for a community beyond GHG emissions reductions. Community benefits of increased on-site renewable energy include energy cost savings and increased energy resilience potential. As of 2020 there were 900 households and 13 businesses purchasing renewable energy through Xcel.

 The recommended actions in the CAP are: 

1. Implement the Energy Action Plan’s Energy Efficiency Strategies.
2. Organize annual Residential Solar Group Purchase program for La Crosse, supported by a program administrator such as MREA or others experienced in solar group purchase programs. Goal: 70 participants and 750 KW installed Annually.
3. Identify the top privately owned Solar PV sites within the City (including rooftop, ground mounted, and "carport" site potential). Effort should include the development of a Solar PV Site Assessment for identified with estimated installation costs, and projections for energy generation and economic payback over a minimum 20 year period. Assessments, along with a summary highlighting the economic potential should be provided to property owners. This strategy could be coordinated with the Commercial property and Industrial property Solarize program. "Solar Top 50" assessment effort could be repeated annually, particularly through 2025.
4. Organize an annual Commercial property and Industrial property group purchase program. Coordinate program with City's "Solar Top 50" effort. Goal: 30 participants with 3,000 KW installed annually.
5. Promote green power purchase options such as those provided by Xcel Energy's "Renewable Connect". Collaborate on promotion and education of available options. Goal: 220 additional households and 50 additional businesses signed on annually.
6. Support the development of community solar projects that benefit all residents, particularly communities of color and low-income populations. Advocate for passage of bill SB 490.
7. Develop and expand financing tools such as Greenbank and commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy that are broadly accessible.
8. Collaborate with La Crosse county to remove financial barriers to renewable energy projects and energy efficiency and educate property owners about the impact that renewable energy and energy efficiency projects would have on their property tax.
9. Share solar ready best practices, providing training, and promote the City’s Solar-Ready Guide and Net Zero Energy Guide and Checklist, holding regular workshops with building owners, designers, and contractors on renewable energy building best practices.
10. Require on-site renewable energy for all projects receiving TIF financing. Explore establishment of a Renewable Energy TIF District specifically identifying TIF financing potential for properties receiving redevelopment which include on-site renewable energy.
11. Collaborate with other municipalities to actively lobby and advocate for improved State policies to expand solar including:
    - WI community solar legislation - SB490 currently tabled, back in fall
    - enable 3rd party power purchase agreements (PPA) and Solar Leases in WI
    - improved net metering policy requiring retail rate compensation for solar arrays up to 100KW, applicable to all electric utilities.
    - establish Community Choice Aggregation enabling legislation
    - establish a renewable energy portfolio carve-out requirement
    - improved interconnection standards
    - establish shared renewable energy enabling legislation like virtual net metering
12. Address time-of-use issues associated with renewable energy generation by increasing storage capacity. Support local energy storage projects to improve local grid resilience and help ensure power is available when it is  needed. Help property owners address hurdles to implementation of energy storage infrastructure including collaboration to develop incentive programs and permit streamlining if determined to be a significant constraint. Explore partnerships with US Department of Energy, NREL, LNBL, SolSmart, and other resources.

Currently, climate-related decisions in building design are frequently based on historic climate data and past trends assuming the climate will remain relatively stable in the future. Climate resilience is the ability to anticipate, prepare for, and respond to hazardous events, trends, or disturbances related to climate. Projected climate impacts represent a number of resilience challenges for our building stock, including potential increases in power disruptions due to increased extreme weather events, increased stormwater management needs and flash flooding potential due to increased heavy precipitation, and increased demand for insulation as well as passive and active cooling systems due to extreme heat impacts. Incorporating resilient building design and infrastructure within La Crosse will greatly enhance the community's ability resilience, particularly among the community’s vulnerable population.

The recommended actions in the CAP are:

1. Map critical community infrastructure and operations and identify opportunities to upgrade energy systems that would enable these sites to sustain operations during periods of power grid disruption, prioritizing solar systems.
2. Create "safe haven" sites to act as hubs that provide community access to basic services during periods of power system failure, Provide solar-plus storage energy generation at safe haven sites to power through renewable energy.
3. Collaborate with other municipalities to actively lobby and advocate for State to update building and energy codes (e.g., insulation, permeable surfaces, energy efficiency, renewable energy integration, water recycling) to better address current and future environmental conditions including extreme heat and flooding. Advocate for updated energy efficiency policy modeled after MN Energy and Conservation Act update to IECC 2021 or 90.1-2019 for minimum energy codes.
4. Incentivize adoption of building improvements and strategies that better address current and future environmental conditions including extreme heat and flooding.
5. Use green infrastructure and other nature-based approaches (e.g. floodplain restoration) to reduce the vulnerability of buildings to flooding, with particular focus on critical facilities (e.g., hospitals, schools, police/fire stations, etc.)

City of La Crosse municipal facilities consumed 19.7 million kWh and 578 thousand therms of natural gas in 2020. Cost effective energy efficiency upgrades will provide both GHG reduction as well as annual operating cost savings benefit. A 15% reduction by 2030 will result in a reduction of over 1,200 MT (metric tons) in GHG emissions and an estimated $250,000 in operating expenses annually.

The recommended actions in the CAP are:

1. Implement Energy Action Plan's municipal EE strategies.
2. Require all new and existing municipal buildings to be built to meet or exceed an energy efficiency standard, like  Sustainable Buildings 2030 (SB2030), LEED Gold, Enterprise Green Communities, the National Green Building Standard ICC/ASHRAE 700, or an equivalent certification.
3. Require new and existing municipal buildings without solar PV installations in place or planned to install cool roof or green roofing. Policy to require all new municipal construction projects to meet Solar Ready standards and use City's Net Zero Energy Guide and Solar-Ready Guide.
4. Complete conversion of all Streetlights to LED by 2027. Maximize appropriate use of motion-detection street or path lighting. Establish a policy requiring energy benchmarking and reporting of all municipal buildings and sites by 2025.
5. Conduct a City Facilities Energy Audit on all buildings and sites (including outdoor lighting con-version to Dark Sky approved LED lighting). Use results from City Facilities Energy Audit to prioritize City Facilities Capital Improvement Plans (CIPS) and maintenance improvements to achieve energy efficiency goals. Establish a timeline for improvements with implementation occurring within 5 years of completion of energy audits.
6. Require all new private construction or major renovation projects over 30,000 square feet to use the City's Net Zero Energy Guide and Checklist to explore opportunities to advance towards Net Zero Energy as a part of the City's building permitting process (note, requirement is to use the guide and checklist illustrating evaluation of options, implementation of specific options to be voluntary). Invite County, School District, and other public agencies located within the City to participate in City's energy efficiency policy effort.

On-site natural gas combustion represents over 18% of all City of La Crosse municipal operations GHG emissions annually. Reduction, and ultimately the elimination of all fossil fuel heating (oil, propane, natural gas) will be required to achieve community-wide carbon reductions. Initiating a fuel switching program for City facilities is an important priority to achieve significant City operations emissions reductions.

The recommended actions in the CAP are:

1. Identify and assess City facilities to prioritize for electrification and schedule improvements in collaboration with the utility provider.
2. Require all new municipal buildings to be 100% electric (or zero onsite fossil fuel combustion) by 2030.

Through a comprehensive energy savings bundle known as a ”performance contract” the City currently has 526 KW of installed arrays on the public library, municipal service center, city hall and La Crosse Center. Identifying additional solar installation potential can increase the City's renewable energy portfolio. On-site renewable installations may also provide the City an opportunity to explore the development of micro-grid, energy storage, and other strategies to increase the energy resilience of City facilities.

The recommended actions in the CAP are:

1. Implement Energy Action Plan's municipal RE strategies.
2. Conduct a City Facility Solar Feasibility and Renewable Energy Master Plan study to explore the feasibility of on-site solar for all city facilities. Study should explore a range of ownership options including purchase and third party ownership (such as Power Purchase Agreements) and should include exploration of micro-grid and solar+storage options for improved facility resilience. Study should also identify strategies such as community solar subscriptions combined with Renewable Energy Credit purchases, to achieve renewable energy at sites determined to be inappropriate for on-site solar to achieve 100% renewable energy by 2030.