Pebble Beach Company Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Reduction Plan

When the Pebble Beach Company in Monterey County, California, embarked on an affordable housing project, the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) found that the project would produce significant greenhouse gas emissions. The report identified mitigation—which included a combination of revising project design features, replanting, and/or offset purchases—for reducing the impact to a less-than-significant level.

Harris & Associates was selected to prepare a Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan. Harris’ air quality/GHG specialist identified specific design measures and conducted the GHG emissions modeling and quantitative analysis necessary to determine if the design and planting measures reduced annual emissions to below the threshold, or if purchasing carbon offsets would be required.

Core Elements

The project included 24 affordable housing units on 2.7 acres, along with preservation of Monterey Pine Forest on 10.5 acres.

Harris coordinated with Pebble Beach Company staff regarding project design features and prepared a draft and final Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan to comply with FEIR requirements, which called for a reduction of annual GHG emissions by 24%.

Beyond the Blueprints

Harris was able to take a mitigation measure and transform it from concept to action plan. Doing so required reconciling the project as modeled in the FEIR with additional available project details and updated data and modeling.