Greenhouse Gas Emissions from City Operations and Facilities Data Dashboard

The City of Boulder follows The Climate Registry's Local Government Operations Protocol which provides detailed guidance on accounting for emissions associated with local government operations. Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions are defined as the following under protocol guidelines:

• Scope 1: Direct emissions from sources within organizational boundaries that the local government owns or controls, such as fuel combustion and company owned vehicles.
  
• Scope 2: Refers only to indirect emissions associated with the combustion of purchased or acquired electricity, steam, heating, or cooling.
  
• Scope 3: This category of emissions includes all other indirect emissions not covered in Scope 2, such as emissions resulting from the extraction and production of purchased materials and fuels, transport-related activities in vehicles not owned by the local government, outsourced activities, waste disposal, etc.

GHG emissions associated with City of Boulder operations and facilities are measured in tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MT CO2e). This unit helps measure how much the city organization is contributing to climate change through emissions.

Starting in 2025, the City realigned its municipal operations GHG targets to match community-wide GHG targets. This includes targets to: Reduce emissions 70% by 2030 against a 2018 baseline; become a net-zero city by 2035; and become a carbon-positive city by 2040.

The City of Boulder and the Boulder community are committed to mitigating climate change through reduction of GHG emissions. This page shows the municipal government’s progress toward emissions reduction goals. Another dashboard page, titled, Community Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions, shows the Boulder community’s progress toward emissions reduction goals.

In 2024, the City reduced total emissions from city operations and facilities by 5% from 2023 and was 21% below the 2018 baseline. Efforts to address emissions in the city portfolio include:

• Conducting a building stock analysis to determine long-term strategy for improving the city’s building portfolio.
• Setting individual building EUI targets.
• Moving staff out of inefficient buildings located in the flood zone into net-zero retrofitted buildings.
• Installation of solar on 18 city facilities and exploring options for additional solar onsite, including an ongoing bulk purchase program.
• Electrifying natural gas loads.
• Developing a strategy and course to reduce emissions from city vehicles and business travel through efforts including vehicle electrification, shared mobility, and other opportunities to reduce single-occupancy vehicle use.

This data is provided by the City of Boulder's Climate Initiatives Department. Please see our GHG inventory webpage for more information.