*Please see addendum 1 added to this RFP 3.31.2023*

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The City of Dubuque is soliciting proposals from qualified Contractors to create a science-based community-wide greenhouse gas inventory for the years 2019-2022 using the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives' (ICLEI) Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventories (GPC) and review the City of Dubuque’s community-wide greenhouse gas inventory from 2018.

2.0 COMMUNITY BACKGROUND

The City of Dubuque is located on the Mississippi River in northeastern Iowa, adjacent to Illinois and Wisconsin. The City is approximately 30 square miles in area, with a population of approximately 60,000 people. The City's annual operating and capital budget is over $185 million and funds a full range of services. The City’s website is www.cityofdubuque.org.

In 2013, the City Council adopted the 50% by 2030 Community Climate Action & Resiliency Plan which was updated in July of 2020. The first greenhouse gas inventory conducted in 2011, used the baseline year of 2003. The Climate Action Plan is scheduled for a community-wide greenhouse gas inventory review as the last greenhouse gas inventory was completed in 2018. As stated in the Climate Action Plan, the goal for the City of Dubuque is to reduce community-wide greenhouse gas emissions 50% below 2003 levels by 2030. This is compatible with the Paris Agreement and exceeds the fair share threshold of required reductions to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius.

The greenhouse gas emission reduction goals guiding the Climate Action Plan are to be the first Net Carbon Neutral community in Iowa and to reduce community-wide greenhouse gas emissions 50% over 2003 baseline by 2030.?

Compared to the 2018 citywide greenhouse gas inventory, the total estimated emissions reductions included in the initial implementation actions of this plan are projected to total 221,451 metric tons annually. These estimated reductions projected to result in total citywide greenhouse gas emissions of 563,605 metric tons. The potential cumulative greenhouse gas emissions reductions over the 10 years implementation period are estimated at over 1,160,000 metric tons – an elimination of over 22.7 billion cubic feet of man-made greenhouse gas atmosphere annually.

3.0 PROJECT PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES

The City of Dubuque is seeking an outside Contractor to develop a community-wide greenhouse gas emissions inventory for 2019-2022 to analyze Dubuque’s greenhouse gas emission sources, trends, and potential policy implications. Additionally, Contractor shall review the City of Dubuque’s 2018 Community-wide Greenhouse Gas Inventory to identify gaps and potential for improvements. The purpose of this Request for Proposal is seeking professional Contractors experienced in community-wide greenhouse gas monitoring, air quality monitoring and data collection, data review and development, and other greenhouse gas issues to conduct a Community-wide Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory for the City of Dubuque. Contractor shall, in a timely and responsive manner, provide a comprehensive scope of work to determine the City of Dubuque’s current community-wide greenhouse gas emissions as compared to baseline inventory. While the information in this section of the Request for Proposal is being provided to assist potential bidders, bidders are requested to propose their approach to meeting the project objectives, including their recommendations with respect to appropriate user research, design, development tasks and milestones, the schedule, budget, and possibly modified or additional tasks, given the project objectives. The City of Dubuque reserves the right to alter the Scope and Deliverables based on discussions with the Contractor.

With the support of City staff in data collection, the Contractor shall complete a one-time community-wide greenhouse gas inventory for the City of Dubuque, based on the World Resource Institute, C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and ICLEI’s Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventories (GPC). Using this protocol, the Contractor shall make recommendations regarding the boundaries set for the study (the City of Dubuque limits/boundary used in past inventories), the greenhouse gases that will be covered and the sectors to be assessed based on the ICLEI’s protocol and cost considerations. Following those recommendations, Contractor will provide City with a detailed methodology designed to be repeatable, that will provide detailed information on our 2019-2022 emissions, broken out, where possible, by business use and citizen use, as well as totaled needed for completion of the Community-wide Greenhouse Gas Inventory. Data sources must be identified as clearly as possible. The final footprint should be calculated using ICLEI’s ClearPath tool. Additionally, raw data will be documented in a Microsoft Excel and other tools at the discretion of Contractor.

4.0 SCOPE OF SERVICES

The purpose of this Request for Proposal (RFP) is to seek proposals for conducting a comprehensive Community-wide Greenhouse Gas Inventory for the City of Dubuque. The analysis must include Scopes 1 and 2 as defined by the World Resource Institute, C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and ICLEI’s Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventories (GPC). In addition, Scope 3 records must incorporate transportation and aim for BASIC+ reporting level, as per the Greenhouse Gas Protocol’s Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories.

The inventory must comply with the methodology and reporting template prescribed by the Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GPC). Please refer to the GPC reference document available online for definitions, requirements, and technical details. Data must include activity data and emission factors for all sources of emissions which must be documented appropriately and linked correctly.

Request for Proposal Contractors should develop a proposal that addresses the requirements of the Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emissions' BASIC and BASIC PLUS (+) levels of greenhouse gas emissions accounting. Request for Proposal responses should provide separate cost and staffing proposals for meeting the Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emissions' BASIC and BASIC PLUS (+) inventory requirements:

• GPS BASIC: The BASIC level greenhouse gas emissions inventory includes: Scope 1 emissions from stationary energy sources, transportation sources, and in-boundary generated waste; Scope 2 emissions from stationary energy sources and transportation; and Scope 3 emissions for treatment of exported waste

• GPC BASIC PLUS (+): The BASIC PLUS (+) level greenhouse gas emissions inventory includes: Greenhouse gas emissions for all BASIC sources; Scope 1 emissions from industrial processes and product use and agriculture, forestry, and other land use; and Scope 3 emissions from stationary energy sources (transmission and distribution losses) and transportation.

Key Contractor tasks for this project include:

1. Define Methodology & Develop Project Workplan

2. Review Previous City of Dubuque Greenhouse Gas Inventory and Relevant Local, National, and Global Comparisons

3. Identify Data Requirements and Develop Data Requests

4. Collect Data Inputs for 2019-2022 Inventory and Trend Analysis

5. Calculate and Analyze Community-wide 2019-2022 Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Multi-Year Trends, Forecasts & Outlooks and Relevant Comparisons

6. Ensure Data Quality and Control

7. Prepare and Present Final Report and Other Deliverables – The proposal must include the necessary tools and process to facilitate future greenhouse gas inventories.

Please see the attached document for additional information.