Experience
We are in the business of making communities more resilient because we are passionate about the environment and our future. Our work reflects that passion.
Sustento Group was founded to accelerate decarbonization of the built environment by bridging environmental policy with commercial real estate objectives.
For over a decade we’ve been on the front lines, working with a diverse set of clients — from federal, state, and local governments, to global banks and asset managers, utilities, advocates, national labs, and affordable housing developers — identifying barriers, and developing solutions to move the market at scale.
leading Los Angeles Better Buildings Challenge to #1 Energy Star City and the Largest Better Buildings Commitment in the Nation
Los Angeles Better Buildings Challenge
Industry
Utility & Government
Organization
LA Department of Water and Power, SoCalGas, US DOE, City of Los Angeles
Services
Program Management and Community Engagement
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Strategy
Back in 2011 the City of LA already had ambitious climate goals, with multiple related initiatives underway; but there was no mechanism to measure progress, tell the story, or engage the market in a meaningful sustained way. At the invitation of the US Department of Energy, Sustento Group founder, Dave Hodgins, worked with the Mayor’s Office and various city departments to re-package the city’s energy efficiency initiatives into what would become the LA Better Buildings Challenge, as part of the DOE’s then-new Better Buildings Initiative.
Challenge
Drawing on relationships and experience developed during his time with the Clinton Climate Initiative, Dave designed the Los Angeles Better Buildings Challenge to catalyze and accelerate the local energy efficiency market through a multi-pronged approach that balanced recognition with education, competition, and hands-on project development.
Results
The LABBC is the 1# Better Buildings Commitment in the US, and one of the most significant green buildings leadership initiatives in the world. It is the official sustainability leadership initiative in Los Angeles, with over 100M square feet of buildings committed towards the science-based targets of the Sustainability City pLAn and the Paris Climate Accord.
Improved Compliance by Developing a Scalable and Streamlined customer experience
LA Energy and Water Resource Center
Industry
Government
Organization
City of Los Angeles, Institute for Market Transformation, Energy Foundation
Services
Policy Development and Implementation
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Challenge
The City of LA did not have internal capacity to support covered buildings through the benchmarking process, which is by its very nature a multi-step process spanning no fewer than four different websites, with multiple interactions occurring over the course of several weeks or months.
Solution
Sustento Group analyzed successful programs around the country, and building on insights gained through that process, created a scalable model to support compliance in Los Angeles. The solution was a comprehensive digital Benchmarking Guide, hosted on an interactive website that integrates with Salesforce CRM and call center functionality, to facilitate reporting and follow-up.
Results
To date the EBEWE Resource Center has directly supported over 1,400 users with only 1-1.5 fully employed staff, and substantially improved compliance rates.
“The EBEWE Resource Center was tremendously helpful to our benchmarking and compliance efforts. It was great to get expert assistance in the process. In addition to saving us time, we know our submission was accurate.”
Implementing the Most Ambitious Existing Buildings Efficiency Law in the Country
Los Angeles Existing Buildings Energy & Water Efficiency Ordinance
Industry
Government, Utility, Private, Advocacy
Organization
LADWP, SoCal Gas, City of Los Angeles
Services
Policy Development, Policy Implementation, Building Modernization, Community Engagement, Market Activation & Engagement
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Challenge
Los Angeles is large, diverse, and sprawling, so crafting a policy to cover all existing buildings posed an immense challenge. Implementing such a policy presented a range of additional hurdles - some anticipated, some not.
Solution
Recognizing the need for a strong internal champion, Sustento Group led the effort for LA to join the City Energy Project, thereby securing a full-time experienced policy expert to lead the internal policy development effort.
Sustento Group supported the process by engaging key external stakeholders, such as CRE industry associations, trade organizations, and environmental advocates, to shape and build support for the policy.
Since the policy went into effect, Sustento Group has continued engagement with internal and external stakeholders to identify and implement process improvements, refine policy requirements, and align resources to support covered buildings while reducing strain on City staff.
Results
The LA Existing Buildings Energy & Water Efficiency Ordinance is the most ambitious policy of its kind, covering over 12,000 buildings.
Tools to Accelerate Municipal Building Retrofits
C40 Climate Action Planning Tool
Industry
Government, Utility
Organization
C40 & City of Los Angeles
Services
Policy Implementation, Building Modernization, Community Engagement
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Challenge
The City of LA owns and manages over 1,000 buildings, the vast majority of which will require deep retrofits in order to hit the City’s goal to achieve carbon neutrality in municipal buildings by 2030. Planning and budgeting would involve building support for the investment from a range of stakeholders -- from Councilmembers, to City Administrative Staff, to the Office of Finance -- each with varying levels of expertise on building efficiency, finance, and carbon accounting. Without a simple robust tool to streamline communication and support the necessary analysis, there would be no way forward.
Solution
Sustento Group won a technical assistance grant from C40 on behalf of the City of LA, and collaborated with C40, ARUP, and the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability to develop a simple but powerful Climate Action Planning tool that facilitates planning, budgeting, and stakeholder engagement with scenario analysis and a simple dashboard that shows the relationships between project scope, required funding, and GHG reductions, to help Cities optimize investments relative to climate targets.
Results
The CAP Tool is complete, populated with data from energy audits of ~100 Los Angeles municipal buildings. The tool can be customized for use in other Cities, and its use is not limited to public buildings. The tool can be used to analyze private portfolios, or any other set of buildings for which energy audit data are available.
“One of the biggest barriers to efficiency investments is communication. Sustento Group is able to simplify complex information to make it resonate with different audiences — such a unique quality.”