Livable cities are sustainable and resilient.
KERAMIDA’s Livable City Solutions helps cities and universities identify and implement forward-thinking sustainability strategies that create thriving communities and campuses that work for everyone.
What is Livable City Solutions?
KERAMIDA’s Livable City Solutions is a holistic, sustainable city and campus approach that delivers place-based, people-centered strategies grounded in community engagement and equity from inception to implementation. We work with cities, communities, and colleges to create customized, tangible solutions to complex problems.
What sets KERAMIDA apart?
Diverse Expertise:
Our Livable City Solutions professionals have experience in municipal policies, energy, waste management, transportation, buildings, infrastructure, environment, integration of industries and businesses, forestry, art, education, and outreach.
Grant Finding Strategies:
Our team excels at identifying funding mechanisms that lessen monetary barriers, empowering cities to implement projects of all scales.
Services Beyond Sustainability to Enhance Livability:
Policy Development: Full-spectrum support including stakeholder engagement, policy writing, socializing the policy, and implementing the policy.
Green Job Pathways
Hazard Mitigation
What is it like working with KERAMIDA?
Learn more about this project: City of Kent Climate Action Plan
We are a trusted and credentialed partner to cities.
Accredited ClimateView Partner
ClimateView is a Swedish climate tech company providing game-changing insights to accelerate cities' transition to net zero. ClimateView helps local governments visualize and monitor their climate progress while engaging their stakeholders.
As an Accredited ClimateView Partner, KERAMIDA combines ClimateView’s data analysis with our Livable City Solutions services to enable cities to plan, communicate, manage, and attract funding for their transition to net zero.
Learn how KERAMIDA + ClimateView can benefit your city!
CDP Silver Cities Consultancy Solutions Provider
As a CDP Silver Cities Consultancy Solutions Provider in the U.S., KERAMIDA supports cities and local governments with:
Climate Action Planning
CDP Data Collection & Submission
Training Webinars
Member of the Midwest Climate Collaborative
The Midwest Climate Collaborative envisions a carbon-neutral, climate-resilient, interconnected midwest region. As the only Sustainability Consulting firm member of the Midwest Climate Collaborative, KERAMIDA is proud to work alongside member Universities, NGOs, midwestern state and local governments, and corporations.
Climate Action Planning Workshops
Our experts lead workshops on Climate Action Planning for groups throughout the U.S.
At the 2023 Midwest Climate Summit, our Livable City Solutions Team presented “A Model for Developing a Climate Action Plan” at the Climate Action Planning Workshop: Bringing Communities Together to Equitably Address Sustainability, Transit, and Green Infrastructure.
Our team can bring this engaging workshop to your city, university, or public event. Please contact us today to speak with our team about scheduling a workshop for your community or group today.
What our clients are saying:
Livable City Services
Sustainable & resilient solutions for cities, communities, and campuses
Sustainability Strategy:
Collaborate with cities and colleges to create place-specific Climate Action Plans (CAP) based on Climate Scenario Analysis, Impact Analysis, benchmarking, community and stakeholder engagement, technology application analysis, and feasibility studies, resulting in actionable and impactful mitigation actions with the highest return on investment.
Identify grant and funding opportunities and assist in grant applications.
Evaluate climate risks using a Climate Scenario Analysis to develop a Hazard Mitigation Plan.
LEED for Cities Consulting
Conduct city-wide GHG BASIC or BASIC+ inventory.
Track municipal energy, water, and generation of waste, resulting in operational improvement recommendations with a positive impact on climate.
Conduct vulnerability assessments and identify opportunities to improve resiliency.
Promote climate adaptation strategies through stakeholder engagement.
Conduct mobility planning to enhance public transit, cycling, pedestrian accessibility, and last-mile mobility options.
Collect data and report to CDP, including the development of a CDP Roadmap to ‘A’.
Create Sustainability Master Plans for public works construction projects seeking Envision or LEED certifications.
Provide updates on global technology developments supportive of sustainability and decarbonization.
Implementation:
Execute action items within any city plan.
Develop metrics to track various indicators necessary for reporting progress.
Provide project management to cities on various initiatives.
Conduct community engagement, planning, management, and implementation of waste-to-energy solutions.
Oversee the remediation, repurpose and reuse of old landfills.
Perform site assessments and manage the redevelopment of Brownfield and Superfund sites.
Policy Development and Facilitation:
Develop and implement city-wide Benchmarking & Transparency Building Programs to address and reduce utility usage.
Collaborate with local officials to develop bipartisan-supported policies, and socialize initiatives with legislative representatives to garner feedback and support.
Create and help pass ordinances such as Beyond Benchmarking, Solar Readiness, EV Readiness, Green Roofs, and Transit-Oriented Development.
Create a localized green building program that is relevant to unique policy ecosystems.
“Making of a Climate Action Plan” Video:
KERAMIDA’s Sustainability Team will film and produce a documentary to educate the public on the work that went into creating the City’s Climate Action Plan.
We will interview city administrators, community leaders, and students to share the stories of the people who worked on the project.
This is useful for the City to use as a marketing piece to attract people to move into the community while educating current and future residents on the City's dedication to creating a sustainable future.
Our Livable City Solutions Projects:
KERAMIDA and ClimateView are working with the Louisville Jefferson County MSA to support the development of a Preliminary Climate Action Plan (PCAP). We are collaborating with community and project partners to establish a Greenhouse Gas inventory for the MSA within ClimateView’s software, ClimateOS, and identify data collection gaps for future consideration. KERAMIDA integrated the PCAP Greenhouse Gas Reduction Measures into ClimateOS and presented the dashboard capabilities to the Net Zero Advisory Group (NZAG). The KERAMIDA team is currently helping draft the PCAP along with the MSA and project partners.
With funding from the Inflation Reduction Act through the US EPA’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG), KERAMIDA is working with the Grand Valley Metropolitan Council (GVMC) to develop a Priority Climate Action Plan (PCAP) that will be submitted to the EPA on March 1, 2024. The plan will connect and uplift existing state, regional, and local plans while preparing communities to be competitive for $4.6 billion in implementation grant funding for the policies and programs it identifies. Particular attention is paid to low-income and disadvantaged communities and how the programs in the plan will benefit underinvested areas in the jurisdiction. The plan will cover the four-county region of West Michigan, including Ionia, Kent, Montcalm, and Ottawa Counties.
KERAMIDA is working with the City of Norwalk, Connecticut, to deliver a pragmatic, actionable Sustainability and Resilience Plan that will directly improve the City's administrative capacity to mitigate emissions and adapt to a changing climate. This project uniquely focuses on building municipal engagement and capacity by working across departments on implementation workshops, training, and integration into the existing workflow.
KERAMIDA conducted a comprehensive Greenhouse Gas (GHG) inventory for the coastal city of Norwalk, Connecticut. This project was undertaken in close collaboration with the Norwalk Redevelopment Agency to ensure the accuracy and effectiveness of the assessment. Our team worked diligently to identify key stakeholders who played a vital role in data collection. Once these stakeholders were identified, we organized a productive data collection workshop. During this workshop, we outlined the data requirements for each GHG sector as specified by the Global Protocol for Community GHG accounting. As part of our commitment to producing accurate results, we actively addressed any data issues or gaps that arose during the process. Our goal was to ensure that all information was not only collected but also organized in a manner that facilitated meaningful analysis. To perform the GHG calculations and generate a comprehensive community GHG inventory for the City of Norwalk, KERAMIDA utilized our partnership with the Swedish tech company, ClimateView.
KERAMIDA is working with the City of Prairie Village, Kansas, to develop a Comprehensive Sustainability Program that will provide a cost-effective and science-based pathway to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2040 or sooner. This project includes an updated greenhouse gas inventory, climate scenario summary, and community engagement.
KERAMIDA conceived of an innovative and effective pilot program for neighborhood-scale energy efficiency retrofits of structures and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) reduction. KERAMIDA developed the project concept and structure, formed the core partners group necessary to confirm commitments and identify leveraged funds, and completed all aspects of the project scope details, budget requirements, and timeline.
KERAMIDA provided policy development services to the City of New Albany, Indiana for energy and GHG reductions related to a Federal Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG). Grant funds were directed toward developing an Energy Management System focused on maximizing cost-savings and minimizing GHG emissions associated with the City operations’ energy use, including electricity, natural gas, and fuel (Phase 1) and to develop and implement a pilot Energy Audit Program (Phase 2).
KERAMIDA performed an energy use audit of all operations related to intake, treatment, and distribution of drinking water for the Indianapolis drinking water system. The audit identified opportunities to reduce electrical energy consumption and GHG, reduce operating costs, and improve the carbon footprint of the supply of drinking water to the residents and businesses of the City of Indianapolis.
As the Sustainability Program Lead for the RebuildIndy infrastructure improvement initiative, KERAMIDA’s role was to place the sustainability umbrella over all public works projects, including the development and implementation of sustainability principles and sustainable design elements for all public works capital projects.
KERAMIDA assisted the Town of Dyer and the City of Portage, Indiana with the implementation of an Environmental Management System focusing on sustainability. KERAMIDA worked with municipal stakeholders, to identify their community's environmental aspects and impacts, rank their significance, evaluate and select initiatives to implement, define objectives and targets of those initiatives, and develop activity programs to track their performance.
KERAMIDA worked with the Engineering Department of the City of Mansfield, Ohio to develop an Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy (EECS), formalizing its goals of cutting municipal energy costs, reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), and educating its employees and the community about energy conservation best practices.
KERAMIDA’s Experience with Cities & Universities
KERAMIDA has a deep understanding of cities and universities and has supported their environmental and sustainability needs for over 30 years.
KERAMIDA developed several strategic initiatives, which were firsts in the country:
The first Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant providing ammonia removal and disinfection by ozonation
The first Sustainability Planning for public works projects
The first and only creation, by legislation, of a taxing authority to take responsibility for the cleanup of a Superfund landfill
Our team members’ experience with cities and universities includes:
Identifying, applying for, and winning multi-million dollar grants for cities
Creating and implementing a Transparency and Benchmarking Ordinance aimed at assessing energy consumption by buildings, with the goal of setting energy and GHG reduction targets
Designing a green building tax abatement policy
Implementing a Science Based Target initiative at the city level
Submitting municipal CDP reporting, resulting in an ‘A’ grade, which only 12% of cities received
Developing a Climate Action Plan for a significant R1 university with a heavy emphasis on university & city cooperation
Authoring a Sustainability Management Plan for a multi-billion-dollar infrastructure project
Remediating and revitalizing Brownfield and Superfund sites
Regional water quality planning
Developing a community-based experiential learning program for a state university
Environmental awareness training for construction crews
Assuring Envision Certification for public works projects
Waste studies and biomass-to-energy solutions
GHG assessments
Energy use audits
Related Projects:
Related Services:
KERAMIDA offers a wide variety of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) services to clients worldwide, including multi-facility industrial clients, industrial associations, law firms, and state organizations. Our experienced team of GHG experts provide carbon footprint evaluations, GHG inventories, GHG monitoring plans, and training.