However, getting data and analyzing at a neighborhood scale is the hardest part – and has not been done in many places.

• Energy Use: You’ll need help from your local utilities and others to identify how much energy is being used, where – in buildings, transportation, utilities or elsewhere, and from which sources - electricity, natural gas, coal, etc. (You need these specifics because emissions vary by energy source. For instance, hydroelectric power is responsible for far fewer emissions than electricity generated by burning coal.)  Getting the information for a detailed baseline can be complicated, so plan for it to take some time. You can minimize the time needed by settling for a lower level of accuracy.

• Generating numbers: Very rough numbers can be generated for a neighborhood-scale project using GIS-based or spreadsheet models, which are usually based on generally accepted literature relationships between greenhouse gas emissions, and location, density, mix of uses and neighborhood design. The GHG Emissions from Urban Travel, INDEX, and Community Viz models are relatively simple and give good preliminary numbers, useful for comparing alternative development scenarios.

• Detailed assessment: A more detailed assessment will be useful because it enables a community to track performance improvements over time. If you choose to do a detailed baseline you can still start on taking early action to reduce emissions while you are doing it.

• Emissions baseline: For communities who have already completed a full community emissions baseline, the emissions performance of a neighborhood can be extrapolated from the community performance numbers by linking its emissions to the neighborhood’s percentage of the community’s population or area, and adjusting for the neighborhood’s characteristics (The models mentioned above can be adapted for this purpose.)  Where the right data has been collected, it may be possible to create a baseline specific to a neighborhood.