The City of Indianapolis’s Office of Sustainability is taking steps to become more energy efficient.
Funding from the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program from the U.S. Department of Energy gave the office $787,040 to lower energy use and decrease overall utility costs in municipally owned buildings.
The goal of the project is to reduce climate pollution and improve public health for all Indy community members through healthier air quality.
“The generous funding from the U.S. Department of Energy will open up new opportunities for innovation and efficiency within the more than 200 city-owned structures throughout Marion County,” Mayor Joe Hogsett said. “This support from our federal partners is key in helping make sure Indianapolis can stay ahead of the curve when it comes to combating climate change and reducing carbon emissions locally.”
The funding will support the following initiatives:
- A partnership with Purdue University to deploy their learn-on-the-job workforce training program in Indianapolis to perform energy audits on up to 200 municipal buildings.
- Utilization of energy management software to track internal energy benchmarking data.
- Building capacity with an energy manager who will interpret benchmarking data and develop an energy team made up of stakeholders
- Using the workforce audit program data to determine priority locations to reduce energy usage and working with city staff to implement those installations
“We are excited to begin a new partnership with the City of Indianapolis, one that provides valuable work experience for our engineering students and lets them give back to the community,” said Dr. Ali Razban, adjunct associate professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue University in Indianapolis. “All of us benefit from energy savings and emission reductions by breathing healthier air, a critical component of public health.”
The city owns more than 200 municipal buildings throughout Marion County with a wide range of usage from office spaces to park family centers, police stations, fire stations and public works facilities. In total, the square footage is over 5.5 million, making energy efficiency a high priority.
“Ever since our office launched the city’s energy benchmarking program, Thriving Buildings, in 2022, we have been collecting data on municipal buildings while empowering other large building managers in Indianapolis to do the same,” said Mo McReynolds, interim director of the Indianapolis Office of Sustainability. “These funds from the DOE will allow us to catalyze on that progress, implement transformational changes to our built environment and be a role model for other large building owners in our community.”
The grants were made possible by the Biden-Harris Administration’s Bipartisian Infrastructure Law, which provided more than $430 million formula grants to communities across the country.
Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
The $787,040 is part of more than $30 million in total grant funding the office has received in the areas of clean energy, transportation and the environment. Other grants include a $500,000 Energy Future Grant from the Department of Energy, a $15 million Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation and two coalition applications to Solar For All from the Environmental Protection Agency.
For more information about the benchmarking program, Thriving Buildings, visit indy.gov/activity/benchmarking-and-transparency.
This reporting is made possible by a grant from the Indianapolis African-American Quality of Life Initiative, empowering our community with essential health insights. https://iaaqli.org/
To read more health stories, click here.
Contact Health & Environmental Reporter Hanna Rauworth at 317-762-7854 or follow her on Instagram at @hanna.rauworth.
