Nashville
City Scorecard Rank
38
Nashville, TN
30.00Scored out of 100Updated 5/2017
Local Government Score:
3.5 out of 10 points
Local Government Summary List All
The Mayor’s Green Ribbon Committee on Environmental Sustainability released a summary report with goals and recommendations, entitled Together Making Nashville Green, which details some of the city’s energy efficiency-related activities and goals for its internal government operations. The Green Ribbon Committee on Environmental Sustainability and the Livable Nashville committee steer many of these efforts.
Last updated: February 2017
Local Government Climate and Energy Goals List All
The City of Nashville’s Livable Nashville Recommendations guides the city’s municipal sustainability actions.
Climate Mitigation Goal
The Recommendations establish a goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from municipal operations by 80% by 2050, with interim reduction targets of 20% by 2020 and 40% by 2030. To meet this goal, the city must reduce per capita emissions by 4.01% annually.
Energy Reduction Goal
The Recommendations include a goal to reduce building resource-use by 80% by 2050, with interim reduction targets of 20% by 2020 and 40% by 2030.
Renewable Energy Goal
The Recommendations state the intention to increase on-site solar energy systems on municipal buildings. The plan does not establish a firm goal, but states that total capacity should equal four to six megawatts.
Last updated: March 2019
Procurement and Construction List All
Fleet Policies and Composition
Metro Nashville does not have formal fuel efficiency requirements for their vehicles or energy-efficient vehicle procurement policies ni place. Nashville’s fleet is composed of 4.8% efficient vehicles, including hybrid and battery electric vehicles.
Public Lighting
Nashville has not adopted a policy requiring efficient outdoor lighting, such as the International Dark-Sky Association’s Model Lighting Ordinance. Nashville has partnered with Nashville Electric Service to pilot LED fixtures from several manufacturers. The city has also installed LED pedestrian streetlights, traffic signals and way finding kiosks throughout the city.
New Buildings
As per the Metro LEED Ordinance, Nashville requires all new and renovations of public projects 5,000 square feet or greater to be built to LEED Silver certification, and all city-funded construction projects to complete a LEED scorecard.
Last updated: March 2019
Asset Management List All
Building Benchmarking and Retrofitting
Nashville’s Department of General Services (DGS) has entered 46% of the total square footage of its public buildings in the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager. DGS retrofits buildings by doing pre and post commissioning followed by test and balance. Typically, retrofits include lighting, HVAC, and other electrical and mechanical upgrades.
Public Employees
We did not find information on a policy aimed at reducing commutes of city employees, such as flexible schedules or telework.
Last updated: March 2019
Community-Wide Initiatives
Score: 3 out of 12 points
Community-Wide Summary List All
The City of Nashville released the Livable Nashville Recommendations to guide sustainability initiatives.
Last updated: March 2019
Climate Action and Energy Planning GoalsList All
Climate Mitigation Goal
The Livable Nashville Recommendations include goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80% below 2014 levels by 2050, with interim goals of a 20% by 2020 and 40% by 2030.
The Recommendations also include greenhouse gas inventory results from the years 2005, 2011, and 2014.
Energy Reduction Goal
The Livable Nashville Recommendations include a goal to reduce energy consumption in commercial buildings 60% by 2050, with interim reduction goals of 20% by 2030, and 5% by 2020.
Renewable Energy Goal
The Livable Nashville Recommendations include goals to increase renewable energy capacity to 10 megawatts by 2020 and to 30% of the fuel mix powering the community by 2030.
Energy Data Reporting
Livable Nashville Recommendations include energy emissions from the residential, commercial, and industrial sector.
Last updated: March 2019
Equitable Climate Action and Energy Planning List All
Equitable Community Outreach
The city did not increase its outreach to marginalized groups relative to other city constituencies in the planning and implementation of a local energy, sustainability, or climate action plan.
Equitable Decision-Making
The city has not created a formal role for local organizations representing low-income or communities of color to participate in decision-making that affects the creation or implementation of a local energy, sustainability, or climate action plan.
Accountability to Equity
The city has not established goals or published methods for tracking how energy, sustainability, or climate action initiatives are reversing any ongoing actions that disadvantage marginalized residents.
Last updated: March 2019
Clean Distributed Energy SystemsList All
The City of Nashville provided land at no cost to Nashville Electric Service, the city’s municipally-owned utility, for the installation of a community solar farm.
The General Services Design and Construction Guidelines require developments include renewable energy technologies “as early as possible during the design phase.”
Last updated: March 2019
Mitigation of Urban Heat Islands List All
Nashville’s Urban Forestry Master Plan has includes quantitative urban tree canopy goals for different neighborhoods within the city. Additionally, the Livable Nashville Recommendations include a goal to stop net-tree loss by 2020 and plant 500,000 trees by 2050.
The city has adopted a private tree protection ordinance. The city requires that sites undergoing construction use low impact development measures in accordance with the city’s Low Impact Development Manual. The city also allows for cluster subdivisions that encourage the permanent protection of land alongside dense residential development patterns.
Last updated: March 2019
Buildings Policies
Score: 9 out of 28 points
Buildings Summary List All
The City of Nashville enforces the state’s energy codes. Nashville has not adopted a benchmarking and disclosure policy. The city offers incentives for energy efficiency and low-income energy projects. Nashville does not require owners and/or developers perform any above-code energy-saving actions.
Last updated: March 2019
Stringency of Energy CodesList All
Overview
Tennessee allows municipalities to adopt home-rule charters and thus adopt and enforce building energy codes at the jurisdictional level. Nashville has not adopted a home-rule charter, so the city enforces state building energy codes. Tennessee’s commercial energy code are equivalent to the 2012 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) and the residential energy code is equivalent to the 2009 IECC. To learn more about the building energy codes in Tennessee, please visit the State Policy Database.
Commercial
Commercial properties must comply with the 2012 IECC with amendments. The city’s zEPI score for their commercial energy code is 59.2.
Residential
Residential properties must comply with the 2009 IECC with amendments. The city’s zEPI score for their residential energy code is 70.5.
Solar- and EV-ready
The city has not passed an ordinance mandating new construction be solar- and/or EV-ready.
Last updated: March 2019
Building Energy Code Enforcement and ComplianceList All
Nashville does not staff any full time employees solely dedicated to energy code enforcement. The city requires plan review and performance testing to verify code compliance. Nashville also requires residential building developers use certified third parties to conduct blower door and duct blast tests. The city does not provide upfront support to developers and/or owners.
Last updated: March 2019
Incentives and Financing for Efficient Buildings and Renewable EnergyList All
Nashville offers three incentives for energy efficiency and low-income energy improvement projects.
Through the Nashville Energy Works program, city residents may access low-interest loans from $1,000 to $35,000 for energy efficient upgrades.
Nashville offers density bonus for developments in the Central Business District if the projects achieve LEED certification. The density bonus scales with the stringency of the certification.
The city’s Home Energy Savings Program engages volunteers to conduct energy-savings upgrades to homeowners at no-cost to income-eligible households.
Last updated: March 2019
Required Energy ActionsList All
Nashville has not adopted a policy requiring building owners to conduct additional above-code energy-saving actions.
Last updated: March 2019
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Workforce DevelopmentList All
NES runs the Home Energy Uplift Program, which provided home energy improvements to 125 limited-income homeowners. The city received a grant to create a jobs training program to support the program.
Last updated: March 2019
Energy & Water Utilities
Score: 3.5 out of 20 points
Energy & Water Utilities Summary List All
Nashville Electric Service (NES) is the municipal utility which provides electricity to the City of Nashville. Piedmont Natural Gas, an investor-owned utility (IOU), is Nashville’s primary natural gas utility. The Tennessee Regulatory Authority sets the rates and services standards of the investor-owned natural gas, electric, and water utilities. The municipal energy utilities implement Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)-funded energy efficiency programs which are outlined in the TVA Integrated Resource Plan (IRP). To learn more about the state-requirements for electric and gas efficiency, please visit the Tennessee page of the State Database.
Metro Water Services, a department of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville, is the municipal utility that provides drinking water, wastewater treatment and stormwater management services for Nashville.
Last Updated: March 2019
Electric & Gas Energy Efficiency Programs and SavingsList All
In 2017, according to Nashville Electric Service and TVA, NES achieved 3,391 MWh in net incremental savings, representing 0.03% of retail sales. In 2017, Piedmont Natural Gas either did not spend or did not report spending on natural gas efficiency programs. NES offers natural gas and electric efficiency tools and technical assistance to residential and commercial/industrial customers.
At this time, the City of Nashville does not have a formal partnership with NES or Piedmont Natural Gas in the form of a jointly-developed or administered energy saving strategy, plan, or agreement.
Last Updated: March 2019
Renewable Energy Efforts of Energy UtilitiesList All
Renewable Energy Incentives
In 2017, NES did not provide renewable energy incentives for the construction of new distributed solar or wind systems.
City-Led Efforts to Decarbonize the Electric Grid
In 2018, TVA produced 13% of its total generation from renewable sources.
Last Updated: March 2019
Low-Income & Multifamily EE Programs List All
Low-Income Programs
At this time, Nashville Electric Service and Piedmont Natural Gas do not offer energy efficiency programs targeted at low-income customers.
Multifamily Programs
At this time, NES and Piedmont Natural Gas do not offer energy efficiency programs targeted at multifamily properties.
Last Updated: March 2019
Provision of Energy Data by UtilitiesList All
NES does not provide building managers with automatic benchmarking data for use in ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager. At this time, the City of Nashville does not advocate to the state for improvements in data provision by the utilities.
Last Updated: March 2019
Efficiency Efforts in Water ServicesList All
City-wide water efficiency and goals
The Metro Water Services has not established any water efficiency programs, policies, or goals. The City of Nashville does have a water loss strategy, which involves replacing old water mains, reducing leakage rates, quickly repairing leaks, and running a MeterSense Meter Data Management System that evaluates water losses.
Water plant efficiency and self-generation
The City of Nashville has established an energy management strategy aimed at increasing energy efficiency throughout the city’s water service operation system. This strategy is focused at analyzing and optimizing energy usage in treatment plants and in watershed management operations. Nashville’s wastewater treatment plant uses biogas captured from the treatment process to generate electricity onsite.
Last Updated: March 2019
Transportation
Score: 11 out of 30 points
Transportation Summary List All
The transportation authorities serving the City of Nashville are The Metropolitan Transit District and the Regional Transportation Authority. The Metropolitan TD provides public transportation for the city and the broader metropolitan area, including bus service. The Regional TA provides commuter rail, express busses and vanpools. The Nashville Area MPO is the MPO in charge of conducting metropolitan transportation planning. Its area of jurisdiction encompasses Nashville, and many surrounding communities and towns. Metropolitan Transit Authority is the city agency charged with managing the city’s transportation network.
Last updated: January 2017
Sustainable Transportation Planning List All
Sustainable Transportation Plan
Access Nashville 2040 is Volume V of NashvilleNext and functions as the city’s Transportation Plan.
VMT/GHG Targets and Stringency
Nashville does not have a VMT/GHG target in place for the transportation sector.
Progress Achieved Toward VMT/GHG Targets
Nashville does not track progress towards a VMT/GHG target.
Last Updated: March 2019v
Location Efficiency List All
Location Efficient Zoning Codes
Nashville has mandatory neighborhood form-based codes for the Downtown area. The city also has form-based codes for the rest of the city.
Residential Parking Policies
The city requires 2 parking spaces at a minimum per single-family residential unit. Parking minimum requirements are removed altogether for downtown developments.
Location Efficiency Incentives and Disclosure
Nashville does not have location efficiency incentives or disclosure requirements.
Last Updated: March 2019
Mode Shift List All
Mode Shift Targets
The Livable Nashville Recommendations contain goals to increase active-transportation mode share to 7% by 2020, 12% by 2030 and 30% by 2050.
Progress Achieved Toward Mode Shift Targets
Nashville does not track progress towards a mode shift target.
Complete Streets
Nashville does not yet have a complete streets policy in place.
Car Sharing
Nashville does not have a supportive parking policy for carsharing vehicles.
Bike Sharing
Nashville mandates new developments to construct dedicated facilities for docked/dockless space in appropriate locations (urban, network gaps, open space/parks, low stress streets, adjacent to hotels/activity centers/etc.). The city has 41.19 docked bike share bikes per 100,000 people.
Last Updated: March 2019
Transit List All
Transportation Funding
Nashville spends an average of $19.80 per capita on transit.
Access to Transit Services
The city has an All Transit Performance score of 3.6 out of 10.
Last Updated: March 2019
Efficient VehiclesList All
Vehicle Purchase Incentives
At this time, Nashville does not offer incentives for citizens to purchase hybrid, plug-in, or EV vehicles.
Vehicle Infrastructure Incentives
The city does not have any incentives in place for EV charging infrastructure installation.
EV Charging Locations
Nashville has 11.98 publicly available EV charging locations per 100,000 people.
Renewable Charging Incentives
We could not confirm if Nashville has any incentives for the renewable EV charging infrastructure installation.
Last Updated: March 2019
Freight List All
Nashville does not have a sustainable freight transportation plan in place nor does it have any policies that address freight efficiency
Last Updated: March 2019
Low-Income Transportation AccessList All
Affordable New TOD Housing Policy
Nashville does not have any requirements or incentives in place to encourage the development or preservation of affordable housing in transit-served areas.
Connecting Existing Affordable Housing Stock to Efficient Transportation Options
Nashville does not provide any subsidies for efficient transportation options to low-income residents.
Low-Income Access to High Quality Transit
0% of low-income households (those that earn less than $50k annually) are located near high-quality, all-day transit in Nashville
Last Updated: March 2019