The Thriving Buildings program from Indianapolis’ Office of Sustainability allows building owners and operators benchmarking capability through the EPA’s Energy Star Portfolio Manager. Buildings can track meter data to identify ways to reduce energy and water usage, compare with other structures, and provide their usage data to the city.

Interest is on the rise, according to the Department of Public Works, which adopted late last month its first cohesive policy for handling the temporary, low-cost installations that are widely known as tactical urbanism.

Work to prepare Central Indiana communities to be more resilient in the face of climate change is ongoing.

Get ready for some greener laws. Mayor Joe Hogsett’s administration has already moved on some big-ticket items, such as 2019’s wide-ranging Thrive Indianapolis climate resiliency plan and last summer’s utility-usage tracking program for large buildings.

City officials in Indianapolis hope a new bus line targeting the needs of low-income residents will be the catalyst that transforms an underinvested corridor through economic development.

"It will help address food deserts in underserved communities. It will cultivate youth leadership and it will encourage and provide for school gardens year round," said Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett.

“There are no requirements, the event is free,” Hannah Scott, spokesperson for the city of Indianapolis, said. “The ride will be a mix of trails and roads that will go past 10 completed, ongoing and upcoming [Department of Public Works] projects.”

The Indianapolis Department of Public Works and Indy Parks are once again teaming up to accept live Christmas trees for recycling at multiple drop-off points in public parks throughout the city.

Mayor Joe Hogsett and Kären Haley, executive director of Indianapolis Cultural Trail Inc., announced a two-mile expansion of the trail during a groundbreaking ceremony Nov. 4.

The city used public input to name future uses for the Blue Indy charging stations - including electric vehicle charging stations, placemaking and bike or scooter sharing. More than 1,200 residents responded to a survey about the Blue Indy sites in their neighborhoods.

Indianapolis is putting $25 million toward a list of nine trail, greenway and road projects that could make it easier for bikers and pedestrians alike to get where they need to go—to work, play and run the mundane errands in between.

The Indianapolis affiliate of not-for-profit Keep America Beautiful is using data on tree cover, litter, illegal dumping, community engagement and a dozen socioeconomic indicators to target where some of those thousands of saplings will go.

Indy’s City-County Council approved $50 million in new bonds this month to tackle a backlog of drainage projects across the city.

The rising heat, brought on by climate change, is also putting Hoosiers at greater risk of heat-related health complications. But not everyone has the same risk.

Called transit oriented development, the trend in city planning aims to create more compact and sustainable communities close to mass transit options. In Indianapolis, the new bus rapid transit lines - Red, Blue and Purple - are the focus.

Just hours after a United Nation’s report sparked alarm worldwide about the quickening climate change crisis, the Indianapolis City-County Council passed a proposal to create a standing committee Monday night with the goal of mitigating global warming’s impact on the city.

Grim warnings from the world’s leading climate scientists on Monday make clear the Earth faces irreversible changes from global warming and stress the need for immediate and wide-scale greenhouse gas reductions to avoid further damage.

Converting more than 27,000 existing streets to energy-efficient led lights, as well as installing nearly 4,000 new lights. With ONL the city is hoping to reap many benefits. Like a safer environment, the project will also help the city meet its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050.

Working sustainable living into everyday life can feel like a daunting task. The challenge seems almost too large to overcome when the focus is not just on the local community, but also on the climate and other communities across the globe.

For the first time since its expansive sustainability plan was adopted in 2019, the city’s Office of Sustainability has released a report updating its progress.