The city tracks its emissions by sector: Energy & Built Environment, Transportation & Land Use, Waste management, Water and Wastewater.
(Bloomington Climate Action Dashboard screenshot )
The City of Bloomington’s carbon emissions are on a gradual decline, according to its Climate Action Dashboard.
The city has a goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050, outlined in its Climate Action Plan, passed in 2021.
The Green Building Program mandates that all new construction and major renovations of city-occupied buildings must achieve at least the LEED Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.
Sustainable Development Incentives create incentives for developers for sustainable development and design practices.
The city is also incentivizing solar and energy efficiency for homeowners and business owners. Bloomington Green Home Improvement Program provides rebates to help Bloomington homeowners complete energy efficiency upgrades, install renewable energy sources, reduce their utility bills, and increase the environmental sustainability of their houses.
As of Jan. 1, 2025, the city had provided 20 rebates to help homeowners in Bloomington pay for green energy upgrades to their homes, according to its website.
The city provided $550,000 in low-income solar grants funding to Habitat for Humanity and Bloomington Housing Authority’s Walnut Woods housing complex to install on-site solar that targets providing renewable energy to low-income and financially disadvantaged households.
Bloomington City Council member Matt Flaherty says the city is making progress but highlighted a few areas where progress could still be made on a recent WFIU Noon Edition:
"Collectively at a state level, federal level, we need to be doing more to actually capture and utilize methane from from from landfills, not let that be flared or go to waste," he said.
There are several groups with the city set to work toward implementation: Climate Action Team, Project 46, Transportation Commission, Council’s Fiscal Committee, Bloomington Commission on Sustainability.
Flaherty added some climate efforts — like moving to electric vehicles — will be a market transformation driven by federal and state policy. And getting the electric grid to be powered by renewable sources will require the state to work with large energy providers like Duke.
Areas where the city can affect the most change, Flaherty said, is its built environment.
"it's our responsibility almost exclusively to figure out what's in our development code, what our transportation system is going to look like in the future, and these deeply intersectional issues between housing, justice and fairness, safe, accessible, sustainable transportation," he said. "…those things are so interactive with our climate ambitions, and it's where we can make the most progress."
Bloomington has installed solar on 34 different City-owned facilities with plans to continue, according to its dashboard website.
According to its website, Bloomington hired Donovan Energy to lead energy efficiency and decarbonization project management services in 2024. The company will conduct an energy audit of city owned buildings, “recommending buildings for onsite energy audits, proposing energy efficiency and decarbonization projects, and managing these projects to completion.” Donovan Energy is an energy efficiency consultant based in Cincinnati, Ohio.
