Energy Retrofits leading the way for sustainability in Indianapolis

The City-County Building in Indianapolis underwent an $8 million energy retrofit, reducing energy usage by 46% and securing $750,000 in annual savings. This project serves as the model for the SustainIndy program, which targets a 25% energy reduction across 61 city buildings to achieve $1.7 million in annual savings over 15 years.

• The energy retrofit of the 73,000 square foot City-County Building (CCB) cost $8 million and achieved a 46 percent reduction in total energy usage, providing guaranteed annual savings of $750,000 for 15 years.
• The CCB retrofit utilized a variety of technologies, including a geothermal system that leverages the city's high water table, heat recovery systems, variable airflow handlers, occupancy sensors for lighting, solar thermal, solar PV, and solar and wind powered LED plaza lights.
• The CCB project was executed by Performance Services via a performance contract, which allows the building owner to avoid up-front capital costs by guaranteeing the energy savings.
• The CCB retrofit is the lead project for SustainIndy, a comprehensive sustainability program targeting 61 buildings across the city with a goal of reducing energy use by 25% and saving $1.7 million annually for 15 years.
• RMI argues that adopting portfolio-wide strategies—such as bulk purchasing, streamlined energy analysis, and aggregated financing—can generate greater resource savings and value than treating retrofits as individual building projects.

APA

RMI (2011). Energy Retrofits leading the way for sustainability in Indianapolis. https://rmi.org/resources/energy_retrofits_leading_the_way_for_sustainability_in_indianapolis/

Chicago

RMI. Energy Retrofits leading the way for sustainability in Indianapolis. 2011. https://rmi.org/resources/energy_retrofits_leading_the_way_for_sustainability_in_indianapolis/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Energy Retrofits leading the way for sustainability in Indianapolis |date=13 October 2011 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/energy_retrofits_leading_the_way_for_sustainability_in_indianapolis/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2011energy, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Energy Retrofits leading the way for sustainability in Indianapolis}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2011}, month = oct, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/energy_retrofits_leading_the_way_for_sustainability_in_indianapolis/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }