The City of Reno government can accelerate sustainability and climate action through its own sustainable operations as a corporation, employer, service provider, and owner of land, facilities and infrastructure. City policies and investments have long-term impacts. When the city builds new roads, for example, decisions about the streetscape and street trees have significant impacts on the health and well-being of nearby residents. It’s simple: Leading by example is an investment in Reno’s future. It builds trust about the city’s intentions, and it influences the perceptions and actions of others.

The City of Reno Sustainable Operations and Operational Efficiency efforts take place every day. Our goal is to be the leading mid-size U.S. city in long-term, collaborative-style sustainability initiatives.

Check out our sustainable development checklist for new City projects. 

Real-Time Energy, Fuel, and Emissions Tracking

In July, 2021, the City began tracking it's operational energy use and emissions using Ledger 8760, Inc. Ledger enables customers to track and reduce their emissions, support sustainable operations, build resiliency, and guarantee both transparency and accuracy in environmental reporting  through the implementation of a cutting-edge emissions- and GHG-tracking platform. Ledger’s Carbon Tools serves as a repository for emissions data from all City activities spanning direct emissions, grid emissions, and indirect emissions using internationally accepted IPCC standards and best practices developed for implementation of Paris Accords goals.

Public Portal: Reno Emissions Dashboard

Emissions Reduction from Fleet Vehicles

The City of Reno is the proud owner of a handful of Nissan Leafs used by three separate departments: Business Licensing Compliance, Capital Projects, and Parking Enforcement. To ensure the City continues to be diligent in its decision making, a study was commissioned and provided under a NV Energy technical assistance program, to evaluate potential sites for additional EV charging stations.  

Urban Tree Canopy

Reno’s urban forest provides $21 million in environmental and economic benefits each year by reducing stormwater run-off and removing air pollution. The City invests more than $2 per capita on planting and caring for trees in parks and along streets every year, yielding 2 – 5 times that investment in benefits to our community.

Presently, Urban Forestry Staff is using heat map data and demographic data to create Priority Planting Areas (PPAs).

Renewable Energy Development 

The City’s electrical load is supported by several grid-connected solar arrays at different sites.

Our renewable energy production was quantified in 2020 through a baseline study performed by the University of Nevada, Reno, and a subsequent paper regarding local government renewable energy expansion was accepted for publication.

Also in 2020, the City of Reno (City) announced it was selected by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to participate in a collaborative research effort to develop novel applications of solar energy and other distributed energy resources (DERs) in unique locations and contexts. The City led team set out to place a value on the resiliency of solar + storage, and determine how that value could be applied in order to finance the same project(s). The City team, consisting of the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) and Ameresco, with support from NV Energy and the Governor’s Office of Energy, was one of just eight teams selected to join the program, which is known as the Solar Energy Innovation Network (Innovation Network). Read the Case Study, co-authored by Ameresco, UNR, NREL, and Converge Strategies.

On June 1, 2022, the City of Reno City Council approved the City's first solar+storage project at the Public Safety Center.