Going Green in Nashville

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, provides a set of standards for environmentally sustainable construction. Nashville-based engineering firm Smith Seckman Reid has formed a division called the Sustainable Solutions Group, a team of LEED professionals experienced in the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings according to those standards. Current projects the company is involved with include LEED certification for the Crawford and Sutherland Halls in Vanderbilt University's new Peabody Commons.

Slow Food Nashville is a non-profit organization that works to counteract the disappearance of local food traditions. Part of a worldwide movement, Slow Food supports protection of biodiversity; promotes advocacy for those who grow, produce, market, prepare and serve wholesome food; and advocates protection of foods and cooking traditions that are at risk of disappearing. The organization is striving to be a catalyst in the broad shift away from the destructive effects of an industrial food system and the "fast life."

The Tennessee Environmental Council, headquartered in Nashville, has been the state's non-profit environmental watchdog for nearly four decades. While it has had its share of corporate, private and Government detractors, more and more people are beginning to think that maybe the organization actually had the right idea when it opened its doors in 1970. So it only makes sense that the organization supports green living initiatives, as well as issues ranging from an urban community forest initiative to green building and beyond.

Nashville Electric Service (NES) now offers electricity users a choice in the type of power they buy through its Green Power Switch® initiative. This renewable energy plan offers electricity generated from such renewable green power sources as solar, wind and methane gas. Green power from NES can be purchased in 150-kilowatt-hour blocks (about 12% of a typical household's monthly energy use), with each block adding $4 to a monthly power bill. Green power costs more because the technology used to produce it is more expensive than traditional power generation methods.

The Middle Tennessee-based, non-profit Cumberland River Compact is trying to improve and enhance the water quality of the Cumberland River in Kentucky and Tennessee. Through its Building Outside the Box (BOB) project in the Middle Cumberland watershed, the organization is trying to demonstrate sustainable building practices and stream restoration techniques to improve water quality. The Middle Cumberland has two BOB sites: an affordable housing development on a tributary to Mill Creek in Nashville, and a multi-family urban infill site in Germantown in North Nashville. Locals might remember their Catfish Out of Water Project too.

Live on the Green is an environmentally friendly concert series that takes place, for six weeks, every Autumn on the Public Square Plaza in downtown Nashville. Admission is free and the concert is held on Thursday nights at 6 p.m.