Climate Action Plan Dashboard
Development began on the Ames Climate Action Plan (CAP) after completion of a community greenhouse gas inventory in 2020. Extensive community input led by the supplemental input committee engaged and empowered residents, businesses, and institutions toward ownership and responsibility in ensuring a resilient and sustainable future for Ames. The CAP was formally accepted by City Council in June, 2023.
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Welcome to the CAP dashboard!
Jump to one of the Big Moves by clicking on it below. You can always return to the top by clicking the arrow in the lower right.
Note: Data is updated annually unless otherwise noted.
Action Statement: Renewable energy generation from wind and solar needs to be added to the electricity grid over time to reduce emissions from this source.
Ames Electric Generation
Learn about how Ames Electric supplies electricity to the community.
RDF: Refuse-derived fuel (trash)
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Community Solar
Learn more about SunSmart, Ames' community solar farm.
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Action Statement: The majority of existing buildings in Ames will need to undergo deep, energy-saving retrofits by 2040.
Smart Energy Rebates
Ames offers Smart Energy rebates to Ames Electric customers for energy efficient upgrades ranging from heat pumps to appliances to EV chargers.
Municipal Buildings
Explore the map displaying various metrics about our municipal buildings, including energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. Benchmarking energy use is important as the City works to retrofit municipal buildings.
kbtu - One thousand british thermal units (btu), a common unit of energy measurement.
MT CO2e - Metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, a unit of measurement used to compare the impact of different greenhouse gases like methane and nitrous oxide.
Action Statement: New buildings will need to be increasingly efficient, using less energy and contributing to less GHG emissions than current buildings. The proportion of new buildings constructed to net-zero standards will increase over time until all new buildings are built to net-zero standards.
Net Zero New Construction Incentives
Tax Abatement: Enhanced tax abatement is available to all-electric single-family homes that build to net-zero energy. Net-zero energy means that over the course of a year, more energy is generated by solar PV than is consumed on-site. Apply for net zero tax abatement with the Planning department.
Electric Rebates: We offer smart energy rebates for new construction Ames Electric customers. See the Smart Energy Rebates page for more information.
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High Performing Home Pilot Project
We're working on a high performing home pilot project to educate and develop the market for net-zero and net-zero ready housing. This project is in the early stages of planning, check back for more information.
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Action Statement: Clean transportation vehicle purchases must increase over time, transitioning to low- and no emissions vehicles.
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12 Electric vehicles in the municipal fleet (including CyRide)
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11 Public electric vehicle chargers installed (see the map here: Chargepoint Charging Stations Map)
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17 CyRide buses and City snowplows using 100% biodiesel
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553,000 Miles of electric vehicle charging delivered in 2024
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59,000 Gallons of 100% biodiesel used since 2020, displacing diesel fuel use
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99.9% Percent of time City of Ames EV chargers were able to dispense energy (uptime)
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Action Statement: Active transportation and transit use must be leveraged as a solution to decreasing vehicle emissions. Infrastructure to support these transportation modes are key.
CyRide Ridership
CyRide ridership per capita is among the highest in the nation, thanks to support from ISU students and Ames residents. CyRide continues to pursue innovative sustainability practices including fully electric and 100% biodiesel buses. Find out more here: CyRide Sustainability Efforts
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Active Transportation
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Investments in biking and pedestrian infrastructure make using active transportation more accessible. We will continue to invest in these projects in alignment with Ames Walk Bike Roll, the City's comprehensive bicycle and pedestrian plan.
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Mode share describes the percentage of trips made using a given form of transportation (walking, bicycling, public transportation, or private vehicles). Tracking mode share reflects how infrastructure, policies, investments, and land-use patterns support different types of travel.
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Source: US Census Bureau
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Action Statement: More must be done to divert waste from the landfill including enhanced recycling and composting programs.
Here are some impacts of Resource Recovery, by the numbers:
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120,280 Pounds of pumpkins diverted since 2017 through The Great Pumpkin Disposal
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132,782 Pounds of materials given a second life by the 2024 Rummage RAMPage reuse event
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476,849 Pounds of household hazardous waste diverted since 1998
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11,250 Pounds of TVs and monitors recycled in 2024
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11.5 Eiffel Towers worth of metal recycled since the RRP was placed in service in 1976.
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1,350 Tons of yard waste collected for composting during no-charge yard waste days
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| Explore this chart to find out where your trash ends up. On average, just over half is incinerated at the power plant to produce electricity. About 45% and 5% are landfilled and recycled, respectively. |
Track how recycling efforts are going in Ames below. We saw over 100 tons of new recycling in 2024 due to the new drop-off recycling center at the Resource Recovery plant (420 E. 2nd St.), open 24/7. |
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Accessibility: View all data contained on this page in tabular format in this documentCAP-Data-Dashboard.xlsx(XLSX, 39KB)
What is a Climate Action Plan?
The Climate Action Plan (CAP) is a framework and action plan that outlines the guiding principles and resulting action plan needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Ames. A climate action plan (CAP) is a tool that helps communities understand their influence on greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs), and then plan to reduce GHGs in a way that supports community well- being and economic growth.
Developing a CAP enables communities to align their land-use and infrastructure planning processes with their GHG reduction targets, and identify opportunities to integrate local renewable energy solutions. A CAP is important because investments today will determine climate and development outcomes long into the future.
Developing a Climate Action Plan was specifically established as an Ames City Council goal in 2020, it addresses the Council value of environmental sustainability.
Climate Action Plan website(archived)