Nashville businesses may soon receive funding for money-saving energy retrofits if an initial program for homeowners is deemed successful.

The Mayor’s Office of Environment and Sustainability recently was awarded a $250,000 grant from the Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance, which defines itself as a nonprofit organization that promotes energy efficiency for a cleaner environment, a more prosperous economy, and a higher quality of life in the Southeast.

The grant provides funding to create a marketing and community outreach plan to increase awareness of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) In-Home Energy Evaluation Program, which fosters residential energy building retrofits. The grant also funds financial incentives to homeowners and community outreach programs to participate in the energy evaluation effort.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency figures show more than 40 percent of carbon emissions in the United States come from lighting, heating, cooling and appliances. Many older homes and buildings in Nashville are inefficient, and retrofits would make it easier for Mayor Karl Dean to achieve his objective of trimming Nashville energy usage by 5 percent in 2012 and by 20 percent in 2020.

Janel Lacy, Dean’s press secretary, says details will probably be available sometime this month.

“We are working to develop a program but we’re not really ready to talk about any of the specifics about how it works or how people apply,” Lacy says. “We don’t really want to have speculative conversations just because when we do talk about it we want to use those opportunities to give people very clear information about what’s available and how they can access it.”

The Mayor’s Office of Environment and Sustainability will evaluate Metro’s in-home program to decide whether a similar program should be established for the commercial sector, likely using TVA programs currently available for the sector.

TVA offers several energy efficiency programs targeting the commercial and residential market. The commercial programs include the Commercial & Industrial Efficiency Advice and Incentives Program and the Major Industrial Program, which incorporates incentives provided by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Save Energy Now program.

TVA’s programs have been established to help the corporation meet its goal of becoming a top U.S. provider of low-cost and cleaner energy by 2020. TVA intends to bring increased energy efficiency to the Southeast by achieving 3.5 percent of sales in energy efficiency savings by 2015.

Homeowners who sign up for the TVA In-Home Energy Evaluation available through NES receive cash incentives and financing assistance for installing energy-efficiency upgrades. There is a $150 upfront fee for the evaluation, which is reimbursed to participants who make suggested improvements that cost at least $150. In addition, homeowners get a 50 percent reimbursement of the installation cost, topping off at $500. Improvements must be made within 90 days, and a cash incentive will be paid after work is completed. Financing for some recommendations is available.

The Mayor’s Office of Environment and Sustainability will apply money from the recent grant to subsidize the $150 upfront cost to the homeowner for the energy evaluation. What the possible Metro program subsidization will be for the commercial sector is unclear.

It is difficult to pinpoint how much it costs for TVA energy evaluations for commercial and industrial enterprises since there are different incentives and divergences in the commercial programs.

“It’s different from the energy home evaluation,” says Mike Bradley, a TVA spokesman. “I think it varies.”

In Nashville, the most enthusiastic support for TVA’s energy efficiency programs has come from Go Green Nashville, a campaign to create greater community awareness of the programs within urban areas of the city where there are older homes and buildings.

The campaign is a shared endeavor of NES, Metro Council Member Kristine LaLonde and other council members, the Urban Land Institute Nashville District Council, Village Real Estate Services, and others. Go Green Nashville began in Metro Council District 18 a little over a year ago and recently expanded to Districts 6 and 25.