Meet Knoxville's New Sustainability Director

Vasu Primlani, Knoxville's new sustainability coordinator, says increasing walkability in the city is a top priority.

Vasu Primlani is new to Knoxville and her job here is to ensure the city meets its green goals with a focus on reducing carbon emissions.

She also pledged to make Knoxville’s sidewalks more walkable.

She brings with her quite a resume. Primlani, 50, originally from India, speaks at least three languages and can greet people in a few others. She has had a career in comedy, recently wrote a graphic novel about her childhood, competes in triathlons, knits, rock climbs, and recently worked as a decarbonization manager in Nashville.

But her main role now is as Knoxville’s new sustainability director, and the only real challenge ahead of her is a fight against time.

“Everything we need to do should have been done 50 years ago,” Primlani said. “We’re at the eleventh hour now.”

She sees Knoxville as a place full of possibilities. It reminds her of New York, she says.

“The culture of Knoxville, even though the city is much smaller than Nashville, is more like New York City. It feels like a real metropolis,” she said.

To start, she wants to help low- and middle-income families install solar panels on their roofs.

“This is our commitment to equity,” Primlani said.

How will she get the message across to everyone?

No matter what anyone thinks about the actions needed to slow climate change, Primlani said, everyone understands the economics of saving money through conservation.

“We want you to make as much money as possible, for as long as possible,” she said. “Even one hunter won’t hunt the entire herd in one season. … It’s just a question of sustainability.”

“It’s our commitment to keep you and your families healthy,” Primlani said. “We don’t want severe weather events like floods or tornadoes and we want to make as much money as possible, for as long as possible, because the difference between economics and sustainability is only time.”

She is committed to making data on the city’s sustainability initiative open and easily accessible, she said.

What is his philosophy and approach to the profession?

Sustainability is not the initiative of a single ministry, Primlani said.

The city has two sustainability goals: reducing emissions from government operations by 50% by 2030 and reducing citywide emissions by 80% by 2050, Primlani told Knox News.

To achieve this, everyone needs to be on board, she said.

“Knoxville’s sustainability division doesn’t live in a vacuum,” she said. Responsibility for sustainability belongs to all city departments.

The goals are “ambitious and achievable,” Primlani said, and the city has already made significant progress.

Replacing the city’s streetlights with LED bulbs has helped reduce emissions, she said. Now, moving forward, she will focus on transportation and equity to ensure a greener Knoxville for everyone.

Citywide, transportation accounts for 59% of total emissions, according to data shared by Primlani. Switching to using electric buses for Knoxville Area Transit helps “dramatically” reduce emissions, she said.

The city’s tree canopy, Primlani said, shows disparities across neighborhoods — a problem she seeks to address.

She wants to get the city’s largest energy consumers, including the City of Knoxville, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, the Knoxville Utility Board and the Tennessee Valley Authority, to work together and reduce emissions by 90 percent.

“It’s going to bring down the average for the entire city,” she said.

What are his priorities for Knoxville?

Increasing walkability in the city is at the top of Primlani’s list. She even wants workers to find it convenient to travel on greenways.

The city also has a micromobility sector – that is, small, lightweight vehicles such as bikes and scooters for traveling short distances – with an electric scooter rental program that it hopes to expand. And it wants to use the network to work with Knoxville Area Transit to provide “last mile” connectivity from bus stops to jobs and homes throughout the city.