While facilities managers in many governmental entities, organizations, and companies want to make sustainability upgrades to their facilities, many lack the funding or education to do so, but help is available thanks to U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) grant funds, a topic that was discussed during a recent CityAge Houston online event called “Decarbonizing America’s Energy Capital.”
The presentation, entitled “Accelerating the Clean Energy Transition,” featured speaker Chris Castro, Chief of Staff for the DOE’s Office of the State and Community Energy Programs (SCEP).
CityAge is a platform that brings a community of business and civic leaders together to build the future of cities and the planet using clean energy adoption and sustainable development.
The city of Houston was chosen to host this event because of its reputation as “a global leader in energy innovation and resilience. The city’s next massive opportunity is to lead the world on urban decarbonization,” according to the CityAge Houston webpage.
Legislation
Castro explained that Congress, during President Joe Biden’s administration, passed three bills totaling more than $500 billion aimed at providing clean technology innovation, increasing climate resilience, and investing in workers. Those bills included the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), and the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) and Science Act.
According to Castro, the Biden administration’s goals for this legislation are the following:
- Reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the United States by 50% to 52% by 2030.
- Have a 100% clean electricity grid in the United States by 2035.
- Have net-zero emissions in the United States by 2050.
Castro said the legislation allows approximately $100 billion to be available to the DOE for grants and rebates, and over $250 billion will be available in loans and loan guarantees.
Workforce Development Grants
Workforce development grants are one of the newest parts of the legislation. It’s important for workers to be adequately trained before they install and maintain environmentally friendly technology. Facilities managers and organizations will greatly benefit from an educated workforce.
Commercial and residential building owners can apply for a portion of the $40 million Energy Auditor Training Program, which is available through fiscal year 2026 via state energy offices, according to Castro. The money will be used to train individuals for energy audits or surveys of facilities, save customers money on their energy bills, and reduce pollution from building energy use.
Commercial and institutional building owners can apply for a part of the $10 million Building Training and Assessment Centers (BTAC) Program, which is available through various institutions of higher education. This funding will be used to create training and assessment centers to train students, as well as facility performance professionals.
All building owners can apply for funds from the $10 million Career Skills Training Program through nonprofit organizations. Funds will be used to train engineers, architects, facility scientists, building energy permitting and enforcement officials, and facility technicians regarding energy-efficient design and operation. They will also be used to research and develop alternative energy sources for energy-intensive facilities.
“The energy auditor training and career skills are going to be coming out with more information later this summer. We intend to be able to publish the career skills training as soon as the end of this summer and then shortly, thereafter, the auditor training program,” Castro said.
Government Grants
Facilities managers of government entities will soon see some of the results of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) that helped them with various renewable energy, sustainable transportation, and energy efficiency municipal projects, according to the National League of Cities (NLC).
Castro said the EECGB allowed $550 million to go to projects in all 50 states; over 1,800 communities; 744 tribal governments; and 5 territories. The DOE website said the concept deadline has already passed.
“You all can use those dollars as a way to accelerate the climate action goals that you have whether it’s purchasing equipment or hiring consultants for technical assistance,” Castro explained.
Organization Grants
Nonprofit organizations experience unique challenges that aren’t lost on the DOE. Castro said facilities managers of those buildings were able to apply for funds from the $50 million competitive energy efficiency grant program, called “Renew America’s Nonprofits Program.” Funds can install products, equipment, or a system that can reduce energy or fuel. Examples include lighting; heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC); windows; roof systems; and building automation systems.
“We know that nonprofits are often financially constrained that they often don’t have excess resources to put into their facilities to drive energy efficiency and they often don’t have the tax credit benefits that come with investing in some of these technologies, so non-profits and tax-exempt entities happen to be those that are a little bit furthest behind,” Castro said.
While the application period closed on August 3, those who will receive these grants will be notified on October 6.
Education Grants
Some facilities managers of educational institutions have started work on projects using funds received from “Renew America’s Schools” and “Energy CLASS Prize.”
$500 million was available for improvements, repairs, or renovations that would reduce energy costs or improve teacher and student health. These can include measures to achieve energy savings, install renewable energy, install alternative fuel vehicle (AFV) infrastructure, and purchase or lease AFVs.
While the application period closed in April and the first round of winners was recently announced, the DOE expects the second round of funding to be released in spring 2024.
“I was shocked to learn that in the study that we did with GAO (U.S. Government Accountability Office), there’s over $80 billion dollars in deferred maintenance across the country in public schools in this country,” Castro said, adding that “there was actually over $6 billion in requests, a thousand applications, that came through, it is by far the most popular grant that we have at DOE at this point in time.”
Learn More
Governmental, organizational, educational, commercial, and residential facilities will benefit from DOE funds aimed at encouraging everyone to “go green.” By doing so, we are expected to come closer to meeting Biden’s goals of reducing greenhouse gases and having net-zero emissions and a 100% clean electricity grid.
While most of the deadlines for these grants have already passed, more information, including application deadlines, regarding grants involving workplace training will be coming out soon. Properly training individuals to install and maintain energy efficiency is important so facilities managers can hire the right people.
To learn more about the DOE’s nonprofit buildings program, be sure to check out “$45M Available to Help Nonprofit Buildings Boost Energy Efficiency” on Facilities Management Advisor, and to learn more about the DOE’s educational program, read Facilities Management Advisor’s “A Sustainable Approach to School Infrastructure Upgrades.”
Be sure to check out the full on-demand presentation for free by clicking here. Additionally, view the other four CityAge sessions by checking out the CityAge Media YouTube channel.