Massachusetts Launches $15 Million Grant Program for High-Performance Buildings

The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) has issued a Request for Responses (RFR) for its new High-Performance Buildings Grant Program.  Using money from the State Energy Program funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, approximately $15 million is available to all types of entities undertaking qualifying green building projects in the Commonwealth.

The RFR is intended to help achieve scalable and dramatic improvements in the energy performance of buildings in Massachusetts, beyond what is currently expected through existing state and utility-based energy-efficiency programs.  DOER’s goal is to promote zero net energy buildings (ZNEB), which over the course of a year generate at least as much energy onsite, using clean renewable resources, as the total amount of energy they consume.

Projects funded under the new solicitation must demonstrate innovation in the technology and/or business model employed, and an explanation for how the approach could be applied to many other buildings in the state.  Such projects should address at least one of four specified “challenges,” such as by demonstrating a deep energy retrofit that is designed to achieve at least a 50% reduction in annual energy consumption.

Awards will range from $500,000 to $5 million, and even higher at DOER’s discretion.  Responses are due by 3:00 p.m. on October 30, 2009.