Green Buildings Initiative

April 21, 2004

Summary

The Massachusetts Green Building Initiative, launched in March 2002, provides competitive awards to fund the planning and construction of renewable technologies in all types of Green Buildings. The Initiative selects awardees on a competitive basis from two separate categories of applicants: (1) public entities or private tax-exempt non-profit organizations. These may include instrumentalities of the federal, state or local government or organizations that are tax-exempt under section 501(C)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code; and (2) private for-profit, or non-profit organizations that are not tax-exempt. The Initiative is administered by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC) and funded through the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust, the state's public benefits fund (see DSIRE summary) created in 1997 as a result of the state's electric utility industry restructuring legislation. Design And Construction Grants of up to $500,000 per project are available to support the costs of eligible renewable energy technologies, and related renewable energy and energy efficiency features in new green building construction or major renovation or rehabilitation projects. A total of $13.5 million has been made available. The grant may be used to support a range of activities, including the costs associated with the planning and design, and the purchase and installation of the eligible renewable energy technologies. A minimum of seventy (70%) percent of the grant must be used for the costs resulting in the purchase, installation, and commissioning of the eligible renewable energy technologies that actively generate electricity. The remaining 30% may be used for other renewable and energy efficiency features. MTC will reimburse grantees for 30% of the incremental first costs of solar photovoltaics, 50% of the incremental first costs of building-integrated photovoltaics, and 75% of the incremental first costs of all other eligible renewable technologies, subject to the maximum grant amount. In order to be eligible for assistance under this Solicitation, the project must be a "green building." and must be registered under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system. Twenty-one organizations received a total of more than $7 million in funding as a result of the first three rounds of Design and Construction funding. The schedule for application submissions for upcoming grant awards is as follows: Round 5: Friday, March 19, 2004; Round 6: Friday, September 17, 2004. View the full solicitation at the Web site above. Forty-five Early Stage Feasibility Study Grants totalling more than $500,000 were awarded in 2003 to support the costs of evaluating and assessing the inclusion of eligible renewable energy technologies and related renewable energy and energy efficiency features in green building construction. No further funding is available for feasibility grants, but the results of the studies are available from the MTC Web site above. Public Education and Awareness Grants of up to $30,000 per project are also available as part of the Green Building Initiative. These grants support a broad range of activities to educate and demonstrate the benefits of and the practices involved in completed green building projects. A total of $600,000 in funding is available through calendar year 2006. The schedule for application submissions for upcoming grant awards is as follows: Quarter 6: Friday, November 28, 2003; Quarter 7: Friday, February 27, 2004; Quarter 8: Friday, May 28, 2004.