|
|
- Are Foundation applicants allowed to receive funding from Ameren, ComEd and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity under the Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard (EEPS) Program?
-
The Foundation encourages grantees to leverage available funding to complete their projects from all available sources. Grant recipients may use EEPS funding to pay for the portion of project costs not covered by the Foundation’s grant. In no case will the Foundation provide funding above the cost of the project.
- Who can apply for lighting upgrade grants?
-
The Foundation’s lighting upgrade programs target specific sectors of eligible applicants. For 2011, Foundation programs target governments, historic courthouses, non-profit community centers and non-profit community health and care providers. The Government lighting program expands the pool of eligible buildings beyond public safety. Public safety buildings such as fire and police stations may still apply under the expanded Government program.
Eligible applicants covered under past Foundation programs may not apply for lighting upgrade grants. This restriction covers: K-12 Schools, Colleges/Universities, Public Libraries, Park Districts, Child Care Centers and governments requesting LED traffic signal upgrades
Eligible applicants provided electricity service from municipal electric utilities and rural electric cooperatives and who are not eligible to participate in utility EEPS (Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard) lighting programs may apply to the Foundation under its new EEPS Ineligible Program. There is no restriction on eligible sectors.
- Is funding available for new construction?
-
The Foundation’s New High Performance Buildings Program provides up to $400,000 per building project to support LEED certified buildings at the Gold and Platinum levels. Support is provided for “soft” costs related to certification (e.g., energy modeling, energy engineering, specialized consulting, LEED registration and management) as well as “hard” capital costs for innovative energy efficiency and renewable energy systems.
The new program requires eligible applicants to submit a single funding request for both “soft” and “hard” costs. Requests will be considered on a rolling review basis.
The Foundation’s New Existing Buildings Program – limited to eligible applicants in the Community Center and Community Health & Care Provider sectors – does not require LEED certification and is intended to achieve comprehensive energy upgrades in existing buildings. Incentives up to $100,000 will be provided for energy related upgrades including but not limited to lighting, HVAC, motors, drives and renewable energy systems. Requests under this program will be considered in the Foundation competitive grant cycles in January and July.
- Will the Foundation continue funding for geothermal HVAC installations?
-
Yes. Foundation support for geothermal is available in two ways: Requests may be submitted as part of the High Performance Building Program and Existing Buildings Program. Requests for all other systems will be considered during the Foundation’s competitive grant cycles. In all cases, funding is based on 1/3 the incremental cost difference between a conventional code compliant HVAC system and the geothermal system with funding capped at $90,000.
|
