School construction bonds

Washington — The U.S. Department of Treasury and the Department of Education today announced $11 billion in allocation authority to issue qualified school construction bonds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). Qualified school construction bonds can be used to finance the construction, rehabilitation or repair of a public school facility or for the acquisition of land where a school will be built. The full list of allocations by state can be found here.

Opinion article: Green School Buildings

[From the Commonwealth Foundation] Yesterday the House passed Rep. Drucker's bill to exclude any costs associated with making a school building LEED certified from a possible taxpayer referendum.

Committee staff reported the department said there is a dollar amount threshold for referendums and green building costs can be excluded from that in order to avoid a referendum. Staff said, according to the department, if there is a referendum anyway, all projects will be included in the ballot question, including green construction. (PLS subscription)

With the cost of school construction and debt spending on the rise this bill could have wide implications. As noted in Nate Benefield's testimony on education spending:

Construction and debt spending grew 137% from 1996-97 to 2007-08, compared with 66% growth in instructional spending.

In committee, legislators debated whether green construction is more expensive and Rep. Drucker indicated responded the upfront costs are but the long-term costs are "significantly less". And Rep. Clymer hit the nail on the head when he asked why the exemption is needed if green technology is accepted by the taxpayers.

Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy

The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) is a new agency of the Department of Energy. ARPA-E was authorized by the America COMPETES Act (PL 110-69) and charged with the mission to fund projects that will develop transformational technologies that reduce Americas dependence on foreign energy imports; reduce U.S. energy related emissions, including greenhouse gases; improve energy efficiency across all sectors of the U.S. economy; and ensure that the United States maintains its leadership in developing and deploying advanced energy technologies. Initially funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (PL 111-5), ARPA-E aims to support the development of high risk/high payoff applied science and technology innovations that will have a positive disruptive impact on the energy landscape.

Buildings consume 40 percent of the primary energy in the United States, and account for 72 percent of the nation's electricity use and 55 percent of the nation's natural gas use. The objective of this funding opportunity announcement is to develop energy efficient cooling technologies/air conditioners (AC) for buildings to reduce GHG emissions from: (a) primary energy consumption due to space cooling; and (b) refrigerants used vapor compression systems. ARPA-E seeks innovative research and development approaches to increase energy efficiency and reduce emissions due to cooling of buildings by: (i) development of cooling systems that use refrigerants with low global warming potential of less than or equal to 1: (ii) development of energy efficient air conditioning (AC) systems for warm and humid climates to increase the coefficient of performance (COP) of ventilation load cooling by greater than or to 50 percent; and (iii) increased efficiency of hot climate vapor compress ion AC systems for re-circulating air loads by increasing the COP by greater than or equal to 50 percent. One or more combination of these technologies can be utilized in buildings, where many factors influence the cooling load, including but not limited to: (1) type of building, such as office space versus hospitals (which have very high ventilation loads - almost 100 fresh air); and (2) climate type - warm and humid versus hot and dry. More information on the grant is available here.

Green communities grants

[Philanthropy News Digest] Created by Enterprise Community Partners in partnership with the Natural Resources Defense Council, Green Communities is a five-year, $555 million initiative to build more than 8,500 environmentally healthy homes for low-income families in the United States. The initiative provides grants, financing, tax-credit equity, and technical assistance to developers who meet Green Communities Criteria for affordable housing that promotes health, conserves energy and natural resources, and provides easy access to jobs, schools, and services.

Green Communities is now offering charrette grants of up to $5,000 each for green affordable housing developers who want to convene intense working sessions with the development team and others who share an interest in promoting health and livability.

A Green Communities charrette will involve an intense working session that brings together a diverse group of housing development professionals as well as funders, policy makers, and community stakeholders (where possible) to integrate sustainable green design principles into affordable housing developments. Enterprise will award grants to cover the cost of facilitating a charrette during pre-development and to cover the cost of facilitating a post-construction sustainability training session.

The charrette grant program is open to 501(c)(3) nonprofits, public housing authorities, and tribally designated housing entities; for-profit entities; and for-profit entities participating through joint ventures with qualified organizations.

Visit the Enterprise Web site for complete program information and application materials.

Bank of America Neighborhood Builders grants

[Philanthropy News Digest] The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Neighborhood Excellence Initiative is designed to recognize, nurture, and reward community organizations, local heroes, and student leaders who are helping their neighborhoods achieve excellence. The program makes grants and awards in forty-four U.S. markets and in London, United Kingdom.

The Neighborhood Excellence Initiative is accepting applications/nominations for the following programs:

Neighborhood Builders: Provides $200,000 in core operating support and leadership training over two years to two nonprofit organizations working in each eligible community to promote vibrant neighborhoods. Any 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization operating in an applicable Bank of America community is eligible for a grant under the foundation's guidelines. (Applicants must be registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales for the London market.) The program seeks organizations whose focus closely reflects local neighborhood priorities. Applicants should demonstrate how they have impacted their community and how grant funding and leadership development opportunities will help their organization further its work in the community.

Local Heroes: Recognizes and honors five heroes per year in each of the selected communities whose achievements and leadership on local issues contribute significantly to neighborhood vitality. Successful nominations will demonstrate how a nominee has made a special and significant impact on individuals, families, or the community at large; inspired others to community service; or been a catalyst for new visions, understanding, and change in a community. Recipients will each be able to direct a $5,000 contribution to an eligible nonprofit. Self-nominations are accepted.

Visit the Bank of America Web site for complete guidelines and list of eligible markets.

Nearly $130 devoted to energy efficieny, workforce issues

The Obama Administration recently announced a multi-agency initiative to spur regional economic growth while making buildings more energy efficient. Seven federal agencies today issued a combined Funding Opportunity Announcement of up to $129.7 million over five years to create a regional research center that will develop new building efficiency technologies and work with local partners to implement the technologies in area buildings. The Department of Labor press release can be viewed here.

The agencies are working together to leverage funding and resources to promote regional growth through an Energy Regional Innovation Cluster (E-RIC) that is centered around an Energy Innovation Hub focused on developing new technologies to improve the design of energy-efficient building systems. This Energy Innovation Hub, one of three proposed by the Administration and funded by Congress in the FY10 budget, will bring together a multidisciplinary team of researchers, ideally working under one roof, to conduct research and work to solve priority technology challenges that span work from basic research to engineering development to commercialization readiness.

"The Department of Labor will engage local and regional networks of Workforce Investment Boards and One-Stop Career centers to ensure that workers reap the maximum benefit from this initiative," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. "This alignment of federal agency resources will allow us to have an even greater positive impact along the full economic spectrum. It will also help reduce the energy costs of buildings while spurring the creation of new jobs in green and energy efficient industries."

"Regional innovation clusters create jobs and increase our global competitiveness. Through the Energy RIC, the SBA will help entrepreneurs and small business owners take the best research and commercialize it to grow the 'green building' industry into an economic powerhouse that will put people to work, save consumers money and help our environment," said U.S. Small Business Administrator Karen Mills.

Construction and the recession

According to a February 6, 2010 Times report, "Nationally, unemployment fell to 9.7% in January, but in construction it jumped to 24.7% from 18.7% in October. In many regions, union officials report 30% of their members are unemployed or 'riding the bench.'" See the full story here.