BTO is seeking innovative approaches for improving the energy performance of buildings. BTO plans to stimulate new innovations in the ET portfolio by supporting relatively small projects that evaluate new ideas aligned with our program goals. The funding for each project will be between $250K- $750K, with the average award ~ $500K. These projects will be of relatively short duration (≤ 2 years), with clear milestones for measuring success. All building energy topics are eligible for submission, with the exception of solid-state lighting. Note that this FOA is only for the ET program that supports research and development; proposed deployment efforts will not be considered. Technology Innovations supported under this FOA may have the opportunity to seek additional, larger amounts of funding through future BTO FOAs.
All proposed technologies or approaches must have the potential to reduce building energy consumption, energy costs, or GHG emissions, or a combination of these benefits. Both technology performance improvements and technology cost reductions are of interest. BTO expects a concise overview, justification for why a proposed technology or approach will lead to significant improvement over the current state-of-the-art, a detailed description of the technical approach, a strong team and resources, and a description of a commercialization path within five years. Any benefits must be clearly described and justified. In addition, the commercialization potential of the proposed technology or approach will be considered as part of the evaluation process. Given the FOA objective of researching and developing technologies that are within 5 years of commercialization, applicants must describe how the proposed technology or approach can be realistically commercialized within 5 years. For example, if an award from this FOA provides the first 2 years of support, assuming additional follow-on support is obtained what would be the path to commercialization within the remaining 3 years?