Through this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), Department of Energy (DOE) seeks to fund the scale-up of promising solutions to the market barriers that hinder the growth of energy efficiency in the small and medium commercial buildings and tenant spaces. The objective of this funding is to build a path for market-ready solutions to be used at scale across the United States (US) to improve commercial building energy efficiency.
According to the US Energy Information Agency, in 2014, 18 Quadrillion Btu was used in commercial buildings, about 19% of total national energy use. Small commercial buildings (under 50,000 square feet in gross floor area) account for more than 40% of the energy used in the commercial sector. Commercial buildings can be made much more efficient using a variety of cost effective efficiency improvements while creating jobs and building a stronger economy. However, well-documented informational, structural, and market barriers, such as split incentives, asymmetrical or inadequate information, higher first costs and high investment hurdle rates, impede the adoption of more energy efficient technologies and practices. These barriers are particularly pernicious in the small and medium size commercial buildings (between 50,000 and 100,000 square feet in gross floor area) that this FOA addresses.
The mission of the US Department of Energy’s Building Technologies Office (BTO) is to help meet DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) and Administration targets to improve energy efficiency in commercial and residential buildings, with a near-term goal of 20% savings by 2020 and 50% by 2030. The Commercial Building Integration (CBI) program plays an important role in meeting the Building Technologies Office goals; it is charged with increasing voluntary adoption of energy efficient technologies and practices in commercial buildings, serving as a critical “market stimulation” link between BTO’s Emerging Technologies and Codes and Standards programs. In order for CBI to help meet BTO, EERE and DOE energy efficiency goals for commercial buildings, the program continues to invest in the development of new resources, tools, and solutions designed to help overcome the aforementioned barriers to energy efficiency. These resources are available on the CBI program website at http://energy.gov/eere/buildings/commercial-buildings-integration.
On November 9, an informational webinar was held regarding the announcement, please see the webinar document below for the presentation slides and transcript.
The eXCHANGE system is currently designed to enforce hard deadlines for Concept Paper and Full Application submissions. The APPLY and SUBMIT buttons automatically disable at the defined submission deadlines. The intention of this design is to consistently enforce a standard deadline for all applicants.
Applicants that experience issues with submissions PRIOR to the FOA Deadline:
In the event that an Applicant experiences technical difficulties with a submission, the Applicant should contact the eXCHANGE helpdesk for assistance (exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov). The eXCHANGE helpdesk &/or the EERE eXCHANGE System Administrators (eXCHANGE@go.doe.gov) will assist the Applicant in resolving all issues.
Applicants that experience issues with submissions that result in a late submission:
In the event that an Applicant experiences technical difficulties with a submission that results in a late submission, the Applicant should contact the eXCHANGE helpdesk for assistance (exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov). The eXCHANGE helpdesk &/or the EERE eXCHANGE System Administrators (eXCHANGE@go.doe.gov) will assist the Applicant in resolving all issues (including finalizing the submission on behalf of and with the Applicant’s concurrence). DOE will only accept late applications when the Applicant has a) encountered technical difficulties beyond their control; b) has contacted the eXCHANGE helpdesk for assistance, and c) has submitted the application through eXCHANGE within 24 hours of the FOA’s posted deadline.