December 17, 2024

On December 17, 2024, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), through the Office of State and Community Energy Programs (SCEP), announced that applications are open for the 2025 Renew America’s Schools Prize, a $90 million investment in the K-12 energy sector which aims to help school communities make high-impact infrastructure upgrades to lower energy use and costs, improve indoor air quality, and foster healthy learning environments in their facilities. Funded by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the 2025 Prize is the third round of funding from the $500 million Renew America’s Schools Program and builds on the success of the previous 2024 Renew America’s Schools Prize by continuing the innovative prize-to-cooperative agreement model that will make federal funds more accessible to high-need districts, and provide them earlier, more targeted supports during project planning and implementation. 

The 2025 Renew America’s Schools Prize consists of three phases. During Phase 1, competitors will build teams and curate lists of at least 10 schools/school facilities that demonstrate compelling need and eligibility for investment. Competitive submissions will…

1.Establish the need for both energy improvements and financing across the proposed portfolio;

2.Demonstrate overall team capacity to manage projects across the portfolio;

3.Propose a comprehensive plan for executing Phase 2 (energy auditing and design) activities;

4.Engage in replicable, strategic partnerships to build capacity at school districts/across the K-12 sector, while leveraging funds to enhance the impact of federal dollars;

5.Establish a strategic approach to delivering community benefits that advance the following goals: 1) community and labor engagement; 2) investing in job quality and workforce continuity; 3) advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA); and 4) contributing to the Justice40 Initiative.

Phase 1 Winners will earn a cash prize of $300,000 and may move on to Phases 2 and 3, during which they will enter and execute Cooperative Agreements with DOE. Awards made in Phases 2 and 3 will vary by portfolio size but could range from $7.5 million to $15 million. DOE may down select the number of Phase 1 winners that will enter into negotiations with DOE for a Cooperative Agreement for Phase 2 and Phase 3 funding.

Funded improvements – like new HVAC and ventilation systems, building envelope and lighting projects, and alternative fuel and renewable energy technologies – will result in improved health outcomes, energy savings, and/or energy cost savings.

Click here to read the Rules document; find information about helpful webinars, Office hours, and the DOE Schools Teaming Partner List; and to start an application. For more information, visit the Renew America’s Schools Program website.

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Renew America’s Schools-October 22, 2024

Register for Upcoming Webinar on Bird-Safe Energy Efficiency Retrofits 

Interested in learning how your facility can make energy efficiency improvements that save money while protecting the natural environment? The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is hosting a webinar with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services (FWS) on November 14th from 3-4PM ET about the benefits of energy efficient window and door retrofits that prevent bird collisions.  

With nearly 1 billion birds killed by glass collisions in the US annually, schools interested in energy efficient retrofits are positioned to implement solutions that provide a variety of benefits. Speakers will highlight the ways that bird-safe windows intersect with energy efficiency goals, toolkits to prevent collisions, and low to no-cost solutions that organizations can employ. Join to learn about energy upgrades that generate cost savings, create healthier learning spaces for students, and protect bird populations.  

Register today! 

Apply For Up to $100,000 to Support Energy Efficiency Upgrades in Your Nonprofit 

October 1, 2024

We’re thrilled to announce that applications are open for the Building Upgrades Inspiring Local Transformation (BUILT Nonprofits), a $2 million funding opportunity offered in collaboration with TechWerx. BUILT Nonprofits will support nonprofit organizations by funding energy efficient equipment and installation to reduce energy use, lower carbon emissions, and generate long-term energy cost savings—allowing you to direct more resources toward your mission-critical work.

If your organization is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that owns and operates its own buildings, we encourage you to apply for an award of up to $100,000, with a 20% cost-share requirement. 

Don’t miss this opportunity to reduce energy costs, minimize your environmental impact, and increase your budget for the programs that matter most. Applications must be submitted by 12 AM ET on November 12th.  

• Read about eligibility information and submit your application 
• Want to learn more? Sign up for the Q&A session 

Unlike the 2023 Renew America’s Nonprofits Grant, BUILT Nonprofits will directly fund community-based organizations to make energy efficiency improvements.    

BUILT Nonprofits is managed by TechWerx in partnership with DOE, a collaboration made possible through an innovative Partnership Intermediary Agreement set up by the DOE’s Office of Technology Transitions. This agreement enables TechWerx to broaden DOE’s engagement with innovative organizations and non-traditional partners, facilitating the rapid development, scaling, and deployment of clean energy solutions. 

Renew America’s Nonprofits

Unlock Funding for Your Nonprofit’s Energy Upgrades 

As a nonprofit you work tirelessly to support your community, leaving minimal time and resources for essential facility improvements. To help bridge this gap, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is excited to host the next webinar in an ongoing series, “Funding Strategies for Nonprofits and Schools: Incentives and Rebates and How to Find Them,” on September 25th, 2024. 

Discover how to tap into valuable rebates and incentives to fund energy-saving upgrades. Learn how these programs can be a game-changer for facility infrastructure projects from experts who will discuss: 

• Resources for identifying local rebate and incentive programs 
• The first steps in accessing this funding 
• Real examples of nonprofits benefiting from utility incentives 

Don’t miss the chance to identify funding for projects that improve facility energy efficiency and lower operational costs. Register today! 

EPA Community Change Grants – September 2023

Schools Can Now Sign up for Free Assistance in Applying for EPA’s Community Change Grants

School districts interested in pursuing $10 – $20 million grants from the EPA Community Change Grant program: https://www.epa.gov/inflation-reduction-act/inflation-reduction-act-community-change-grants-program?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery for environmental health and sustainable building improvements in disadvantaged communities now have access to dedicated support https://www.usgbc.org/resources/grant-writing-toolkit-epa-community-change-grants?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery from Better Buildings Alliance member U.S. Green Building Council to help with their grant applications.

Invasive Species: Callery Pear (Pyrus calleryana)

Callery Pear is a deciduous tree commonly known as “Bradford pear.” It grows from thirty to fifty feet tall. Native to China and Taiwan, the U.S. Department of Agriculture imported the tree in 1917 for hybridization with fruiting pears to improve disease resistance. During the 1950s, the Bradford cultivar was widely planted as a promising new ornamental tree because of its quick growth, adaptability, even shape, red fall color and believed infertility. It was planted in urban, suburban, and rural yards, office and apartment complexes, malls, streets, and college campuses.  Plant scientists developed many self-sterile cultivars, but different cultivars planted near each other can cross pollinate and produce viable seed. Now, hybrid Callery pears can be found along power lines and highway rights of way, fields, parks, and other natural open areas. In the wild, these trees appear in forest understories and woodlands. Callery pear is ubiquitous. It grows quickly and dies young, frequently breaking in strong winds. It is a vigorous and adaptable tree, acclimating to a wide variety of growing conditions, including compacted soils along city streets.

Callery Pear threatens biodiversity because it can form large, dense colonies within several years and outcompete native plants. It leafs out earlier than native trees, shading out native spring wildflowers and other plants. They take nutrients and moisture from the soil that is needed by trees and other native plants. Callery Pear degrades native communities of plants by reducing the diversity of plants, resulting in fewer native plants capable of providing food and/or habitat for pollinators and other animals.

Callery Pear spreads easily because the viable seed produced by the hybrid trees are eaten and distributed by birds and other animals in their poop. It grows rapidly and is adapted to a wide variety of environmental conditions.  In the wild, hybrid forms develop stout thorns that make them difficult to clear.

Removing Callery Pear: Light infestations of small Callery Pear trees can be controlled by removing small trees, including their roots, by hand when the soil is moist. Medium to large Callery pears should be cut down and the stumps treated immediately with herbicide to prevent regrowth. Herbicides uptake is most successful in late winter/early spring or during the summer.

Villain Species Spotlight: Asian bush honeysuckle

This plant is native to Japan. It was introduced to America in 1806 and utilized as an ornamental ground cover but it escaped cultivation. By the early 1900s it became widely established.  According to the Missouri Department of Conservation, Missouri has at least two species of Asian bush honeysuckle, Morrow’s (Lonicera morrowii) and Amur (Lonicera maackii). These plants grow practically anywhere and can reach twenty feet tall! Bush honeysuckle invades city lots, suburban yards, wild ecosystems including floodplain and upland forests and woods, marshes, wet and dry prairies, lake and stream banks, ditches, and savannas.

Asian bush honeysuckle threatens biodiversity because it eliminates the competition. These plants are one of the first to “leaf out” everywhere they are found. They form a thick understory, limiting or even excluding sunlight from reaching native plants. They take nutrients and moisture from the soil that is needed by trees and other native plants. The result? Native plant communities disappear from the area. Native pollinators, other little creatures, and larger animals that utilize native plants for food and/or habitat must look elsewhere.

Asian honeysuckle spreads easily: Birds, deer and other mammals eat berries produced by the bush. The seed inside the berry survives the animal’s digestive system and is distributed when the animal poops.  Bush honeysuckle also spreads from the roots, which can result in their dominating the area.

The best time to remove Asian bush honeysuckle: The Missouri Department of Conservation states that the best time to remove it is in the fall because it remains green after native plants are already dormant. Removing Asian honeysuckle plants in early spring before other, similar looking plants leaf out is a close second. Those familiar with the plant’s characteristics can remove it anytime.

Fairly young plants can be removed by pulling the entire plant, roots and all, from the ground. Eliminating mature plants with wood branches is another matter. The Department made this video to assist the public with identification and removal. If you find Asian honeysuckle on your property, please consider permanently removing it and replacing with a native plant.

Species spotlight: Acer nigrum, Black Maple

This Missouri native tree reaches a height of 60 – 75 feet and a width of 40 – 60 feet at maturity. Its dark green leaves measure up to 6 inches wide and provide beautiful fall colors of yellow, orange and red. Black maples require full sun to part shade and medium moisture. This species tolerates heat and drought slightly better than its relative, the sugar maple. In Missouri, it can be found in rich woods, ravines, valleys, slopes, and along streams mostly in the northern and central parts of the state. Black Maple makes a good shade tree in lawns as well as a street tree. Interestingly, its sap can be tapped for syrup that is equal in quality to syrup made from sugar maples. Its leaves, fluids, wood, and other parts provide food to many insects. Pictured are Ryocampa rubicunda (rosy maple moth, adult and larva) and a butterfly Polygonia interrogationis (Question Mark, adult and larva).

Birds, both gamebirds and songbirds, eat those insects. Sphyrapicus varius (Yellow-bellied sapsucker) [see photo], a species of woodpecker, often drills small holes into the bark of maples and drinks the sap that flows out. Vertebrate animals also use Black Maple as a source of food and protective cover. Among mammal species, the American Beaver and North American Porcupine eat its wood and bark. White-tailed deer and the American Moose eat Black Maple’s twigs and foliage. Small mammals including the Prairie Vole, Meadow Vole, White-footed Mouse, Eastern Gray Squirrel, Fox Squirrel, American Red Squirrel, and Eastern Chipmunk eat its seeds. The Southern Flying Squirrel feeds on the sap.

Old maple trees provide dens for tree squirrels and such cavity-nesting birds as the Black-Capped Chickadee, European Starling, Northern Flicker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, and Screech Owl. The Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Evening Grosbeak, American Goldfinch, Baltimore Oriole, American Robin, Red-eyed Vireo, and other birds construct nests on branches of maples that vary in size from small saplings to mature trees. In addition to birds, some species of bats use maples as roost trees and for maternity colonies. This includes Lasiurus borealis (Eastern Red Bat), Myotis septentrionalis (Northern Long-eared Bat), Perimyotis subflavus (Tricolored Bat) and Myotis lucifugus (Little Brown Bat). According to the Missouri Department of Conservation, the Little Brown Bat is a Species of Conservation Concern in Missouri. Once common across the state, this species has declined dramatically across the eastern part of its range, including Missouri, resulting from impacts of white-nose syndrome.

Showy Goldenrod is a pollinator superstar

Solidago speciosa aka Showy goldenrod is one of Missouri’s best plants for bees. It produces easy to access flowers in abundance in late September and early October, a time of year when few other flowers are blooming. Over 100 different species of butterflies (Lepidoptera) use Goldenrods as host plants! Migrating insects, including Monarch butterflies, rely on goldenrods for sustenance. Goldenrods are also a major food source for birds, both for their seeds and the insects they attract. Goldenrods also have a host of specialist interactions – from oligolectic bees [bees that exhibit a narrow, specialized preference for pollen sources, typically to a single family or genus of flowering plants] to gall-inducing insect larvae, making them keystone species in many habitats.

501(c)(3) Nonprofits, houses of worship and schools receive Flora for Fauna’s services free of charge. We apply for grants and other funding to obtain plants and planting materials (such as mulch) so these organizations typically have no out of pocket costs for their projects. We write grants for our clients for facility upgrades and energy improvements under programs administered through federal agencies such as the U.S. Department of Energy that are funded through laws like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act. Flora for Fauna also works with for-profit companies and homeowners who are interested in adding native plants to their grounds. Please email organization president Cynthia Boxerman at [email protected].

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Grant Announcement-Renews America’s Nonprofits Grant–APPLICATION PERIOD HAS CLOSEDP

It’s not too late to apply to be a subrecipient of an @Department of Energy #RenewAmericasNonprofits grant, a $45 million investment in the nonprofit sector. Funds will support projects to reduce energy or fuel use in buildings owned and operated by 501(c)(3) organizations.

To enhance the technical and administrative capacity of nonprofits seeking access to this funding, DOE is using an aggregation model.

Under this model, DOE will award 5-15 larger grants to nonprofits interested in assembling and supporting a group of energy-efficiency projects in the facilities of other nonprofit organizations. DOE expects to announce selections of Prime recipients in October 2023. Hundreds of nonprofit facilities across the country have the opportunity to be represented across these project bundles.

To facilitate engagement and partnership-building between stakeholders in the Renew America’s Nonprofits grant, DOE has established a Teaming List. The diagram below describes three different pathways for participating.

Sign up for the Teaming List, view the current Teaming List and the Press Release, and learn about other helpful resources here https://www.energy.gov/scep/renew-americas-nonprofits

501(c)(3) Nonprofits, houses of worship and schools receive Flora for Fauna’s services free of charge. We apply for grants and other funding to obtain plants and planting materials (such as mulch) so these organizations typically have no out of pocket costs for their projects. We write grants for our clients for facility upgrades and energy improvements under programs administered through federal agencies such as the U.S. Department of Energy that are funded through laws like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act. Flora for Fauna also works with for-profit companies and homeowners who are interested in adding native plants to their grounds. Please email organization president Cynthia Boxerman at [email protected].

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Flora for Fauna’s first planting event will take place at Kol Rinah Congregation, 7701 Maryland Avenue, Clayton, Missouri on October 22, 2023. Flora for Fauna and Kol Rinah Education Hub [Religious School] students will plant four shrubs grown and provided by Forest ReLeaf of Missouri. We selected the appropriate plants for the site [drainage basin] and applied for the in-kind grant of shrubs from Forest ReLeaf. For spring 2023, we expect to plant native grasses and flowers at the site. The goals for this area are stormwater control, beautification, education, and improving biodiversity. Our vision is a beautiful, vibrant pollinator garden that can be enjoyed by the students, members of the congregation, and the public.