DOE Announces $61 Million for Smart, Efficient Buildings that Accelerate Renewable Energy Adoption and Grid Resilience
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced $61 million for 10 pilot projects that will deploy new technology to transform thousands of homes and workplaces into state-of-the-art, energy-efficient buildings. These Connected Communities can interact with the electrical grid to optimize their energy consumption which will substantially decrease their carbon emissions and cut energy costs. This project will help achieve the Biden Administration's goal of reaching a net-zero carbon economy by providing a model for reducing the building sector’s contribution to the climate crisis.
“From our homes to workplaces, this groundbreaking, grid-connected building technology will help reduce our impact while cutting energy bills, maximizing convenience, and propelling our efforts to reach a carbon-neutral, clean energy economy by 2050,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “These projects will help universalize technology that can maximize the efficiency and sustainability of America’s nearly 130 million buildings and make significant headway in the fight against climate change.”
The Connected Communities funding opportunity is led by DOE’s Building Technologies Office in collaboration with the Solar Energy Technologies Office, the Vehicle Technologies Office, the Office of Electricity, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Applicants who were not selected through this highly competitive funding opportunity could still be eligible for DOE funding through DOE’s Loan Programs Office, which provides access to debt capital for the commercial scale-up of innovative technologies like grid-interactive efficient building communities.
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