In order to assist the State and Territory Energy Offices as they implement programs under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and the Inflation Reduction Act (2022), NASEO will maintain and expand this library of state-led building energy improvement programs and accompanying program documents (including solicitations for vendor and implementation contractors). Currently, this library highlights websites and program documents from state-led voluntary building energy benchmarking and energy improvement programs, mandatory building energy benchmarking ordinances and building performance standards, shared energy manager programs, and sustainable transportation. States and territories may consider adapting existing program documents for use in deploying new programs using IIJA and IRA funding to advance building energy efficiency and reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

This page will be updated and may change significantly as the IIJA is implemented. This model program and policy library is a supplementary resource to NASEO’s IIJA Resource Hub. If your state has sample programs, policies, or documents that should be included in this resource list, please contact Jasmine Xie (jxie@naseo.org).  

NASEO is available to review state plan drafts and offer technical assistance to state and local jurisdictions on accessing program funding. For more information on state energy planning, please contact Sam Cramer (scramer@naseo.org).

  • Relevant Funding Opportunities (updated April 2023)

    +

    NASEO has compiled a Buildings-Focused Federal Funding Tracker in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that summarizes provisions and key funding opportunities from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) of 2021, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022, and grant offerings by federal agencies that may be leveraged by building owners, state agencies, and local entities to advance efforts to efficiently electrify and improve the energy efficiency of new and existing buildings. Details on individual funding opportunities from various federal programs can be found below.

    State Energy Program (SEP)

    • Award: $60M (for FY 2023, formula-based) 
    • Eligible Uses: This highly flexible funding source can be used by States and Territories to fund general energy efficiency and programs to increase deployment of clean energy technologies in buildings, among other energy sectors and activities. This may include building energy benchmarking and building performance standards, shared energy manager programs, and other innovative program types. An example of an SEP-funded project is Kentucky's School Energy Manager program for which $5 million from the state’s allocated SEP funds went towards hiring 49 energy managers to benchmark the energy use of and recommend energy improvements for 144 participating school districts. NASEO has compiled a series of SEP Success Stories here. Formula-based grant allocations for FY 2023 can be found here.

    Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA)

    • State Energy Program (SEP)
      • Award: $500 million (one-time, formula-based & competitive)
      • Eligible Uses: As an additional infusion of funds towards the SEP through the IIJA, the same activity eligibility criteria apply (see above). Eligible recipients are states. Formula-based funding allocations for state and local recipients were released in August 2022. The deadline for applying to this funding was December 5, 2022. Decisions on application awards are forthcoming. Updates around funding availability and the latest program guidance documents can be found here.
    • Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program (EECBG)
      • Award: $550 million (one-time, formula-based & competitive)
      • Eligible Uses: This funding source supports immediately deployable local-level projects and programs for reducing fossil fuel emissions and improving energy efficiency in the transportation, building, and other sectors. EECBG funds can be used for building weatherization and energy retrofits, energy improvement strategies informed by initial building performance benchmarking. Formula-based grants are issued directly to states, local, and tribal governments. Of the total $550 million grant, states receive 28 percent to redistribute across smaller local governments, while 70 percent goes directly to mid- and larger-sized local governments via formula-based allocations. The remaining two percent of the grant funding is set aside for competitive funding opportunities among entities that are not eligible as direct grant recipients. Formula-based funding allocations for state recipients can be found here. Application instructions and resources can be found here. The application deadline for states to apply is April 28, 2023.
    • Energy Efficiency Revolving Loan Fund Capitalization Grant Program
      • Award: $250 million (one-time capitalization grants, formula-based)
      • Eligible Uses: The IIJA offers $250 million in capitalization grants for states to establish revolving loan funds that provide loans to eligible recipients for commercial and residential energy audits and building upgrades and retrofits. Eligible recipients under the commercial sector include public buildings, buildings of nonprofit organizations, and industrial sector buildings. On November 15, 2022, DOE released the guidance documents for the grant program, including application instructions for the capital available under the program, the capital allocations for the program (including priority state allocations), an application checklist, the reporting template, and a template for declining funds for the program. The guidance documents also include the Administrative and Legal Requirements Document for the states. Applications by states for this program are due to DOE no later than May 26, 2023.
    • Energy Improvements at Public School Facilities
      • Award: $500 million (one-time, competitive)
      • Eligible Uses: This funding will go toward energy efficiency (envelope, HVAC, lighting, controls, etc.), ventilation, renewable energy, alternative vehicles, and alternative fuel vehicle infrastructure improvements in K-12 schools. As such, energy improvement opportunities identified by existing K-12 focused shared energy manager programs may be financed by this funding. Eligible recipients are local educational agencies (school districts) and one or more partners, which could include non-profits, for-profits, and community partners. Local governments may also be included as eligible application partners. The announcement for the first $80 million tranche of funding was released in December 2022 and can be found here. The deadline to submit a full application (which required a concept paper submission in February 2023) is 5:00pm ET on April 21, 2023. 
    • Resilient and Efficient Codes Implementation (RECI)
      • Award: $225 million (one-time, competitive)
      • Eligible Uses: This funding will go towards state-led activities related to building energy code adoption, enforcement, training, as well as “innovative approaches”, that includes building performance standards to address the energy performance of existing buildings. Eligible recipients are local educational agencies and one or more schools, non-profits, for-profits, and community partners. The formal funding opportunity announcement has been released by DOE as of December 2022, which can be found here. The deadline to submit a full application was March 27, 2023.

  • Building Energy Codes

    +

  • Voluntary Benchmarking and Energy Improvement Programs

    +
    • Clean Energy Communities
      The Clean Energy Communities (CEC) program is administered by the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority (NYSERDA) and incentivizes municipalities in New York to implement clean energy and energy efficiency projects from a pre- approved list of “high-impact actions”, based on which they can pursue grant funding and recognition opportunities.
    • Massachusetts Green Communities
      The Green Communities Designation and Grant Program was created by the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) and designates a municipality a "Green Community" after they meet five criteria, upon which they can access grants to implement clean energy projects in public buildings and facilities. All municipalities, regardless of Green Community recognition status, can access technical support from DOER on conducting energy efficiency improvements.
      • Massachusetts DOER Municipal Energy Technical Assistance Grant Program 
        • In 2020, the DOER Green Communities Division made $250,000 available for municipalities to contract independent third parties for assistance with developing and managing energy projects. 
      • DOER: Green Communities Technical Assistance for Massachusetts Municipalities Request for Response  
        • A request for response published by the DOER during the first program year of Green Communities that solicits a qualified vendor to help municipalities meet Green Community criteria by performing initial site visits and developing action plans.
      • Regional Energy Planning Assistance Grant Program
        • In subsequent years of the Green Communities Program, DOER has offered Energy Planning Assistance (REPA) Grants to eligible Technical Assistance Agencies including Regional Planning Agencies to augment municipal capacity necessary to: 1) participate in the Green Communities Designation and Grant Program; and 2) advance clean energy projects in under-resourced municipalities. Linked is a bid solicitation for the 2021 REPA program year.
    • Illinois Energy Now Trade Ally Program
      The Illinois Energy Now Trade Ally Program, which ran between 2012 and 2015, developed a network of industry experts and private energy service providers to train on statewide incentives and energy efficiency technology. The program then facilitated relationships between the public sector and private energy service providers and fostered competition through a recognition program for service providers that performed the most public sector energy efficiency upgrade projects. This program was created through a State Energy Program Competitive award in 2012 ($427,500).
    • Focus on Energy and Wisconsin Utility's RFP for Multifamily Energy Efficiency Program Implementer
      Focus on Energy, an agency that offers resources, financial incentives, and implements energy projects on behalf of utilities across Wisconsin, released this request for proposal (RFP) for an experienced implementer for their Multifamily Energy Efficiency Program. The RFP seeks program designs that support the needs of multifamily building owners, property managers, and tenants; that target the affordable housing market; and that address the multifamily sector's unique "split incentive" of energy efficiency benefits between building owners and tenants.
    • Michigan Battle of Buildings
      In its eighth year, the Michigan Battle of the Buildings is an annual program that recognizes commercial (including multifamily homes) and industrial buildings for reducing energy consumption and implementing energy efficient practices. Building owners benchmark their building energy use with ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager and by participating in the program, join a network of building owners and operators, energy service and product providers, and financing institutions to exchange ideas.

  • Benchmarking Ordinances and Building Performance Standards

    +

    Existing Toolkits and Resource Libraries

    To access technical assistance on implementing building performance standards or benchmarking policies, please contact Caterina Hatcher and Brendan Hall from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at (statelocal@energystar.gov).

    Training and Task Force Development

    Determining Final and/or Interim Performance Standards

    Program Assessment

  • Shared Energy Manager Programs

    +

    K-12 Public Schools

    • Kentucky School Energy Managers Project Case Study
      This case study summarizes the Kentucky School Energy Managers Project (SEMP), which used funding from the State Energy Program and partnerships with local investor-owned utilities to deploy 49 energy managers to implement energy management plans and identify energy savings opportunities across most school districts in Kentucky.
    • Rhode Island Municipal Energy Management Services Provider Solicitation
      This is an RFP document issued by the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources (the State Energy Office) soliciting professional energy management services to support municipalities and school districts throughout Rhode Island. For more information, please contact Nathan Cleveland, Programming Services Officer at the Rhode Island Office of Energy Offices (nathan.cleveland@energy.ri.gov).
    • School Uplift - Energy Efficiency Grants - TVA EnergyRight
      Tennessee Valley Authority, a federally owned electric utility, offers the School Uplift program that provides grant funding towards energy upgrades in under-resourced schools and offers energy management training to faculty, staff, and students on energy efficiency and conservation practices. The State of Tennessee has been a key partner in School Uplift, providing matching grants through the Energy Efficient Schools Initiative fund since the program's pilot.

    All Public Buildings

    • West Virginia Benchmarking and Transparency Initiative
      In 2018, the West Virginia Office of Energy, funded by a USDOE Competitive SEP Award, began a statewide Benchmarking and Transparency Initiative, using ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, and develop a comprehensive building inventory that led to the unanimous passing of HB 2667: Energy Savings in Public Buildings. This bill sets the state's first energy reduction goal of 25 percent by 2030, establishes a state benchmarking and disclosure policy and calls for a comprehensive performance contracting program. This initiative engages a cohort of agency stakeholders to benchmark state and municipal buildings, as well as university and high school staff and students to benchmark all K-12 school and higher education buildings.
    • Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Local Climate Action Plan and Shared Energy Manager Program
      The Pennsylvania DEP offers the Local Climate Action Program (LCAP), an SEP-funded initiative that connects and trains local governments with students from Penn State University to collaboratively develop greenhouse gas emissions inventories and identify climate-related vulnerabilities on behalf of the local government. This collaborative effort offers a unique professional development opportunity for the students and results in the publication of a climate action plan for the municipality, which also then qualifies the locality to access free assistance from shared energy managers (third party engineering and energy professionals contracted by the state) to begin implementing energy efficiency improvement measures.

  • Sustainable Transportation

    +

    EV Infrastructure Programs

    • EV States Clearinghouse
      The EV States Clearinghouse is a one-stop shop for state agencies as they plan for and implement EV infrastructure programs under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and includes example EV infrastructure RFIs and RFPs from the states. The Clearinghouse is a password-protected site for states only; state agencies may register for a free account.