U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Post

📣 Nonprofit solar adoption and community climate resiliency are on the rise with the IRA’s Direct Pay provision! 🏘️ The Watts-Willowbrook Church of Christ in Compton, California, recently installed a 12 kW rooftop solar and upcoming battery storage system. It hopes to harness the savings through solar financing and Direct Pay to transform its organization into a community safety center and resiliency hub. ☀️ Through innovative solar financing, the church went solar with RE-volv for zero-down and started saving money on their energy bills on day one! 📈The Direct Pay provision allows tax-exempt organizations, like The Brook, to receive 30% or more in cash back on the cost of the solar system. 💪As CleanTechnica reports, the church's ability to provide AC during heatwaves and air filtration when the air quality index becomes too high represents a major win for clean air and energy advocates and organizers in Southern Los Angeles. Find out how more nonprofits can leverage savings through solar like The Brook! 🔗 ➡️ https://loom.ly/f5cXMO8

🏢 Commercial Real Estate Leaders: Is Your Portfolio Ready for Virginia's Clean Energy Future? Attention CRE owners, developers, and managers! The 2024 Virginia Clean Energy Summit (October 16-17, Richmond) is your gateway to unlocking significant value in your real estate portfolio. Did you know? ✅ Properties with green certifications command 6-10% higher rents[4]. ✅ Energy-efficient buildings have 9.5% higher occupancy rates[4]. ✅ Decarbonized buildings can reduce operational costs by up to 30%[4]. At the summit, discover: 1. How upcoming Virginia energy policies will impact your bottom line. 2. Innovative financing models for clean energy retrofits. 3. Strategies to increase property values through decarbonization. 4. Tech solutions that tenants are demanding in 2024 and beyond. Don't risk being left behind: Learn how leading CRE firms are leveraging clean energy to boost NOI and asset value. Register now for the Virginia Clean Cities' Virginia Clean Energy Summit: https://lnkd.in/eesUJaPg Join forward-thinking peers who are turning energy challenges into competitive advantages. Your future tenants (and investors) will thank you. #SustainableBuildings #Decarbonization #CRE #VirginiaRealEstate #CleanEnergyROI

A year ago I didn't know what a power forward was, despite my pretensions of Raptor fandom. Today, Power Forward Communities is one step closer to helping install $2B worth of electrification upgrades in homes and communities across America. I am not a mathy person, but that's a lot of heat pumps. And a testament to the awesome collaborative work of so many on the Rewiring America team and all our partners beyond — Enterprise Community Partners, LISC, Habitat for Humanity International, and United Way, and the hundreds of communities that have signed up to champion this work. What a neat thing to breathe life into this, our climate work. Electrifying Everything for Everyone is a broad mandate, because 'everyone' is a broad group. These funds will help the portion of everyone that could not electrify without them. Because everyone deserves clean electric machines, and the right to choose them. 'Don't despair, decarbonize!' is something I repeat to myself quite often, but somedays I feel more electric oomph than others. Today is one of those days.

Federal programs like IIJA poured billions of dollars towards advancing equitable transportation initiatives. But without strong collaboration between advocates, agencies, and community organizations to implement funds equitably, these investments risk perpetuating the same transportation disparities they seek to address. Read more on our recommended collaboration principles for community organizations and institutions to best engage with each other in advancing more equitable transportation policies and programs in our latest blog by Hana Creger and Tamika L. Butler, Esq.: https://bit.ly/494sLCe

You’re probably aware that the federal government is investing close to $4 trillion in infrastructure, environmental and clean energy projects in cities and states across America. So how can funders like you help overcome the barriers between federal dollars and the places that need them most – and ensure communities make the most of these once-in-a-generation, transformational commitments? Join us Feb. 12 from 2:30 to 4:00 p.m. ET for Now What: Leveraging Federal Funds & Building Community Capacity for Climate Justice, the first in a series of quarterly calls focused on accessing and leveraging federal funds for climate and environmental justice. Presented by the Health and Environmental Funders Network (HEFN), Neighborhood Funders Group and The Funders Network this session will build upon the Thriving Communities regional convenings we hosted in the fall in partnership with Communities First. The convenings brought place-based and national funders together with federal agencies and community groups in the South, Northeast and Midwest regions. A panel of federal officials and philanthropic leaders will offer insight into what foundations are doing to mobilize around this opportunity. We’ll also get an update on the 2024 plans and goals of the federal Thriving Communities Network, which was created to help Cabinet agencies coordinate strategy, collaborate across initiatives, and target deployment of place-based technical assistance and capacity-building resources to urban, rural and Tribal communities experiencing a history of economic distress and systemic disinvestment. Join us to learn: What actions funders have taken since the regional convenings, including supporting place-based capacity-building efforts for frontline climate communities. Ways to ensure communities most impacted by environmental injustice and other inequities are able to access resources for transformative climate and infrastructure investment. How place-based foundations can support efforts to build community capacity and align resources for community-driven priorities. Register here ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/esvfRmCn Registration is open to funders only. If you have any questions about registering for this event, kindly contact Hazel Paguaga at hazel@fundersnetwork.org.

Projects like Coastal GasLink are transformative, supporting jobs, stimulating economies and fostering community investment. Learn more about the legacy of this vital Canadian pipeline: https://bit.ly/47yoV3p

Today we're announcing that Rewiring America, Enterprise Community Partners, Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), United Way, and Habitat for Humanity International have applied for $9.5 billion in funding from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund as new entity: Power Forward Communities. Power Forward Communities’ housing decarbonization program will serve the residents and owners of our country’s 124 million single-family and multifamily housing units through a strategy that will deliver more than 80 percent of financial assistance funds to low-income and disadvantaged communities. Our application is already supported by 321 partners who have pledged to decarbonize housing units across 46 states and every EPA region in partnership with Power Forward Communities over the seven year life of the program. https://lnkd.in/ebj8yAWt

More updates from our team working in Shetland this week 👇 It is crucially important that we engage with a range of stakeholders, both to ensure that the scenarios we model are well-informed and to make our results and findings accessible and relevant. #Shetland #windpower #windfarm #justtransition #greenhydrogen #hydrogen

This is noteworthy and a terrific step for getting the technical advice and expertise cities need to access in federal funding. Bloomberg Philanthropies has established a three-year initiative to help 25 U.S. cities access more than $400 billion in federal funds to build greener, more energy efficient communities. a prime example of how the private sector can step up to bridge gaps that are stopping infrastructure repair, replacement and new development. The US needs more programs like this or a better federal government grant distribution program.

This competition is offering a total of $1 million of catalytic funding and support for winners to test and grow their #floodadaptation solutions and make a tangible difference in coastal communities. “Making underserved coastal communities more resilient requires a dependable health infrastructure, economic and job security, affordable housing options and strategies to address environmental hazards. This Challenge has us on the hunt for creative small businesses and nonprofit organizations with solutions that can make a measurable, positive impact on these communities' resilience. Proposals must be backed by practical implementation plans and the potential for real-world application”. https://lnkd.in/egj8bK6J