Boletín SIUN / Detalle noticia

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) at the United States Department of Energy (DOE) is issuing, on behalf of the Building Technologies Office (BTO), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) titled “Buildings Energy Efficiency Frontiers & Innovation Technologies (BENEFIT) – 2024”. The 2024 BENEFIT FOA will invest up to $30M (subject to appropriations) across four topic areas.

The 2024 BENEFIT FOA supports the Affordable Home Energy Shot, one of eight Energy Earthshot™ initiatives DOE has launched. The Affordable Home Energy Shot calls for innovations in building upgrades, efficient electrification, and smart controls that reduce the cost of decarbonizing affordable housing by at least 50% while lowering residents’ energy bill by at least 20% within a decade. 

Topics in the FOA call for innovations in each of these three pillars, and together provide whole-home, integrated solutions for the equitable decarbonization of affordable housing units. This includes investments in affordable envelope retrofits, HVAC cost reductions, and technologies that make building electrification more viable without costly infrastructure upgrades. Projects selected in this FOA will engage key building partners—including federal, state, and local governments, community groups, affordable housing providers, industry, and home energy practitioners—to advance the goals of the Affordable Home Energy Shot.

Topic 1: Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Water Heating Technologies with improved materials, components, equipment design, and engineering, lower cost manufacturing processes, and easier installation.

Topic 2: Innovative, Replicable, and Low-Cost Roof and Attic Retrofits Technologies for affordable and scalable roof and attic retrofits that improve energy efficiency and address air and water infiltration.

Topic 3: Building Resilience and Capacity Constraints Novel approaches to maintain essential loads during blackouts and add power capacity to buildings without the need for major infrastructure upgrades; localized thermal management systems and thermally resilient building envelopes to provide cooling and overheating protection against extreme heat events.

Topic 4: Commercial Lighting Retrofit Advancements Low-cost, high-quality retrofit solutions for lagging sectors in energy-efficient lighting adoption (schools, certain commercial buildings).

Deadline - Concept paper: Mon. 18 Dec 2023 – 5:00 PM ET / 17:00 Colombian time

Deadline – Application: Mon. 05 Mar 2024 – 5:00 PM ET / 16:00 Colombian time

Further information: Grants.gov; press release (DOE/EERE); BENEFIT24@ee.doe.gov 

[Boletín SIUN 658, 23/24 de noviembre de 2023]