Buildings Upgrade Prize

Congratulations to the third and final round of Buildings UP Application Support Prize winners. The 27 teams selected will each receive a $5,000 cash award and up to 10 hours of technical support. 

• LDF-Chippewa Housing Authority, Wisconsin
• Sabathani Community Center (Sabathani/SCC), Minnesota
• Green The Church, California
• Centennial Parkside Community Development Corporation, Pennsylvania
• passivhausMAINE, Maine
• green | spaces, Tennessee
• Louisiana Homebuyer Education Collaborative, Louisiana
• New North Caroline Project, North Carolina
• Cherry Hill Strong, Maryland
• A.M.E. Sixth District Church Georgia, Georgia
• Associacion de Residentes de La Margarita Inc., Puerto Rico
• One Earth Collective, Illinois
• 2C Mississippi, Mississippi
• Neighborhood Housing Services of Queens CDC, Inc., New York
• We Want Green Too, Michigan
• Rise UP Reach Out Inc., Florida
• Community Power, Minnesota
• Blueprint 15, Inc., New York
• Hope Enterprise Corporation, Mississippi
• First Alliance Consulting LLC, Virginia 
• Green Built Alliance, North Carolina
• She Built This City, North Carolina
• Sun-I LLC, Mississippi
• LIFT JAX, Inc., Florida
• Tampa Bay Community Development Corp d/b/a Suncoast Housing Connections, Florida
• The Climate + Energy Project, Kansas
• Renewable Ambassador, Nevada

If you have been named as a winner, the NREL team will be reaching out this week with instructions on how to receive your award and be connected to our partners at Elevate for technical assistance. 

A total of 50 Application Support Prizes of $5,000 and 10 hours of technical assistance were awarded across three rounds to help new and under-resourced teams complete Phase 1 applications. All Application Support Prizes have been awarded at this time. 

All teams preparing for the full Phase 1 submission can visit the Upcoming Webinars & Recordings tab to register for informational and training webinars, office hours, teaming events, and more which provide all the details and resources you need to help you successfully develop your team’s Buildings UP Phase 1 submission. 

Upcoming Teaming Events:

• Thursday, May 18, 2:30 – 4 p.m. ET: West Region Teams; Register 
• Friday, May 19, 2:30 – 4 p.m. ET: Midwest Region Teams; Register
• Monday, May 22 – 3-4:30 p.m. ET: South Region Teams; Register  
• Tuesday, May 23, 10:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. ET: Northeast Region Teams; Register 

Upcoming Office Hours:

• Wednesday, May 31, 12:30 –2 p.m. ET: Choosing Your Building Upgrade Zone, Workforce Development, and Economic Inclusion; Register  

Note: Attendance is not required at Buildings UP webinars or related events in order to complete a Phase 1 submission, and attendance will not influence the scoring of your prize submission.

The Buildings UP team and our partners want you to have all the resources you need to submit a successful Phase 1 application by the July 18 deadline, and that includes making connections that can help you maximize your proposed programs! 

This month, join the Building Prize team for a series of interactive Buildings UP Teaming Events to connect with potential partners who will help you get the most out of your innovative ideas. Come and meet with fellow competitors working in your region to network and create new connections to support for Phase 1 application.

Events are organized by geographic region. This week we will host the following events: 

• Thursday, May 18, 2:30 - 4PM ET: West Region Teams (AK, HI, WA, MI, OR, ID, WY, CA, NV, UT, CO, AZ, and NM) Register here
• Friday, May 19, 2:30 - 4PM ET: Midwest Region Teams (ND, SD, NE, KS, MN, IA, MO, WI, IL, MI, IN, and OH) Register here

Join us next week for: 

• Monday, May 22 - 3-4:30pm ET: South Region Teams (TX, OK, LA, AR, MS, AL GA, FL, TN, KY, WV, NC, SC, VA, DC, MD, and DE) Register here
• Tuesday, May 23, 10:30AM - 12PM ET: Northeast Region Teams (ME, VT, NH, MA, RI, CT, NY, NJ, and PA) Register here

Sign up today!

The Buildings UP Administration Team

Hi Buildings UP community, 

We wanted to send along some information about another American-Made prize challenge which may be of interest to you: The Energizing Rural Communities Prize. Please see below for more information and if interested, please submit an application by May 24th! This is a separate prize from Buildings UP. 

The Energizing Rural Communities Prize is part of the $1 billion Energy Improvements in Rural or Remote Areas (ERA) Program, created by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED). The ERA Program supports projects that improve the resilience, reliability, safety, availability, and environmental performance of energy systems in rural or remote areas of the U.S. with populations of no more than 10,000 people.

The Energizing Rural Communities Prize has two tracks:

• The PARTNER track—with a $10 million cash prize pool—will support plans to connect rural or remote communities to government funding, technical assistance, or a network of partners that can help implement clean energy demonstration projects.
• The FINANCE track—with a $5 million cash prize pool—will support plans to access capital or to develop community ownership models to help finance clean energy demonstration projects in rural or remote areas.

To apply for this prize:

• Go to the HeroX website [https://www.herox.com/rural-energy] and select ‘Solve this challenge’.
• Note: selecting ‘Solve This Challenge’ does not mean you must submit your application at this time.
• Create a free account and accept the terms of use.
• Note: it is recommended that you use your legal name when registering your account.
• Confirm your email.
• Accept the prize specific agreement/terms.
• Indicate whether you’ll be competing as a team.
• This is a great way to identify your collective group or organization.

Be sure to check out the available resources:

• To review the Official Rules Document: https://www.herox.com/rural-energy/resource/1205

• To read the FAQ: https://www.herox.com/rural-energy/faq

• To ask questions on the forum: https://www.herox.com/rural-energy/forum

• To checkout the prize timeline: https://www.herox.com/rural-energy/timeline

• To register for upcoming webinars: https://www.herox.com/rural-energy/233-webinars-recordings

Be sure to submit your submission by May 24, 2023.

The Buildings UP team and our partners want you to have all the resources you need to submit a successful Phase 1 application by the July 18 deadline, and that includes making connections that can help you maximize your proposed programs! 

This May, join partner Browning the Green Space for a series of interactive Buildings UP Teaming Events to connect with potential partners who will help you get the most out of your innovative ideas.  

Events are organized by geographic region:  

• May 18, 2:30-4 p.m. ET (West Region)   
• May 19, 2:30-4 p.m. ET (Midwest Region)   
• May 22, 3-4:30 p.m. ET (South Region) 
• May 23, 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m. ET (Midwest Region) 

 In addition, we are also hosting various upcoming webinars and events in May to ensure you have all the information you need to compete in the prize: 

Information Prize Overview Webinar 

U.S. Department of Energy and America-Made prize administrators will present everything you need to know about competing in Buildings UP. The webinar will include timelines, deliverables, and prize rules, as well as a live Q&A.  

• May 4, 11 a.m. ET. Register Here 

Office Hours:  

Bring your questions to the Buildings UP Office Hours! The sessions will include opportunities to ask questions related to previous Buildings UP training webinar topics, the application process, and any other clarifications that would be helpful as applicants work to prepare their application materials.   

• May 2, 12:30-2 p.m. ET—Buildings UP Office Hours: Community-Driven Planning, Funding, and Energy Efficiency Programs. Register Here 
• May 15, 2:30-4 p.m. ET—Buildings UP Office Hours: Underserved Commercial and Drivers of Energy Efficiency in Affordable Housing. Register Here  

Training Webinars (past webinar recordings are also available): 

Looking for resources to prepare for the full Phase 1 application? Join the upcoming training webinars hosted by our partners at R2E2. 

• May 10, 1:30-3 p.m. ET—Choosing your Building Upgrade Zone: Structural Equity Considerations: Register Here 
• May 11, 12-1:30 p.m. ET—Building Upgrades: An Opportunity for Workforce and Economic Inclusion: Register Here 

 Check out all upcoming events and webinars, learn more, register, and access recordings of previous events on the HeroX Upcoming Webinars & Recordings tab. 

Last call to apply for the Application Support Prize! The deadline for our third and final Application Support Prize is April 26 5 p.m. ET! Don’t miss your chance to receive $5,000 and up to 10 hours of technical support toward completing your Phase 1 application. 

For more information, visit HeroX to access previously recorded webinars from our partners at Elevate (available in English and Spanish). 

You can also prepare for the full Phase 1 submission by visiting the Upcoming Webinars & Recordings tab to register for informational and training webinars, office hours, and upcoming teaming events.

Note: Attendance is not required at Buildings UP webinars or related events in order to complete a Phase 1 submission, and attendance will not influence the scoring of your prize submission.