Connected Communities (CC)

Federal Agency

Sub-Department

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Building Technologies Office (BTO), and Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO)

Purpose

To expand DOE’s network of grid-interactive efficient building communities nationwide and demonstrate the ability of groups of buildings and distributed energy resources (DERs) to provide cost effective grid services through demand flexibility and efficiency that maximize use of renewable resources and reduce emissions, while maintaining (if not enhancing) occupant satisfaction and productivity.

Applicant and/or Project Eligibility Requirements

Municipal and tribal entities are eligible prime recipients. Other organizations, including for-profit entities, non-profits, and educational entities, are eligible as both prime recipients and subrecipients.

Decarbonization Considerations

The Connected Communities funding program selects projects that will demonstrate how groups of buildings combined with other types of distributed energy resources (DERs), such as electric vehicle (EV) charging and photovoltaic (PV) generation, can reliably and cost‐effectively serve as grid assets by strategically deploying efficiency and demand flexibility.

Equity Considerations

Considerations for projects include transforming multi-family buildings in affordable housing developments into grid-interactive efficient buildings (GEBs) to optimize buildings and distributed energy resources to maintain the comfort of the building occupants, lower utility bills, and reduce grid system costs. Projects focusing on historically underserved neighborhoods to reduce their energy burden and increase community resiliency are encouraged..

Helpful Tips

Find the full funding opportunity on the EERE Exchange website: https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/Default.aspx#FoaId9d24afcd-e292-4ea2-a4d3-d36e2b9dd9c7

Other Notes

To learn more about "Connected Communities"-related research, see this resource here: https://connectedcommunities.lbl.gov/ The announcement of funded projects for 2021 can be found here: https://www.energy.gov/articles/doe-invests-61-million-smart-buildings-accelerate-renewable-energy-adoption-and-grid