The U.S. Department of Energy has announced the first round of a new grant that will fund energy improvements in schools.
The provides a total of $500 million in funding. The first round of grants will provide up to $80 million for schools to install energy efficient lighting and HVAC systems, improve the insulation of their buildings, switch to electric vehicles, and convert facilities to renewable energy sources like solar and wind.
The grant program was included in the $1 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that President Joe Biden signed Nov. 15. While it touches on key priorities of green building advocates, the grant falls far short of the $100 billion in new federal funding for school infrastructure Biden originally proposed.
The Energy Department 鈥渋s working diligently to deploy these critical funds so that schools can start turning infrastructure improvements into healthier learning environments and big cost savings, as soon as possible,鈥� U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm said in a statement Tuesday.
Here鈥檚 what you need to know.
Aging buildings cost school districts big bucks
Many district leaders say school energy improvements aren鈥檛 a 鈥渘ice-to-have.鈥� Aging buildings and neglected, inefficient systems lead them to sink funding into utilities instead of directing it into the classroom.
And school building quality can affect student learning. In some districts, extreme heat led to repeated missed days of school in August. And climate experts expect that pattern to continue to worsen as warming trends affect parts of the country where air conditioning isn鈥檛 a standard building feature.
Just how neglected are school facilities? Here are some key findings from a June 2020 report by the Government Accountability Office.
You can read more about those concerns, and gaps in state funding for school facilities projects, in this story from the Education Week archives.
69传媒 have other sources of funds for facilities upgrades
The Energy Department said Tuesday that, in awarding the first round of energy efficiency funding, it will prioritize districts 鈥渢hat qualify as rural and/or high poverty.鈥� School districts must apply for the competitive grant funding, described as a 鈥渇irst-of-its-kind鈥� program by the agency.
But the new funding might not go very far, considering the scale of the need.
In 2021, Education Week profiled a district that had a $30 million backlog in facilities projects. And that鈥檚 not an uncommon occurrence. In Baltimore, officials it could cost more than $15 million to upgrade a single school鈥檚 HVAC system.
In addition to the new energy department funding, school districts can also spend federal COVID relief aid provided through the American Rescue Plan on facilities projects. Such plans have presented challenges, though, as the money comes with a 2024 spending deadline and education leaders juggle continuing shortages of labor and materials.
69传媒 have a big energy footprint
Making large buildings like schools more energy efficient doesn鈥檛 just make good financial sense; it will also help address the climate crisis, green building advocates say.
69传媒 are the second largest sector of U.S. infrastructure, the Department of Energy said. Every year, the nation鈥檚 schools emit as much carbon as 18 coal plants or 8 million homes, according to an by the advocacy group Generation180, which supports renewable energy. (.)
Experts have recommended a variety of strategies for school districts that want to tackle the challenge. You can read about them in Education Week鈥檚 ongoing series on schools and climate change.
