$6.5 million awarded to increase energy efficiency, reduce costs in state-owned buildings
Commerce announces 16 state agencies and institutions to receive grants to help them increase energy efficiency and environmental performance of state-owned facilities
OLYMPIA, Wash. – The Department of Commerce today announced $6.5 million in State Performance Improvement (SPI) grants that will result in higher efficiency and better environmental performance in state-owned buildings. The funding will cover additional costs incurred by choosing more efficient options for existing project plans, such as higher efficiency heating systems or windows.
“The state is leading by example, strengthening communities by investing in Washington’s clean energy future,” said Commerce Director Lisa Brown. “Making these smart choices now will reduce environmental impacts and save taxpayers money on operational and lifetime costs for these facilities.”
The SPI grants have been awarded to 16 state agencies and institutions with projects currently funded under the 2019 – 21 Capital Budget, and that can be modified with more energy-efficient infrastructure.
Projected lifetime savings of the infrastructure modifications to these projects is nearly $11 million, and the lifetime projected carbon saved would be about 120,429 tons.
“This program is an exciting opportunity to leverage existing capital projects for our state facilities and add components that will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and system life cycle costs,” said Office of Financial Management Senior Budget Assistant Jennifer Masterson. “As state budgets tighten, these added energy efficiencies are sometimes trimmed from projects because they have higher up-front costs. The outcomes of this grant program will benefit the people of our state for years to come.”
Grant awardees
Some applicants have more than one qualifying project
- Clover Park Technical College - $225,445
- Department of Social and Health Services - $643,466
- Eastern Washington State Historical Society - $300,000
- Edmonds Community College - $74,986
- Grays Harbor College - $46,000
- Green River College - $100,000
- Highline College - $92,950
- Lake Washington Institute of Technology - $747,000
- Lake Washington Institute of Technology - $572,000
- Shoreline Community College - $249,912
- South Puget Sound Community College - $188,000
- The Evergreen State College - $1,159,232
- University of Washington Bothell - $695,000
- Washington State Historical Society - $195,616
- Washington State University - $327,595
- Yakima Valley College - $600,529
“These grants provide gap funding that encourages project teams to take a holistic approach to improve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, by providing both short-term improvements and long-term savings for the state,” said Department of Enterprise Services Resource Conservation Program Manager, Ron Major, Certified Energy Manager (CEM)
The SPI grant is part of the Energy Efficiency and Solar Grants Program (EE&S) Program. This grant has been developed in partnership with the State Efficiency and Environmental Performance (SEEP) Office, and is consistent with the goals of Governor Inslee’s Executive Order 20-01.
“This grant program shows us that it’s possible to achieve energy savings from a broad diversity of planned capital projects by investing in efficient, high-performance equipment and systems,” said SEEP Office Director Hanna Waterstrat. “The SEEP Office is proud to support SPI grants that reward state agencies and institutions that demonstrate leadership in environmental performance and are committed to making progress towards emissions reduction goals.”
To learn more about this program, and how to apply for remaining grant funds, visit the SPI webpage.
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