Building America Announces RFP for Community-Based Retrofit Solutions

On behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Building America Program, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) opened a request for proposals (RFP) for multi-disciplinary expert teams to address hard-to-solve technical challenges of decarbonizing the existing U.S. residential housing stock.

The Building America program is launching a new initiative called the Retrofit Solutions Teams that will deploy building science experts in communities to tackle the challenges of decarbonizing homes. The teams will use their technical expertise and community knowledge to create collaborative research and demonstration projects in real-world homes to accelerate the deployment of energy-efficient, durable, and healthy home upgrades. This initiative will support President Biden’s goal of cutting U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030. The Building America program has successfully implemented similar projects for new homes and is now focusing on scalable retrofit solutions.

Applicant teams will consist of community organizations, research institutions, utility and industry trades, and other appropriate experts. Teams selected through the RFP will develop projects focused on reducing carbon emissions from homes through retrofit solutions. They will collaborate with DOE, the National Labs, and other industry experts to support community-focused retrofit projects. These projects will address technical challenges through field validation and demonstration, measurement and verification, and workforce training. This work will demonstrate equitable and scalable residential retrofit solutions and will produce guidance for broader implementation in communities across the country.

The RFP is open through May 9, 2023 and responses should be submitted online. Apply today!