GFO-24-310 - Retrofitting Existing Residential Buildings with Innovative Envelope Solutions (CA) Grant

The California Energy Commission is offering up to $10 million in funding for projects focused on retrofitting existing residential buildings with innovative envelope solutions. This initiative aims to enhance energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in pre-2000 residential buildings. By improving building envelopes, projects can lower heating and cooling costs, enhance occupant comfort, and contribute to California's ambitious climate goals of achieving 85% reduction in GHG by 2045.

GFO-24-310 - Retrofitting Existing Residential Buildings with Innovative Envelope Solutions (CA)
Purpose
The purpose of this solicitation is to fund applied research and development (ARD) and technology demonstration and deployment (TDD) projects that improve the customer value proposition of end-use efficiency measures through envelope solutions for the existing residential building sector.
With more than 14 million existing residential units in California, a variety of building decarbonization strategies and the California Building Energy Code (Title 24) are needed to reduce building sector greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Although new construction must meet Title 24, existing buildings are required to conform to Title 24 standards only when specific or significant renovations trigger code compliance. Since older existing buildings are leakier and less efficient, tighter and more energy efficient building envelopes are particularly valuable to reduce heating and cooling loads, improve occupant comfort, and reduce infiltration of outside air. Retrofits in existing buildings offer significant opportunities to address decarbonization, energy use and costs, occupant health and comfort, and GHG emissions. However, existing building retrofits face considerable challenges as well, from high upfront costs, occupant disturbance, and remediation concerns to split incentives for renter-occupied homes. Overcoming these challenges is crucial to meeting the state’s GHG reduction goals of limiting statewide GHG emissions to at least 85 percent below 1990 levels by 2045 while realizing the myriad benefits for existing buildings.
This solicitation focuses on energy efficiency and building decarbonization by targeting pre-2000 era residential existing building envelopes. The envelope includes the windows, walls, attics, ceilings, and roofs. Projects must develop and demonstrate new envelope technologies/techniques and manufacturing processes to validate the technology in real-life situations with the goals of improving the value proposition and driving uptake for existing building envelope retrofits.
These outcomes should be realized through
lowering costs,reducing heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) energy consumption,reducing GHG emissions,reducing occupant disruption, andimproving occupant comfort and building resilience.
Projects must fall within the following project groups:
Group 1: Residential Opaque Envelope Retrofits - Value Proposition ImprovementGroup 2: Residential Vacuum Insulated Glass Retrofits - Value Proposition ImprovementGroup 3: Residential Envelope Retrofits with Advanced Building Construction TechniquesGroup 4: Residential Window Retrofits using Existing Frames
Funding
There is up to $10,000,000 available for grants awarded under this solicitation. The total, minimum, and maximum funding amounts for each project group are listed below.
Group 1: Residential Opaque Envelope Retrofits - Value Proposition Improvement:Minimum CEC Award - $1,000,000Maximum CEC Award - $2,000,000Group 2: Residential Vacuum Insulated Glass Retrofits - Value Proposition Improvement:Minimum CEC Award - $1,000,000Maximum CEC Award - $1,750,000Group 3: Residential Envelope Retrofits with Advanced Building Construction Techniques:  Minimum CEC Award - $1,000,000Maximum CEC Award - $2,000,000Group 4: Residential Window Retrofits using Existing Frames:Minimum CEC Award - $250,000Maximum CEC Award - $500,000