Notice of Intent to Issue Funding Opportunity Announcement No. DE-FOA-0001518 “Scaling up the Next Generation of Building Efficiency Packages” | Apply Online

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1) What is this DOE notice?

This document is a Notice of Intent (NOI) from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). It serves as an advance heads-up that DOE planned to release a competitive Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) titled "Scaling up the Next Generation of Building Efficiency Packages" (FOA number DE-FOA-0001518).

2) Is this notice a solicitation I can apply to?

No. The NOI is not a solicitation. It is not accepting applications, deadlines, or questions, and it explicitly states that no applications will be accepted through the notice itself.

3) What is the planned FOA title and number?

The planned FOA title is "Scaling up the Next Generation of Building Efficiency Packages" and the FOA number referenced is DE-FOA-0001518.

4) When was the actual FOA expected to be posted?

The NOI indicated the FOA was expected to be posted on EERE Exchange around October 2016.

5) Where would the FOA be posted once released?

DOE indicated the FOA was expected to be posted on EERE Exchange.

6) What is the main purpose of releasing an NOI like this?

The purpose is to give potential applicants time to prepare ahead of the formal FOA release. Specifically, DOE wanted organizations to have time to form teams, line up partners, and prepare data and project concepts before the competitive announcement was posted.

7) What is the high-level goal of the planned FOA?

At a high level, the planned FOA was designed to speed up market adoption of energy-efficient, cost-effective building technology packages that are emerging or not yet widely used.

8) What does DOE mean by "building efficiency packages" in this context?

Rather than focusing on a single device or retrofit measure, DOE signaled an emphasis on integrated "packages" that combine multiple technologies and strategies into coordinated solutions that can be replicated across many buildings.

9) Is the focus on lab research, modeling, or real buildings?

The notice emphasizes moving beyond promising lab results and modeling into real, high-impact demonstrations in actual buildings, where performance, cost, and operational realities can be verified.

10) What program within DOE is this opportunity tied to?

The planned FOA was tied to DOE's Commercial Buildings Integration (CBI) program.

11) Is DOE coordinating this with any other federal program?

Yes. The notice stated the effort would be coordinated with the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Green Proving Ground program.

12) What does coordination with GSA Green Proving Ground suggest about project settings?

It indicates a strong interest in demonstrations grounded in practical deployment environments, potentially including public-sector building portfolios and other real-world settings where technologies can be proven at scale, validated, and then positioned for broader uptake.

13) What kind of teams did DOE expect to see?

DOE indicated it would look for applications led by "dynamic teams" that bring together several kinds of stakeholders who each play a role in moving technologies from demonstration to mainstream programs.

14) What types of partners were specifically mentioned as examples?

Examples called out in the notice include deployment entities such as states, local governments, or Regional Energy Efficiency Organizations; building efficiency hubs such as innovation or incubator hubs; utilities; technology providers; and building energy analysis professionals.

15) Why does the notice emphasize partnerships so strongly?

The planned FOA was aimed at collaborative proposals where the technical solution, the test site(s), the measurement and verification capability, and the pathway to market adoption are all covered by the team structure.

16) What is the technical focus of the planned FOA?

The technical focus was on multi-system energy efficiency packages, defined as sets of technologies that improve efficiency across two or more building systems.

17) What building systems were described as within scope?

The notice listed a wide range of eligible systems, including the building envelope; lighting and electrical systems; plug loads; process loads; heating, ventilation, cooling, and refrigeration; and cross-cutting elements such as energy management and information systems, sensors, and controls.

18) Are single-measure upgrades the primary target of this FOA?

No. The framing suggests DOE wanted comprehensive retrofits or integrated control-and-equipment approaches that can deliver deeper savings than single-measure upgrades, while still being practical to implement and able to be evaluated rigorously.

19) Does the planned FOA build on previous work?

Yes. DOE stated the FOA would build on prior work, including outcomes from existing demonstration projects, laboratory testing, and simulation analyses of technology packages.

20) What is the next step DOE wanted to see beyond prior demonstrations and analysis?

The planned next step was to take controlled or early-stage findings and prove them through strategically designed demonstrations that can quantify both energy performance and cost performance.

21) Why is there an emphasis on both energy performance and cost performance?

The notice indicates DOE wanted projects that could verify not only energy savings but also cost-effectiveness, implying the need for credible baselines, clear measurement approaches, and a defensible value proposition for market actors such as utilities, program administrators, and building owners.

22) What broader market impact did DOE describe?

The notice highlighted the potential to leverage roughly $8 billion in annual U.S. energy efficiency program expenditures by proving replicable, cost-effective multi-system packages that could be incorporated into utility and other energy efficiency programs.

23) How does DOE expect demonstrations to influence utility or efficiency programs?

DOE framed the impact as enabling energy efficiency programs to incorporate proven integrated packages into more ambitious offerings, accelerating uptake beyond the initial federally supported projects and helping shift programs toward deeper, more integrated savings.

24) What is the funding/assistance classification mentioned in the listing?

The listing indicates it was a discretionary opportunity under the energy activity category and referenced CFDA 81.086.

25) Who was eligible to apply according to the NOI?

Eligibility was described as "unrestricted" (open broadly), subject to any clarifications that would appear in the actual FOA.

26) Are there deadlines, award sizes, or a stated number of awards in the NOI?

No. Because this was only a Notice of Intent, it listed no application deadline and no awards, and it stated that no applications would be accepted through the notice.

27) Can I submit questions to DOE based on this NOI?

No. The notice stated it was not accepting questions.

28) What should interested organizations do while waiting for the FOA?

The practical takeaway in the notice was to start assembling partnerships, selecting candidate building sites, refining integrated package concepts, and gathering the performance and cost data that would strengthen a future application once the FOA was formally released.

29) What does "replicable across many buildings" imply for proposed solutions?

It implies DOE was looking for coordinated packages that are not one-off custom projects, but solutions that can be deployed across multiple buildings with a clear pathway to broader adoption.

30) What kinds of capabilities would a strong project team likely need to cover, based on the NOI?

Based on the NOI's emphasis, teams would likely need to cover: technology and integration capability, access to real building demonstration sites, energy analysis and performance evaluation capability, and relationships or mechanisms that support scaling into mainstream programs.