Federal Support for Facilities

Identifies the federal funding opportunities available through the Inflation Reduction Act, The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and, in the case of schools, the American Rescue Plan, that can be used to upgrade MUSH buildings.

Examines estimates of school infrastructure needs and discusses the federal role in financing early childhood facilities, elementary and secondary (K-12) public school infrastructure, and postsecondary educational facilities.

This toolkit highlights how schools across the nation can use federal resources to address school infrastructure needs and make school buildings healthier and more sustainable for our kids and communities. It provides an overview of the federal funds, programs, and other resources related to school infrastructure available to support state and local educational agencies and individual schools. School leaders can use this guide to identify sources of funding and technical support available from federal agencies to achieve important health and sustainability goals, including:

● Improved energy efficiency;
● School electrification;
● Clean energy use;
● Lower embodied carbon building materials;
● Improved indoor and outdoor air and water quality;
● Reduced exposure to environmental health hazards;
● Cleaner school transportation;
● Overall resiliency to climate change hazards.

Provides technical and outreach information to assist states and territories, schools, and childcare facilities to implement programs that reduce lead in drinking water. The 3Ts program includes technical and outreach resources such as plan eBuilders, data eTrackers, recorded training, customizable templates, fact sheets, and other interactive tools.

Offers a range of resources to help school stakeholders understand and take action on indoor air quality issues, including on-demand training webinars, upgrade and design guidance, action kits, grant opportunities, and ways to connect with the School IAQ Network.

Presents information on key topics about establishing and enhancing healthy school environments, including guides for schools to mitigate or remediate various environmental exposures, such as mold, PCBs, asbestos, lead, wildfire smoke, and mercury.

Guidance and training modules for increasing students’ access to drinking water at school.

This effort challenges school districts to set ambitious, portfolio-wide GHG emission reduction goals and provides opportunities for peer exchange and technical assistance to meet the urgent call to mitigate the impacts of climate change. Through the Better Climate Challenge, organizations partner with DOE to reduce portfolio-wide Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by at least 50% within 10 years.

A webinar, produced by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Schools program in partnership with UndauntedK12 and Center for Green Schools, providing an overview of new opportunities to drive investment into school district projects.

Offers a comprehensive collection of information, resources, and technical assistance designed to answer questions and address issues related to energy codes, including publications, compliance software and tools, training modules based on best practices, and a web-based help desk.

Provides year-round technical assistance to schools and offers annual opportunities to recognize schools that seek to implement high-impact indoor air quality and efficiency improvements.  It also offers resources that help schools and districts with benchmarking, implementation, operations, and planning to improve energy efficiency and promote a healthy learning environment.

Energy CLASS is a strategic initiative from the DOE Renew America’s Schools Program promoting building and energy management in school districts across America. Free, on-demand Energy CLASS training sessions are available online to support energy and health improvements in schools. Designed for school personnel in facilities, maintenance, sustainability, and related roles, the training sessions aim to equip districts with the knowledge and resources to reduce utility costs, create healthier learning environments, and identify funding pathways for sustainability projects.

Offers resources to help K-12 school districts assess building energy efficiency, find financing, save energy, and earn recognition.

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has made unlimited and non-competitive clean energy tax credits available to schools and other tax-exempt entities for the first time. Featuring UndauntedK12 and Center for Green Schools, this webinar walked through examples and highlighted common questions regarding eligibility, stacking credits with other sources of financing, and bonus requirements which can add significant value to the credit received.

Recognizes early learning centers, schools, school districts, and colleges and universities that (1) reduce environmental impact and costs; (2) improve the health and wellness of schools, students, and staff; and (3) provide effective environmental and sustainability education.

Offers resources and serves as a general hub for information on school infrastructure and sustainability topics.

DOE offers a wide range of materials to help K-12 school districts explore and develop strategic planning and policies for decarbonization. The information provided by the DOE focuses on helping school staff find relevant tools and guides that offer insight to better their school facilities and identify best practices to follow. The K-12 Resource Hub serves as a platform to connect K-12 school district representatives with innovative technology through the technical assistance programs available to help schools.

A webinar and slide deck from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Renew America’s Schools Program and Loan Programs Office (LPO) providing information on loan strategies applicable to school energy improvements. It may be of interest to state and local leaders, school energy champions, and prospective partners of school districts seeking energy improvements.

Promotes the implementation of clean energy improvements at K-12 public schools across the country, and aims to help school communities make energy upgrades that will decrease energy use and costs, improve indoor air quality, and foster healthier learning environments.  

Includes a list of resources that schools can use to develop a baseline energy needs assessment for a school facility and calculate likely benefits (such as energy efficiency, cost savings, and safety) of upgrading different building systems such as heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), kitchen appliances, and lighting.

Provides resources to enable strategic decision-making in energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies. Tailored to support a wide range of stakeholders, particularly states, local governments, K-12 school districts, and community-based nonprofits, these resources cover a breadth of material and topics focused on energy.

Promotes water-efficient techniques that can be applied across a wide range of facilities with varying water needs.

Offers resources regarding clean school bus charging and fueling infrastructure.

This webinar series offers handouts on the benefits and implementation of electric school buses.

Offers tools, guides, and resources for electric vehicle infrastructure projects in rural areas.

Offers information about the protection of school buildings and their occupants against natural hazards, with an emphasis on the design of new K-12 schools, while also addressing the repair, renovation, and extension of existing school buildings.

Offers resources that can support K-12 school communities in preparing for natural disasters and in restoring the teaching and learning environment following a natural disaster.

This guide aims to help schools be better prepared and better able to respond, recover, and mitigate future natural hazards. It focuses on operational guidance (what to do before, during and after an event) as well as physical protection (what can be done to the structure and facility to improve safety).

Provides factsheets on how to make schools safer during increasingly frequent and more severe wildfire and extreme heat events.