The Energy CLASS (Champions Leading the Advancement of Sustainable Schools) Prize supports local education agencies, helping establish and train energy managers to identify, plan, and implement efficiency and health upgrades in schools.
Donor Name: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
State: All States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Prize
Deadline: 02/28/2023
Size of the Grant:$100,000
Grant Duration: 12 months
Details:
The Energy CLASS Prize is designed to provide training and cash prizes to school district administration and facilities staff to make energy management a sustainable feature of their communities while positioning them to make meaningful infrastructure improvements that will reduce utility costs, improve indoor air quality, and improve learning environments long-term. A total of $4.5 million in awards is available, including $3.75 million in cash prizes for selected LEAs to fund energy management professionals-in-training and an additional $750,000 in technical assistance from Energy CLASS Training Network partners. The Energy CLASS Training Network includes professional training organizations and energy efficiency experts who will provide training and support to Energy CLASS participants.
The Energy CLASS Prize is focused on building capacity within local educational agencies (LEAs) to identify and implement energy and health improvements in their facilities and classrooms. The Energy CLASS Prize will provide resources to staff and will train personnel on operations and maintenance (O&M), strategic energy management, project development, funding pathways, and related topics to deepen bandwidth and knowledge for advancing the fiscal and environmental sustainability of their schools.
The Energy CLASS Prize, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of State and Community Energy Programs (SCEP) under the authority of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010, consists of two parallel and integrated features: the prize competition and the Training Network.
The Energy CLASS Prize is made up of two phases:
Phase 1: Application
LEAs will submit their statement of need and letters of support, demonstrate their commitment to making building energy upgrades, and identify staff to participate in the program. Up to 25 LEAs will each receive $100,000 in cash prizes to support participation in training over a 12-month period during Phase 2.
Phase 2: Skills Development and Coaching
Phase 1 participants will be invited to participate in 80–160 hours of online educational courses delivered by training professionals. In addition to DOE-funded trainings, teams will receive one-on-one support and coaching pertaining to building upgrades associated with the specific LEA district.
At the conclusion of Phase 2, participants will submit a progress report on actions identified or taken and a plan for future building upgrades for a chance to win a $50,000 bonus prize.
Eligibility Criteria
Eligible entities include any U.S. local educational agency, or LEA. An LEA refers to a public board of education or other public authority legally constituted for either administrative control or direction of, or to perform a service function for, public elementary or secondary schools within a state, or of or for a combination of school districts or counties as are recognized in a state as an administrative agency for its public elementary and secondary schools. LEA has the meaning given in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). LEAs that contain Charter schools are eligible to apply.
Eligibility considerations include:
- DOE employees, employees of sponsoring organizations, members of their immediate families (i.e., spouses, children, siblings, or parents), and persons living in the same household as such persons, whether or not related, are not eligible to participate in the prize.
- Federal entities and federal employees acting within the scope of their employment are also not eligible to participate in any portion of the prize.
- DOE national laboratory employees cannot compete in the prize during their official duty hours or using lab equipment.
- Entities and individuals publicly banned from doing business with the U.S. government, such as entities and individuals debarred, suspended, or otherwise excluded from or ineligible for participating in federal programs, are not eligible to compete.
- Entities identified on a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Binding Operational Directives (BOD) as an entity publicly banned from doing business with the Unites States government are not eligible to compete.
- Entities and individuals identified as a restricted party on one or more screening lists of the Department of Commerce, State, and the Treasury are not eligible to compete.
- This prize is expected to positively impact U.S. public schools. Participation in a foreign government talent recruitment program10 could conflict with this objective by resulting in unauthorized transfer of scientific and technical information to foreign government entities. Therefore, individuals participating in foreign government talent recruitment programs of foreign countries of risk11 are not eligible to compete. Further, teams that include individuals participating in foreign government talent recruitment programs of foreign countries of risk are not eligible to compete.
- To be eligible, an individual authorized to represent the competitor must agree to and sign the following statement upon registration with HeroX
For more information, visit CLASS Prize.
