The Heinz Endowments has invested significantly in various intermediaries and specific projects designed to promote green building in the Pittsburgh region. Our theory of change in these investments has included the premise that the U.S. Green Building Council’s certification for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design is the best current method of objectively determining that a building is green. At the same time, we recognize that it may not be possible for all green building projects to attain LEED certification. We believe that the ultimate goal of green building investments should be market transformation of the building industry, with green building becoming the norm.
The Endowments’ policy on grant making for green building includes the following components: scope of funding, capital construction funding requirements, proposal requirements, grant conditions and forms of assistance.
Implementation of the green building policy will require a modest amount of financial support. The Endowments five programs will provide green building planning grants out of their budgets. The Environment Program will increase its funding to the Green Building Alliance to expand capacity for technical assistance to grantees. We will make sure that the grantee community understands our policy and requirements, and that Endowments program staff understands how to administer it.
1. Scope of funding
The Endowments’ approach has been to build market demand and supply for green building in the community, rather than to create a grants program to support green buildings in general. Therefore, green building funding will only be available for grantees that we are funding for other programmatic reasons.
2. Capital construction grant making
When the Endowments funds a capital construction project under one of its five programs – Arts & Culture; Children, Youth & Families; Education; Environment; or Innovation Economy – we will require LEED certification for all new construction and renovations. The Endowments will expect projects to strive for at least the Silver certification in the appropriate LEED category, such as “new construction,” “commercial interiors” or “existing buildings.” However, the Endowments also recognizes that LEED certification may be inappropriate, impossible, or economically infeasible for some projects. In these few cases, we still will expect the projects to be designed and built as green as is feasible or relevant for the project type. We will require consultation with the Green Building Alliance for any variance from the LEED Silver requirement.
3. Proposal requirements
All proposals that the Endowments considers for capital funding for green building projects must include an initial completed LEED checklist and a commitment to obtaining LEED certification within six months of completion of the project.
4. Grant conditions
The Endowments will institute standard grant conditions for all green building projects to be sure that the grantee completes all steps of the LEED certification process, and provides for ongoing operation and maintenance.
5. Forms of assistance
a. Planning Grants
Endowments program staff recognizes that LEED certification requires additional time for research and documentation that must begin early in the project planning process. Staff may make planning grants for green building projects available from existing program budgets to assist with these activities.
b. Project Innovation Grants
The Endowments generally will not consider additional funding for costs associated with green building, in recognition that building green should not increase a project’s expenses significantly without direct, short-term paybacks. Exceptions may be made for demonstrations of cutting-edge technologies that will advance the state of green building in the region.
c. Technical assistance for green building projects
The Endowments’ Environment Program will provide funding to the Green Building Alliance so that organizations undertaking green building projects can contact the organization to apply for specialized technical assistance.
