Grants to Green - Frequently Asked Questions

<Back to Grants to Green program General(Applicable to both Assessments and Implementation Applications) 1) Q: Will nonprofits that are awarded assessments during the current cycle be able to complete the assessment process in time to apply for an implementation grant during the next cycle?     A: That is Grants to Green’s intention, but a promise cannot be made. We are planning a Fall cycle (subject to change); however, the Fall cycles’ deadlines have not yet been established.           2) Q: If the nonprofit would like an assessment performed on an existing building and is also planning a new building, can the nonprofit request assessments on both buildings?     A: Yes, on the assessment application, nonprofits may mark multiple assessment types. There’s also a place on the application to give information about the facilities to be assessed. Note: Grants to Green strives to spread resources across multiple organizations.           3) Q: Can a nonprofit apply for an assessment and implementation grant for two different buildings during the same grant cycle?     A: Yes, a nonprofit can apply for an Assessment and Implementation grant in the same cycle for two different buildings. Be sure to complete the appropriate application for each application.           4) Q: Can a nonprofit apply for an assessment and an implementation grant for the same building?     A: Remember, an Implementation grant is used to pay for the costs of executing recommendations identified in a recent Energy and/or Water Assessment or in the case of new construction, or for a portion of the difference in cost between code-compliant design and green design for new construction. So, in order to apply for an implementation grant, a recent Energy and/or Water Assessment should have been completed on the building if it is not new. Nonprofits can; however, apply for a different type of assessment for the same building.       If it is new, a Design Review or Charrette intended to delineate green upgrades must be submitted as the Assessment. Nonprofits can, however, apply for a different type of assessment (such as sustainability planning or a green procurement analysis) while simultaneously applying for an Implementation Grant for a building if you already have completed an Energy and/or Water Assessment or Design Review.                   5) Q: If a nonprofit currently receives funding from the Kendeda Fund, The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta or/and Enterprise Community Partners, is the nonprofit still eligible for a Grants to Green grant?     A: Yes.           6) Q: We have volunteers who work with our organization on a full-time basis. Does the required full-time staff person have to be a paid staff person?     A: The guidelines clearly state that the nonprofit must have at least one full-time paid (minimum wage or more-$11,700/year) employee position, staffed for a minimum of one year. This cannot be a volunteer position but it could be a contract position.           7) Q: Does the required full-time staff person have to have been employed for at least one year prior to applying for a grant?     A: Yes. Our guidelines have been updated to clarify this requirement.           8) Q: Does the Green Champion need to be a paid staff person or can it be a volunteer?   A: Grants to Green prefers that the Green Champion be a paid staff person rather than a volunteer. Ultimately, it is your decision. The individual should be clearly accountable to the organization, have deep knowledge of day to day operations, be easily accessible and available.     9) Q: Can a nonprofit have more than one Green Champion? A: Yes, but only one person should be identified for this grant opportunity.     10) Q: How much time should the Green Champion expect to spend on this grant process? A: Time will vary based on each nonprofit’s situation. Grants to Green does not give the Green Champion specific instructions. It is the nonprofit’s responsibility to clearly define this leadership and green advocacy role within the organization. Grants to Green may call upon this person for various types of assistance.     11) Q: What is the timing of the Package of Favorable Funding? A: Items approved by Grants to Green in Package of Favorable Funding will be provided after all activities outlined in the Implementation Chart have been completed.     12) Q: Are educational services available? A: Educational services are not available as a part of this funding opportunity at this time. This may change in future grant cycles. However, a nonprofit that receives the Package of Favorable Funding will receive one staff training by Southface. The curriculum for the training will be determined by Southface.     13) Q: Can the nonprofit send hard copies of financials? A: No, we ask that the nonprofit submit Microsoft Word or PDF files of all documents.     14) Q: Is there a maximum budget requirement for eligible nonprofits? A: No, the Guidelines state that nonprofits with annual budgets of $250,000 or more are eligible to apply.     15) Q: Please define “significant support” from a government agency under “who is not eligible to apply,” perhaps as a percentage. A: Significant support may be defined as at least 75%.     16) Q: After a nonprofit is awarded an assessment, what is the timing for the assessment process?     A: Grants to Green anticipates that the assessment process will not take more than six months to complete. This timeframe does not include the time it may take nonprofits to arrange a meeting with their Boards (or a subcommittee of the Board) to hear assessment recommendations. It may not include assessing contractor bids if this is part of your award. Nor does it include monitoring of energy bills which will occur after upgrades are complete. Therefore, timing may vary.           17) Q: Our nonprofit had an assessment performed prior to our awareness of this grant opportunity or our nonprofit is currently working with a LEED certified entity. Are we required to apply for an assessment performed by Southface?     A: No, as stated in the Program Guidelines, nonprofits may employ engineers other than Southface to conduct assessments at their own expense. Submit the Implementation Application and attach a copy of the final Assessment report. Be sure that the Assessment includes recommendations. After your application is submitted, it will be reviewed by Southface who may contact you to ask clarifying questions.           18) Q: I am wondering about new construction.  More specifically, if an organization has begun the planning process and identified LEED certifying opportunities, are we still eligible for funding to support the implementation of those recommendations?  Presently, we believe we are slated for LEED Silver certification.  Is it possible for us to utilize an Assessment and/or Implementation grant to move to LEED Gold?  Is it a possibility for us to utilize an implementation grant to support funding of the LEED Silver recommendations?     A: Yes, to the first part of this question. If you have recommendations and costs on what needs to be done to move to LEED Silver, you should apply for an Implementation Grant. If you don’t know what is required to move to LEED Gold and would like to receive recommendations, you should apply for an Assessment.       There is a choice in the Assessment Application for you to select green building design reviews or specific guidance on using tools such as the LEED/NC (new construction) or LEED/EB (existing buildings) regulations, EarthCraft, or ENERGY STAR regulations. Note: In the Applications, be sure to provide specifics on where your organization is in the LEED process ( i.e., investigating, design, construction), what LEED level your organization is thinking about (i.e. Certified, Silver, Gold, Platinum), what specific areas/credits your organization would like to target and timelines for the project. Provide any LEED required documentation, analysis, or submittals on those credits, if available.  Provide a quantification of the benefit of pursued credits for which you are seeking funding.           19) Q: Will Grants to Green fund a LEED Plan, or only fund moving to higher certification level of the current LEED Plan.   A: At this time, Grants to Green will accept implementation applications for funding a LEED Plan as well as moving to higher certification levels. As stated in the program guidelines, nonprofits can only receive up to $50,000. Applicants should demonstrate that they have a qualified design team on board, submit a detailed LEED analysis of their project showing points they would like to pursue, and give a clear rationale as to what LEED points or content they wish to have funded. Applicants should also explain why the funding for the items requested is necessary for the project’s success as well as the organization’s sustainability. Preference will be given to requests for support to earn points related to energy and water efficiency.     20) Q: Does the nonprofit assessment, conducted by an engineer other than Southface have to be approved by Southface prior to applying for an implementation grant? A: No, nonprofits should not contact Southface in advance of application submittal. Submit the Implementation application by the deadline. The Assessment Report developed by the other engineer will be reviewed during the application review process. Southface may contact you to ask clarifying questions.     21) Q: If the nonprofit assessment services were performed by Southface on multiple buildings, may the nonprofit request an implementation grant to fund recommendations of only one building? A: Yes. You may decide to ask for implementation support for only one building. By the same token, Implementation funds can also be used to implement recommendations that are spread across multiple buildings.     22) Q: If the nonprofit is applying for an Implementation grant, is a Board presentation still required? A: Where possible, Board presentations should be made by the company who did your assessment prior to the submittal of the Implementation Grant. For some nonprofits, this may not be doable. Presentations can be made while the grant is in the review process. Note: All nonprofits applying for an Implementation Grant must be prepared to provide detailed meeting minutes pertaining to the Board presentation, if contacted. Do not send meeting minutes with your application.     23) Q: Can a nonprofit realistically implement changes recommended for multiple buildings? Should the nonprofit focus on recommendations for a single building? A: Yes, a nonprofit can implement changes recommended for multiple buildings. It is up to the nonprofit to make the decision about which recommendations might be addressed and in what priority order. It is up to the nonprofit to determine if it wants to focus on recommendations made for multiple building or a single building. However, as stated in the program guidelines, nonprofits can only receive up to $50,000 to support capital costs regardless of the number of buildings.     24) Q: What if implementation exceeds 24 months, is it OK? A: It is possible that a nonprofit may have extenuating circumstances that cause implementation of recommendations to exceed 24 months. Note: The nonprofit will not be eligible for the Package of Favorable Funding.     25) Q: To what extent will “speed to market” factor into the competitiveness of the implementation request? In other words, should a nonprofit apply for an implementation grant for a project that will take less time or more time to implement. A: The nonprofit must decide what recommendations it wants to address. Grants to Green looks favorably on nonprofits with the capacity to implement changes toward sustainability within a 12 to 24 month time period. Note: In making a decision, nonprofits might consider the scale of the sustainability impact compared with the time frames.     26) Q: Does estimated costs of recommendation include expenses other than item prices, such as the cost of contractors to perform the work? A: Yes.     27) Q: Our nonprofit occupies a portion of the building that we lease. Can we apply for an Assessment of our portion of the space? A: The nonprofit must have control over the entire building's electricity use and systems in order for Grants to Green to have assurance that assessment recommendations will have major impact on sustainability change and that recommendations will likely be implemented.  If the landlord is not in favor of Greening the entire building, that could present a big problem.