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The Kresge Foundation is announcing it is retiring its Green Building Initiative. It has set Friday, May 29, 2009, as the final day for accepting applications for funding to cover the planning costs associated with constructing or renovating an environmentally responsible facility. All those interested in this grant program have until May 29 to submit an application.

“The Green Building Initiative has met its goals and served its purpose just as Kresge intended,” says Lois DeBacker, senior program director and Environment Program team leader. “The nonprofit organizations that received green planning grants and went on to construct green buildings raised awareness in the nonprofit sector, in the design and construction professions, and in the physical communities where these projects are located.”

The retirement of the Green Building Initiative, which was introduced in 2003, represents the foundation’s deepening commitment to the advancement of environmental stewardship, one of the foundation’s nine core values and the overarching goal of its Environment Program.

“The Environment Program’s new grantmaking approach will support policy changes to accelerate the adoption of energy-efficient practices in building construction, renovation, and operation,” DeBacker adds.

In 2007, the foundation launched its Environment Program and its three strategic priorities:

• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the built environment
• Accelerate the adoption of renewable energy technologies
• Develop strategies for helping society adapt to the impacts of climate change.

“The urgency of mitigating climate change has influenced our decision to move from a project-by-project approach to a broader, more systemic grantmaking scope,” explains Jessica Boehland, program officer for the Environment Program. “In the future, we anticipate supporting green buildings through policy-focused grants, such as the award we made to the Energy Foundation in 2008.”

The Energy Foundation, headquartered in San Francisco, works to advance energy efficiency and the development of renewable energy technologies. In December 2008, Kresge awarded it a two-year, $5 million grant to support efforts to improve state building codes and strengthen efficiency standards for appliances.

The Green Building Initiative was designed to encourage nonprofit organizations that were planning to construct new buildings to explore the merits of environmentally responsible design and construction. The program, which was later extended to include green renovation, awarded up to $100,000 per building for the incremental planning costs associated with following an integrated design process, undertaking energy modeling, and registering the building under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system.

Read more about the Environment Program and the Green Building Initiative.

If you have questions, e-mail the Grants Inquiry Coordinator or call 248-643-9630.