The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) awarded 13 research teams $2 million green building research grant last month. In an effort to overcome the lack of green building research, the USGBC created the green building grant program. The program focuses on advances in responsible, environmentally friendly design and building practices.
“The research grants are part of USGBC’s commitment to better understand what is working and what more can be done, which will inform USGBC’s programs and the entire building industry” says Rick Fedrizzi, CEO and founding chair of the USGBC.
The USGBC generated $2 million and the Green Building Research Fund has pledged $1,150,825. The money is divided amongst the research teams and the grants range from $90,000 to $250,000, depending on the demands of the project. Twenty-five percent of the grants are committed to research on K-12 schools and students.
With the February 2008 proposal announcement , the USGBC received an overwhelming amount of diverse proposals throughout the country. They sorted through 216 pre-proposals and 38 full proposals and selected 13 winning research teams. The proposals cover an array of environmental needs within the building industry and meet all five standards of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design green building certification system.
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