Deadline: 28-Feb-23
Nominations are now open for the American-Made Energy Champions Leading the Advancement of Sustainable Schools (CLASS) Prize to support local education agencies, helping establish and train energy managers to identify, plan, and implement efficiency and health upgrades in schools.
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 Training Network includes professional organizations with expertise in energy, health, communications, project development, and finance that will provide trainings and support to Energy CLASS Prize participants through (1) 80–160 hours of educational content and (2) 60–80 hours of professional coaching on LEA-specific projects
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.
Phases
- Phase 1: 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.
- Phase 2: Skills Development and Coaching: 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.
Funding Information
- Phases 1: Prize pool up to $2,500,000 (up to 25 winners)
- $100,000 in cash prizes per team, training, and professional coaching
- Phase 2: Prize pool up to $1,250,000 (up to 25 winners)
- $50,000 per team
- Duration: The Energy Champions will receive a total of 80–160 hours of training plus an additional 60–80 hours of coaching per team over the course of 12 months.
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 itspublic elementary and secondary schools.9 LEA has the meaning given in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. 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 program 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 risk 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.
For more information visit Energy CLASS Prize.