The Green Communities Fund Offers Rebates for Energy Efficiency

By Anca Gagiuc, Associate Editor

Green Communities Fund, Georgia

Georgia Cities Foundation launched a new program—the Green Communities Fund—that offers rebates for energy improvements in developments located in the downtown of any city in Georgia.

The Green Communities Fund provides a 25 percent rebate for pre-approved, eligible energy efficient improvements to commercial, mixed-use, and multifamily buildings located in the areas approved by the Georgia Cities Foundation. The project must have at least $10,000 in eligible energy efficiency improvements to qualify and the maximum rebate is $100,000 per project ($400,000 eligible project size).

Projects that are taken into consideration for the rebates are reflective roofing, insulation HVAC, tankless hot water heaters, lighting, and weatherization. The replacement of windows and doors is not eligible for a rebate and cannot be included in the project total. Applicants are required to document a projected energy savings improvement of 20 percent or a combined 10-year return on investment. They must comply with Energy Star, LEED, and EarthCraft certification standards.

The ineligible applicants are the single-family residential, government entities, government-owned buildings, including those that are leased to non-governmental entities.

The Georgia Cities Foundation is not the only source of rebates in the state. In October, Georgia Power awarded a $64,000 rebate to Krystal Company Restaurants; the company upgraded to LEDs 55 restaurants across Georgia, a move that may cut energy use by 2.8kWh.