Notice of Intent to issue Funding Opportunity Announcement No. DE-FOA-0002788 entitled Buildings Energy Efficiency Frontiers & Innovation Technologies (BENEFIT) - 2022 | DE FOA 0002787

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0002787

The Department of Energy (DOE), through the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) and its Building Technologies Office (BTO), released a Notice of Intent announcing plans to issue a forthcoming Funding Opportunity Announcement called Buildings Energy Efficiency Frontiers and Innovation Technologies (BENEFIT) - 2022. This notice is essentially an early heads-up to the market that DOE expects to open a competitive funding opportunity in the near term, while also making clear that details may change once the official FOA is published. The planned award mechanism is a cooperative agreement, which typically means DOE expects to be substantially involved during the project period (for example, through technical engagement, milestone reviews, and active project management), rather than simply issuing a grant with minimal interaction.

The primary purpose of the anticipated BENEFIT FOA is to accelerate the development, validation, and real-world demonstration of new building technologies and retrofit practices. DOE is signaling a strong focus on approaches that can deliver meaningful and equitable carbon reductions, particularly by advancing building electrification, improving energy efficiency, and enabling demand flexibility (the ability for buildings to adjust electricity use in response to grid needs, pricing signals, or reliability conditions). In addition to emissions reductions, the notice highlights several cross-cutting outcomes DOE wants to see: improved resilience for both buildings and the electric grid, better affordability of high-efficiency technologies and retrofit practices, and intentional attention to environmental justice. That last point is framed as ensuring inclusion of underserved communities and designing efforts so benefits are not limited to already well-resourced markets.

DOE indicates the FOA is expected to include multiple Areas of Interest that reflect major opportunities for reducing building energy use and shifting loads in ways that help the grid. The listed topic areas include Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) along with Water Heating; Thermal Energy Storage (TES), such as systems that store heat or coolth to shift when energy is used; Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) to support onsite storage and load management; Plug Loads and Lighting, which can be a large and growing share of building electricity consumption; and Opaque Building Envelope technologies, such as walls and roofs, where insulation, materials, and assemblies can significantly reduce heating and cooling demand. Taken together, these categories point to solutions that span equipment, controls, storage, and building components, with an emphasis on performance in real buildings and retrofits rather than only lab-scale concepts.

A notable feature in the notice is BTOs effort to compile a "teaming" partner list. This is meant to help broaden participation by making it easier for organizations with relevant expertise to connect with potential lead applicants and form project teams. For many DOE cooperative agreements, strong proposals often involve partnerships among technology developers, universities or national labs, building owners or operators, utilities or grid partners, and community-based organizations, especially when the solicitation emphasizes demonstrations, resilience, and equitable outcomes. The teaming list is a way for firms, researchers, and other entities to signal capabilities and explore collaborations before the FOA is formally released.

From the administrative details provided in the source data, the opportunity is categorized as discretionary funding in the energy area, with a stated CFDA number of 81.086 (a common identifier for DOE energy efficiency and renewable energy assistance programs). Eligibility is described as "unrestricted," meaning it is broadly open to many entity types, subject to any clarifications that would appear in the full FOA text. The issuing office is the DOE Golden Field Office. The notice is dated October 27, 2022, and it lists an original closing date of January 6, 2023 for the notice-related posting; however, as a Notice of Intent, the key point is that the official FOA would define actual application deadlines, requirements, and evaluation criteria. The data also shows an award ceiling value of 2 (as listed in the record), and expected awards are shown as 0 in the notice record, which is typical of an NOI because final funding levels and the number of awards are usually confirmed only when the FOA is released.

Finally, DOE makes clear that it will not answer questions about the Notice of Intent itself. Instead, once the official FOA is published, DOE will provide a formal process for submitting questions. The practical takeaway is that interested parties should treat this notice as an early planning signal: begin forming partnerships, aligning proposed work with the listed technology areas and the equity and resilience priorities, and preparing to respond quickly once the final FOA DE-FOA-0002788 is issued with definitive rules, budgets, and submission instructions.

• The Department of Energy, Golden Field Office in the energy sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Notice of Intent to issue Funding Opportunity Announcement No. DE-FOA-0002788 entitled Buildings Energy Efficiency Frontiers & Innovation Technologies (BENEFIT) - 2022" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.086.
• This funding opportunity was created on Oct 27, 2022.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jan 06, 2023. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $2.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

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