USGBC Doubles Research Funding and Asks for Proposals

In November 2007, the Research Committee of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) released A National Green Building Research Agenda, in which it set priorities for green building research and called for funding of this research. (BuildingGreen's Alex Wilson is a member of this committee.) The agenda outlined four major areas of research: delivery process and performance evaluation; integrated building systems; buildings' interactions with local environments; and buildings' interactions with occupants.

At the time, USGBC committed to $1 million in research funding; now, it has doubled that commitment and set aside $500,000 for research on occupant impacts in K-12 school facilities. This reflects the USGBC's recent emphasis on green schools, which included a new website devoted to the topic.

Several grants will be awarded in two general ranges: $50,000 to $150,000, and $150,000 to $250,000. Projects should focus on one of the areas identified in the research agenda, should be multidisciplinary in approach, and should be relevant to LEED technical development.

USGBC will be accepting pre-proposal abstracts from February 12 through March 6, 2008. After reviewing these pre-proposals, USGBC will ask selected applicants to submit more detailed proposals for the final phase of the award process.