Description

The City of Portland supports innovative green building projects through the Green Investment Fund (GIF), sponsored by the City’s Office of Sustainable Development, Bureaus of Water and Environmental Services, and Energy Trust of Oregon. It is a competitive grant program whose primary focus is to support projects that demonstrate exemplary, innovative and comprehensive green building and sustainable site development strategies. The GIF award is not intended to be a financing mechanism to cover project costs.

The timeline for this grant varies slightly year-to-year. Typically, the Request for Proposals (RFP) is issued in November or December, and proposals are accepted until February. The winning projects are announced in late March or early April. The GIF awards grants to innovative, comprehensive and transferable projects that excel at specified core goals. These core goals are: whole building system integration; energy efficiency and on-site renewable power generation; material use reduction, recycling, salvage and reuse; water efficiency; rain and stormwater management and improving watershed health; and community connectivity. Total funding of $425,000 was available for the 2009 RFP; the maximum amount that may be awarded to any project is $425,000.

The last RFP was issued in December 2008 and proposals were due in February 2009. The next round of awards should be made in April 2009. The next RFP will likely be issued in December 2009. Industrial, residential, commercial, and mixed-use public and private organizations are eligible to receive this grant.