Recent federal stimulus legislation has created hundreds of billions of dollars in funding for buildings, industrial sites, and other infrastructure across the United States. But the opportunities don’t stop there. Schneider Electric™ also offers innovative funding models that make many modernization projects financially attainable for organizations on tight budgets.
Note: These seven funding opportunities are not guaranteed, and they are not intended to be tax or legal advice. Funding and tax calculations are complex; consult your financial advisor for more specific guidance.
Incentives: Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund
Incentives Source: Federal government
The federal government included billions in funding for elementary and secondary schools in the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act. Over 90 percent of this Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding is available for a broad category of pandemic needs, under the discretion of the local funding agency.
ESSER funding can be put toward permanent facility upgrades that improve indoor air quality.
ESSER incentives
These upgrades include:
- Filtration, ventilation, air purification, and other systems that improve indoor air quality
- Inspections, testing, maintenance, repair, and replacement of aging building controls and HVAC systems
- Technologies related to temperature scanning, occupancy counting, access control, and security systems
- Outdoor learning infrastructure, such as the renewable-energy powered Sustainable Outdoor Learning Environment for hands-on STEM education
- Energy performance contracting and modernization services that increase financial flexibility for upgrades
- Any other improvements that “enable operation of schools to reduce risk of virus transmission and exposure to environmental health hazards, and to support student health needs”
How do I access ESSER funding?
Our in-house experts can help you better understand the opportunity and design a project to meet your needs. We have experience connecting our customers with federal stimulus funding — in fact, during the late 2000s Great Recession, we helped clients secure $260 million.
How do I access ESSER funding?
Our in-house experts can help you better understand the opportunity and design a project to meet your needs. We have experience connecting our customers with federal stimulus funding — in fact, during the late 2000s Great Recession, we helped clients secure $260 million.
Incentives: Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF)
Incentives Source: Federal government
The American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act includes the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) III. HEERF applies to the same kinds of pandemic mitigation efforts as ESSER funds. Where HEERF differs from ESSER is that it requires that 50% of a non-profit institution's funds be spent on student grants. For-profit institutions must spend 100% of their funds on student grants.
HEERF Incentives
These can include permanent facility upgrades that improve indoor air quality, such as:
- Filtration, ventilation, air purification, and other systems that improve indoor air quality
- Inspections, testing, maintenance, repair, and replacement of aging building controls and HVAC systems
- Technologies related to temperature scanning, occupancy counting, access control, and security systems
- Outdoor learning infrastructure, such as the renewable-energy powered Sustainable Outdoor Learning Environment for hands-on STEM education
- Energy performance contracting and modernization services that increase financial flexibility for upgrades
- Any other improvements that “enable operation of schools to reduce risk of virus transmission and exposure to environmental health hazards, and to support student health needs”
How do I access HEERF funding?
Similar to ESSER funding, our in-house experts can help you better understand the HEERF opportunity and design a project to meet your needs. We have experience connecting our customers with federal stimulus funding. During the late 2000s Great Recession, we helped clients secure $260 million.
How do I access HEERF funding?
Similar to ESSER funding, our in-house experts can help you better understand the HEERF opportunity and design a project to meet your needs. We have experience connecting our customers with federal stimulus funding. During the late 2000s Great Recession, we helped clients secure $260 million.
Incentives: Qualified Improvement Properties (QIP)
Incentives Source: Federal government
The 2020 Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Stability (CARES) Act created a tax incentive for upgrades to commercial facilities, also known as qualified improvement properties. This incentive offers a full deduction of certain project costs in a single year, without limitation on the size of the project.
This full deduction in a single year (i.e. accelerated deduction) is a change from the past tax code, when these deductions would spread across 39 years. By concentrating the deduction in a single year, you can dramatically speed up the return on investment. The tax incentive is available for a limited time. The full 100% deduction in the first year is available through 2022, and in 2023 it scales down to 80%.
QIP incentives
Qualifying improvements include non-structural upgrades (equipment and installation costs) to the interior envelope of existing facilities, including:
- Building management systems
- Sensors, valves, actuators, and other HVAC devices
- Uninterruptible power supplies, switchgear, and other electrical distribution equipment
This incentive does not apply to the following:
- New construction
- Upgrades to the facility’s structure (e.g., expansions, remodeling, etc.)
- External envelope of the building (e.g., windows, doors, roof, cladding)
- Residential structures
- Certain equipment (e.g., elevators)
Incentives: Utility
Incentives Source: Financing through utilities
Utilities frequently incentivize ratepayers to enhance energy efficiency. These incentives range from simple rebates for LED light bulbs to much larger projects. There are thousands of rebates available across the country at any given time, and we can help connect you to these opportunities.
Funding: Energy as a Service
Funding Source: Schneider Electric
Energy as a Service (EaaS) is a funding method that enables organizations to achieve more reliable, efficient, and sustainable energy management without capital expenditures. Instead of purchasing and operating your building’s energy management systems, a third-party expert such as Schneider Electric takes on the financial and operational risk.
Your organization gets to focus on your core mission without worrying about rising rates or aging equipment. It’s also an easy way to achieve sustainability goals by incorporating renewable energy sourcing and minimizing energy waste. In return, you pay a fixed, cost-competitive monthly rate for your building’s energy.
EaaS funding
EaaS covers a wide range of energy management systems, which you can customize to fit your goals:
- Microgrids
- EV charging infrastructure
- On-site / off-site renewable energy sourcing
- Lighting systems
- Switchgear and power distribution
- Building management systems
Funding: Service and Modernization Plans
Funding Source: Schneider Electric
The Service and Modernization Plan from Schneider Electric allows customers to upgrade and modernize their building systems via predictable monthly payments instead of larger upfront payments.
Service and Modernization Plans funding
The plan enables you to upgrade lighting, HVAC, power distribution, and other building systems.
It’s a great way to introduce IoT connectivity, healthy building monitoring, and sustainability reporting into existing buildings without major capital costs.
Download the Services and Modernization plans
- Terms tailored to meet your needs — a 60-month term is typical
- Keep your serviceable assets in top shape
- No down payment
- Cancel anytime (unpaid project payments due at cancellation)
Funding: Energy Performance Contracting
Funding Source: Schneider Electric
Energy performance contracting involves partnering with an energy service company (ESCO) to take on a long-term project that tackles maintenance backlogs and facility improvements. By upgrading facilities for energy efficiency, organizations can pay for the larger project scope via energy savings.
Energy Performance Contracting
The ESCO guarantees projected energy savings for the length of the project.
The savings can also be applied to further infrastructure updates that enrich the lives of those who live, work, learn, and play in your community.
Some of our clients have saved tens of millions of dollars through energy performance contracting. Here’s a story of our project with a school district in South Carolina that saved taxpayers $28 million.
