Green School Works Grants

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MassCEC / High Performance Buildings / Funding / Green School Works Grants

The Challenge: Decarbonize Public Schools

Massachusetts’ approximately 1,800 public school buildings are responsible for about 880,000 metric tons of carbon every year. Electrifying and decarbonizing these buildings represents a significant opportunity for the state to reach its goal of net zero emissions by 2050. However, with the increased costs of construction and competing capital needs, districts need additional resources for the installation and upgrades of clean energy infrastructure.

About Green School Works Grants

Green School Works grants provide K-12 public schools with funding to implement projects that improve energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, or mitigate the impacts of climate change. Up to 15% of an award's total funds can be used for project “soft costs,” such as design or project management.

Up to $19 million will be available to schools for this round of funding. Awards may range from $50,000 up to $5 million for projects with a larger scope that opt for a recoverable grant of at least $2 million. See Section 8 (Budget & Award Limits) of the RFP for details on recoverable grants.

Closed
Award Potential

$50,000-$5,000,000

Application Deadline

February 13, 2026 11:59 PM

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Funding Schedule

MassCEC expects to award all available funding in this round if we receive a sufficient volume of strong applications.

Process Step Timing

Request for Proposals released

December 1, 2025

Informational webinar

December 9, 2025 at 3:30 PM

Virtual office hours

Sign up via this form or email greenschools@masscec.com

Questions accepted by MassCEC via email to greenschools@masscec.com

December 1, 2025 through January 30, 2026, 11:59 PM

Questions with answers posted to MassCEC website

Rolling through February 6, 2026

Proposals due

February 13, 2026 11:59 PM

Interviews of applicants, as needed

February through April 2026

Notification of Award

May 2026

Who's Eligible

For this funding, the project site must be a public K-12 school, or multiple public K-12 schools, in Massachusetts. 

Projects at various stages of planning, design, and construction are eligible to receive funding.

All applicants pursuing awards of $1 million or more will be required to submit a Mass Save® comprehensive building assessment (“CBA”), investment-level audit, or equivalent building study as part of the Green School Works application to ensure that the proposed project is part of a thoughtful decarbonization strategy. Applicants pursuing awards of $1 million or more with CBAs, or equivalent technical assistance studies in progress but not yet completed, will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Eligible non-Mass Save Applicants can access equivalent technical assistance through the Green School Works technical assistance program. MassCEC recommends the completion of a CBA or equivalent building study for all projects, regardless of budget.

 

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Application Process

Please include in your application: 

  • Attachment A: Authorized Applicant Signature and Acceptance Form
  • Attachment B: Application Form, including relevant attachments and confirmation that Attachment C has been reviewed
  • Additional attachments, as available, including team member resumes, energy use data, capital assessments and/or project plans, drawings, or documents

Applicants with projects in early stages may not have all the information requested in Attachment B; they should provide as much information as is available. 

For projects involving multiple schools in a connected or coordinated effort, please submit a single application.

For separate projects at multiple schools or sites in your district, please submit a separate application for each project. 

The response to the RFP should be submitted via email to greenschools@masscec.com. “Green School Works Implementation RFP – [Applicant (i.e. school district) name]” must appear in the email subject line.

Application Materials

MassCEC webinar image - square

Green School Works Webinar

MassCEC is hosting a webinar on the Green School Works grants on December 9th, 2025 at 3:30 PM that will provide an overview of the RFP and include a Q&A. Please register in advance to receive a link to join.

Register for Webinar

Office Hours

The Green School Works team holds office hours Mondays from 1-2PM. Advance sign up is required.

Please email greenschools@masscec.com if there are no available times that work for you.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Eligibility

Private schools

Can a private school apply?

This funding is limited to public schools.

Eligible project types and costs

Is a fossil fuel powered technology eligible for grant funding?

No, we will not be funding technologies that are fossil fuel powered. However, if you are applying for Green School Works funding for a technology that uses electricity (e.g. a heat pump) and leaving fossil fuel powered technology as a back up, that is an eligible project. Please note this information in your narrative.

For the soft costs at 15% does that include overhead and profit on the construction project?

MassCEC does not consider the price to install or construct a project as part of the soft cost cap.

Multiple projects in one district

Can districts submit multiple proposals?

Yes, districts are able to submit multiple proposals.

FAQs continued...

2. Award rounds and levels

Will all the implementation money be awarded now or will there be other rounds of RFPs?

We are expecting to award all available funding in this round, but it will depend on the application pool.

3. Timeline

If awarded, when does the funding need to be spent by? When do projects need to be completed?

We don't have a firm deadline for when funding needs to be spent. MassCEC will prioritize projects that can begin construction within one year of contract signing and achieve project completion within three years of contract signing.

4. How to Apply

Who signs the application? The select board or the school?

Whoever has authority in your municipality or whoever is taking financial responsibility for the school (either the school district or the municipal leadership) will be accepted as the signatory.

Should we submit one grant application for our district for projects at four schools?

The district should submit one application if all four schools are involved in a connected or coordinated effort (e.g., the district proposes to install ASHPs in all four schools by the same contractor). If these are all separate projects, four separate proposals should be submitted.

Should I be doing 2 separate applications for different projects or one all encompassing?

If a project is a connected and/or coordinated multi-school effort, please submit one application. If there are separate projects at multiple schools or sites in your district, please submit separate applications for each project.

What is considered a connected/coordinated multi-school project? For example, if a municipality is pursuing the same measure at multiple school buildings, like ventilation upgrades, could that be submitted under one application or should it be multiple applications for each school?

It seems this could be co-delivered by the same designer and contractor. If that’s the case, it would make sense to combine them under one application.

MassCEC / High Performance Buildings / Funding / Green School Works Grants

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