February 27, 2018 | Main Spotlight | Grants to Green Maine Channels Yankee Ingenuity to Reduce Energy Costs | By Anne Ball, Program Director, Maine Downtown Center |
Photo Credit: Pejepscot Historical Society (Brunswick, ME), a Grants to Green Recipient
As part of the Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta’s Grants to Green program, Maine was designated one of two national replication sites. Anne Ball of the Maine Development Foundation explains how $1.2 million in grants enabled 27 non-profits to cut energy consumption, slash costs, and reinvest in historic properties along Main Streets across the state.
Maine’s authentic downtowns are a tribute to what New Englanders call “Yankee ingenuity” — they have a penchant for inventive yet practical solutions to challenges. Take the Pejepscot Historical Society located in Brunswick, a Main Street Maine community. They oversee the Pejepscot Museum, Skolfield-Whittier House, and the nationally known Joshua Chamberlain Museum, all located in downtown. Like many small non-profits, the Pejepscot Historical Society struggled with excessive energy costs that diverted resources from programming and limited the organization's capacity to make capital improvements. Maine has one of the oldest building stocks in the country and some of the highest and most volatile energy costs in the country.
So when they spotted the Grants to Green program, offered through the Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta, they jumped at the opportunity. The Pejepscot Historical Society secured a $10,000 grant to conduct an energy audit and make energy efficiency improvements including general air sealing, insulation, repair and preservation of basement storm windows, in addition to addressing drainage issues around the bulk head of the Pejepscot Museum and the Skolfield-Whittier House. These upgrades make a measurable difference in the Society’s utility consumption and enable the organization to maintain the historical integrity of the buildings.
Bath, ME. Photo Credit: Jeff Robinson
Pejepscot Historical Society is one of 27 non-profits in Maine to benefit from a total of $1.2 million awarded in Maine through the Grants to Green program. Early evaluation shows that sites are reducing their energy use by 17% and saving an average of $4,000 annually.
It all started in 2013, when the Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta put out a nationwide call for proposals to replicate their successful Grants to Green program. A trio of Maine organizations joined forces to answer the call. The Maine Community Foundation, Maine Development Foundation’s Maine Downtown Center, and Efficiency Maine submitted a proposal focused on saving energy in downtown non-profit owned historic buildings that would:
1) Strengthen the link between the natural and built environment in Maine’s historic downtowns to make them more environmentally responsive and ecologically conscious
2) Strengthen Maine’s downtowns by building local leadership and community capacity to support sustainable green initiatives
3) Provide incentives for grantees, and pre-approval on incentives/eligible measures
4) Ensure access to technical support
5) Offer guidance on project monitoring and evaluation
In 2014, Maine’s application was chosen as one of two national replication sites along with the Community Foundation for Greater Dubuque in Iowa. Grants to Green Maine awarded its first grants in June of 2014 and completed the program in March of 2017. Overall, a total of 32 institutions received grants for assessments (energy audits) and funded 27 projects for implementation of energy-saving measures based on a recent audit.
Grantees included a diverse group of historic downtown buildings: libraries, theaters, churches, schools, commercial and residential properties. The types of non-profit organizations were equally diverse, including childcare centers, museums, theaters, cultural centers and social service organizations, including a homeless shelter. 
Photo Credit: The Lincoln Theater, built in 1867, located in Damariscotta, ME. The Theater was awarded a Grants to Green grant to add insulation and air sealing to keep the theater cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter, thus reducing the associated energy costs for the organization year round.
Energy efficiency improvements were varied. (SEE FIGURE 1) One of the biggest successes of the program is that 100% of the grantees said that participating in the grant program has helped their organization plan for long-term energy management. (SEE FIGURE 2). This finding is critical to the long-term sustainability of Maine’s downtown and Main Street historic buildings.
Green Champions Program
As part of the grant agreement, the grantee sites were required to have a Green Champion to oversee and promote the “green” changes implemented at the site. The champions participated in statewide Green Champion meetings to receive technical assistance and engage in peer learning with other participating sites. They had excellent attendance and were self-reported as very useful by the attendees. The champions were expected to share the project information and lessons learned with their local board members, stakeholders, and customers/clients. The Green Champions were also expected to assist with entering energy data into Energy Star Portfolio Manager (an EPA tool used to track energy savings). The program evaluation included baseline and final surveys with questions to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of the champion. Those grantees with more engaged Green Champions had more ease with the grant program (specifically the data collection) and made more presentations to internal committees or board of directors about “green building operations” as a result of the grant.
Skowhegan, ME. Photo Credit: Main Street Skowhegan
Sustainability
The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta was eager for the replication sites to sustain the program beyond the original three years. The Maine team announced earlier this month that the Maine Community Foundation will continue the program and expand their current historic preservation fund to include energy efficiency. The fund, now known as the Belvedere Historic Preservation and Energy Efficiency Fund, will provide grants up to $20,000 for historic preservation, energy audits and energy efficiency implementation projects including energy saving measures based on a current audit. Enough funding has been secured for this effort for an additional three years. The Maine Downtown Center at the Maine Development Foundation will again be partnering with the Community Foundation to provide technical assistance and promote the program to Main Street communities around the state. The program is not at the scale of the original Grants to Green program, but energy efficiency audits and upgrades of any size provide a huge benefit to the organizations and the downtowns. If an organization has an audit, can budget for the recommended energy upgrades over time, and make incremental changes to the building to save on energy costs, it is a huge win. A small project like window sealing or insulation may have a modest price tag and a short payback period, all resulting in energy savings. The Maine Downtown Center is excited to continue this modern, Yankee ingenuity-driven work in downtown historic buildings and Main Street communities and looks forward to documenting continued energy savings in the future.
About the author:
Anne G. Ball joined the Maine Development Foundation in 2012 as a contractor to the Maine Downtown Center where she oversaw a number of major projects including Healthy Maine Streets and Grants to Green Maine. In 2017, she became the Program Director of the Maine Downtown Center which serves as the statewide Coordinator for the National Main Street Program.