Commercial and multifamily buildings

You can apply for up to $75,000 in funds to reduce your building's energy use.

Overview

Exterior of Minneapolis apartment building

We help fund new energy-saving technology projects.

  • Get help for projects you haven't started yet.
  • Do not apply for funding for projects you have already started or finished.

What to know

Apply

Apply for funding

 

Eligibility

Eligible properties

Your property must meet these criteria:

  • Located in the city of Minneapolis
  • Property type is one of the following categories:
    • Business/commercial
    • Industrial
    • Multifamily (five units or more)
    • Nonprofit

Eligible projects

Your project must either:

  • Qualify for an Xcel or CenterPoint utility rebate
  • Electrify a piece of gas equipment

Other criteria:

  • Grants, matches and rebates cannot exceed your total project cost.

Incentives

City match

commercial building with sky in background

 

Your City match is based on both of these:

  • The total cost of the project
  • The incentive category for which your project qualifies
Category Maximum match
Base 20% up to $20,000
Green Zone 40% up to $40,000
Low-income supporting 40% up to $40,000
Buildings 50,000 square feet or larger 25% up to $75,000

Incentive category definitions

Base category

Any eligible property

Green Zone category

A property located in a Minneapolis Green Zone

Low-income serving

Property qualifies for an affordable housing or utility bill support program, such as:

Low-income supporting nonprofits also qualify.

Equipment guidelines

Equipment must meet the recommended minimum efficiency guidelines.

Exception: if a utility energy audit partner recommends otherwise.

See recommended minimum efficiency guidelines

Minimum guidelines

See the minimum efficiency for equipment in this program. This list is not exhaustive and projects not listed are also eligible.

Terms

  • AFUE - Annual fuel utilization efficiency
  • ECM - Electronically commutated motor
  • EER - Energy efficiency ratio
  • EF - Energy factor
  • HSFP - Heating seasonal performance factor
  • IEER - Integrated energy efficiency ratio
  • SEER - Seasonal energy efficiency rating
  • UEF - Uniform energy factor
Boiler 95% AFUE or higher
Furnace 96% AFUE or higher
ECM motor
Gas water heater tank < 75,000 BTU .68 UEF
Gas water heater tank > 75,000 BTU 88% efficient
Gas water heater tankless .87 UEF
Heat pump water heater 3.5 EF
Attic/roof insulation - pitch roof R-50 or as much as possible with air sealing
Attic/roof insulation - flat roof Evaluated case by case
Wall insulation R-11 or as much as possible
Attic joist insulation Minimum of R-10
Ventilation - bathroom exhaust Multispeed with ECM motor

Air source heat pumps

Central (ducted or mixed ducted): 15.2 SEER2 (10 EER2), HSFP2 8.1

Minisplit (non-ducted): 16 SEER2 (9.0 EER2), HSFP2 9.5

Rooftop Unit

<5.4 tons: 11.05 EER and 13.7 SEER or greater

5.4 - 11.3 tons: 11.3 EER and 12.2 IEER or greater

11.4 - 19.9 tons: 10.1 EER and 12.1 IEER or greater

20 - 63.3 tons: 10.9 EER and 12 IEER or greater

>63.3 tons: 10.9 EER and 12 IEER or greater

LED lighting

DLC listed

Triple pane windows 

Energy STAR Northern Climate

Get started

The first thing you should do is schedule an energy audit.

  • We recommend scheduling the audit at least one month before the application is due.

Helpful organizations

Contact one of these organizations for help:

Contact us

Green Cost Share

Minneapolis Health Department

Phone

612-673-2301

Address

Public Service Building
505 Fourth Ave. S., Room 520
Minneapolis, MN 55415