Jun 01, 2006

$120,000 in grant money to advance LEED Green Building Rating System(R)

AmerenUE announced today that it has partnered with the U.S. Green Building Council - St. Louis Regional Chapter (USGBC-STL) in launching the LEED Incentive Grant Program. The $120,000 program will accelerate green building practices, energy conservation and environmental performance in the St. Louis Region.

LEED is Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, the U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC) voluntary, consensus-based rating system that is a national standard for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings. The purpose of the LEED Incentive Grant Program is to encourage the construction of LEED certified green buildings that will serve as examples for future projects in the St. Louis region.

The LEED Incentive Grant Program will award $120,000 in grants to the project owners or developers of new construction and major renovations or remodeling projects that follow LEED Green Building Green Building Rating Systems© for New Commercial Construction and Major Renovation (NC), Existing Building Operations (EB), Commercial Interior (CI) or Core and Shell (CS) projects. Home projects are not eligible.

Projects must be located within AmerenUE's electric service area. The grants are to be used for "soft" costs only, such as the LEED Certification fee; LEED Documentation; Professional Services, like Energy Modeling, Daylighting Analysis and/or Modeling Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) Commissioning; and Building Design Charrette facilitated by a LEED Accredited Professional. The program will run until funds are exhausted or until June 30, 2007, whichever comes first.

As part of its support, AmerenUE and the USGBC-STL are also offering training sessions for individuals interested in LEED certification. The first session is for general contractors/construction managers who need information about technical requirements, materials, resources, and indoor environmental quality credits. It will be held Monday, June 5, 2006, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Ameren's headquarters, 1901 Chouteau Ave.

Another session, focused on understanding LEED Project Costs and Returns, will be held Wednesday, June 28, 2006, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at St. Louis Community College at Meramec, 11333 Big Bend.

Future training sessions will be announced as details are finalized.

To register for these or any USGBC workshop, visit www.usgbc.org/workshopsegister and search for the specific workshop, or search for workshops in St. Louis. Or call USGBC at (202) 742-3820.

AmerenUE's support of the LEED Incentive Grant Program is part of a settlement approved in 2002 by the Missouri Public Service Commission. Through that settlement, AmerenUE Missouri electric customers received $110 million in phased-in electric rate reductions, in addition to other programs that help low- income customers and encourage energy efficiency. A collaborative consisting of AmerenUE, the Office of Public Counsel, the Missouri Public Service Commission Staff and the Department of Natural Resources' Energy Center worked with the USGBC-STL to develop the program.

Questions about the LEED Incentive Grant Program must be submitted in writing by mail, e-mail or fax (314.577.0298) to the USGBC-St. Louis Regional Chapter, 3617 Grandel Square, St. Louis, MO 63108, or usgbc-stl@mobot.org. Applications and more information is also available in the "Products and Services" area of Ameren's Web site, www.ameren.com.

About U.S. Green Building Council-St. Louis Regional Chapter: The U.S. Green Building Council is the nation's foremost coalition of leaders from across the building industry working to promote buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable and healthy places to live and work. The St. Louis Regional Chapter includes every segment of the building industry: architecture; engineering; construction; landscape architecture; interior design; product manufacturing and sales; facilities management; insurance; real estate; federal, state and local government and non-profit organizations.

About AmerenUE: AmerenUE is a subsidiary of St. Louis-based Ameren Corporation. Ameren companies serve 2.4 million electric customers and nearly 1 million natural gas customers in a 64,000-square-mile area of Missouri and Illinois.

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