CIB exploring new research funding for members

The CIB Board’s task group on Third Party Funding has just finished a study of Charitable Foundations which fund research or other activities in the construction and built environment sector around the world. Any CIB member interested in any of the following priorities or with contacts in any of the 80 Foundations assessed is invited to contact CIB’s chief executive Don Ward with details to discuss how we could collaborate on an approach.

Now chaired by Dr Michael Lacasse of CIB Full member National Research Council Canada, the task group commissioned Dr Deborah Pullen, formerly Director of the BRE Trust in the UK, to carry out the work. She looked at 80 Foundations in depth.

Key findings included:

• The total asset value of Private Foundations exceeds 5 trillion US dollars, and they are required to re-distribute around 5% of their previous year’s asset value each year. Even the significant number of much smaller foundations (<$50,000 spend per year) often punch above their weight in terms of their giving (typically 15% of asset value per year) and delivered social impact, albeit often at a more local level.
• Some Foundations are open to applications for funding, others’ decisions on who and how they allocate their funds are made privately and gifted primarily to existing delivery charities. Particularly in the major areas of support such as disaster relief, poverty, health and education, longstanding beneficiaries and partnerships are often already in place.
• There is a growing trend in supporting initiatives which focus on addressing the current rate of damage to the environment and also responding to changes in climate. Currently only a small percentage of total grant giving is focused on protecting the natural environment with well established foundations in place, but an even smaller number are focused primarily on the built environment. This is an opportunity for CIB to help shape and deliver new programmes using existing knowledge and research outputs.
• There is growing pressure for public and private organisations to reduce the environmental footprint of their own estates, whether that be building, estates, towns or city level. A number of Foundations are focusing their programmes on urban (city) improvement and increased use of renewable resources which will add to the mix of current advancements that the construction and utilities industries are already making to their projects.
• Charities themselves are under increasing pressure from their donors to report on their environmental footprint and demonstrate ongoing improvement, in line, with any other public or private sector.  
• In the humanitarian sector, the need to build back with longer term relevance to the needs of communities and improved resilience to ongoing external influences (weather, conflict, resource depletion etc) is a recognised requirement to increase efficiency of the funds and resources provided.  
• There is also a growing trend in nations which suffer from extreme weather events and are also developing infrastructure and urban settlements in line with economic growth to be able to extend their own skills to address both. This requires local access to funding which has typically been spent by NGOs and overseas volunteer organisations, and the need for aligned building standards and deployment becomes critical.

Opportunities for CIB

From within the above landscape CIB sought to identify private grant-giving Foundations or Trusts with funding Levels above $100,000 per year focused on the themes of sustainability, climate change and/or zero carbon, with supported types of project including research, publications, education or training/awareness, scholarships/awards, and events.

Around 80 private foundations were studied in detail to understand their focused themes, annual level of funding provided, total asset value, link to annual report, specific programmes of relevance, from which the report suggested particular ways in which CIB could engage. These are listed in the table at the bottom of this article.

Specific ways in which CIB could engage with and for the benefit of our members include:

• CIB to be an academic partner network
• Funding to carry out research
• Funding for publications and reviews
• Funding for scholarships and fellowships
• Partnership in collaborative projects
• Provide data and information to validate in new projects in the field
• Leverage additional funding from academic sources
• Awards and prizes
• New expert networks and boards to raise profile.

Amongst the leading organisations which CIB plans to approach in the next phase are:

Laudes Foundation, The Netherlands

Their #BuildingLife programme seeks to create the first region-wide response to the vision of a net-zero built environment, free of embodied carbon emissions. The programme is also creating a pathway for other world regions to follow.

Lloyds Register Foundation, UK

Historically the Foundation has focused on the safety of maritime vessels and associated infrastructure but in recent times their work has also focused on supporting research in other sectors, especially oil and gas, utilities and other aspects of the built environment. This is motivated by a desire to share best practice where appropriate but also to learn from other sectors.

The Rise Fund, USA

Founded in 2016 by TPG in partnership with Bono and Jeff Skoll, it offers deep expertise in business solutions to help achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. As part of TPG, The Rise Fund offers investment resources, business-building skills and a global network to help their portfolio of companies accelerate growth and impact.

David Suzuki Foundation, Canada

Initial work focused on fisheries, species at risk and pesticides as well as support for the indigenous communities in the west of Canada. The Foundation supports evidence-based research, education and policy work and a fellowship programme which is helping the next generation of leaders tackle complex environmental problems. Whilst natural environment is still a critical focus, the impact of the built environment is also now being considered.

CIB’s next steps

In May CIB held two webinars to promote the first of these as well as another opportunity from NRC Canada, see here for details. A video recording of the seminar can be viewed at the bottom of this page. As a result two potential consortia of members have been formed to develop proposals.

Any CIB member interested in any of the following priorities or with contacts in any of the following Foundations is invited to contact CIB’s chief executive Don Ward with details to discuss how we could collaborate on an approach.

Annex: Foundations identified