NLR Project

Monarca Group, in collaboration with the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR), is supporting an applied research effort focused on existing buildings in Tribal, rural, remote, and islanded communities. The project aims to understand how energy and water efficiency and building reliability programs are designed, financed, and implemented in real-world settings—and what factors (governance, utility structures, legal considerations, financing access, workforce capacity, and building ownership/split incentives) shape whether upgrades actually happen.

Through interviews and community listening sessions with local leaders, practitioners, and community members, the team will identify barriers, enabling conditions, and promising approaches to align programs with local priorities and protocols while supporting affordability and reliability. Findings will be summarized in a practical, non-identifying format to help improve pathways to resources, funding, and technical assistance and make applied research and program evaluation more useful and respectful in these contexts.