C-PACE Financing For New Construction Projects: A New Source Of Capital Attracts Industry Attention

WASHINGTON, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- C-PACE Alliance, a coalition of large capital providers and transaction experts in the Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) industry, announced today the release of its six recommended guidelines for the design of C-PACE programs at the state and local level for new construction projects.

C-PACE is a program that state and local officials can authorize, allowing property owners to finance improvements in energy and water efficiency and increased resiliency of commercial buildings. In the last two years, more than 30 new construction projects have closed, and the pace is picking up. C-PACE programs operate in 23 states and the District of Columbia, with more programs slated for 2019. Including retrofit projects, property owners have financed over $850 million in improvements in more than 1,800 buildings using C-PACE programs.

The Case for Encouraging C-PACE Financing for New Construction Projects is intended for policymakers' consideration in designing C-PACE programs for new construction projects. The CPA believes that programs designed according to these guidelines are more likely to achieve the program's environmental and economic development policy goals:

    1. C-PACE programs should welcome and encourage new construction projects.
    2. C-PACE program design should facilitate the broadest possible customer
       access.
    3. The baseline energy efficiency to be eligible for C-PACE financing should
       not be set at an arbitrarily high level.
    4. The C-PACE program's energy assessment requirements should be reasonable,
       low-cost and user-friendly.
    5. Programs should expand the amount financeable through C-PACE to broaden
       its impact.
    6. Programs should avoid extraneous terms and conditions not called for in
       the C-PACE authorizing legislation.

The CPA believes projects that meet or have the capacity to exceed the local building codes' energy efficiency requirements should be eligible for C-PACE financing. This standard is already in practice in six states and the District of Columbia. Encouraging new construction projects along these guidelines serves the common goal of creating a large, thriving and active C-PACE market.

C-PACE Alliance recommendations are based on its members' investing and advising experience with C-PACE transactions in almost twenty states, totaling hundreds of millions of dollars. Policymakers in Pennsylvania, Illinois, Virginia and New York have relied on the C-PACE Alliance for industry input as they design state C-PACE programs.

Read the full paper here: http://www.c-pacealliance.com/what-we-do/publications/

About C-PACE Alliance
Formed in 2018, the C-PACE Alliance consists of six of the largest C-PACE capital providers along with major law firms, an accounting firm and a fintech company. The C-PACE Alliance articulates and advocates for industry practices that increase the usage and streamlining of C-PACE in order to maximize energy and water savings, resiliency and economic development impact. Visit http://www.c-pacealliance.com/ to learn more.

Contact: Cliff Kellogg
202-744-1984
ckellogg@c-pacealliance.com

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SOURCE C-PACE Alliance