c-pace retrofit financing

Building owners can use C-PACE financing to retrofit their buildings

Green upgrades in commercial buildings can generate energy and cost savings but paying for them can be an obstacle. C-PACE (Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy) retrofit financing allows building owners to install green energy upgrades today and pay for them over time. It can cover up to 100% of upfront costs at low-interest rates with terms up to 25 years, allowing building owners to make energy improvements that can be cash flow positive in year one and helping you strengthen offers to new and existing clients.


Building owners are cash flow positive in year one	Improve a building’s comfort and value	Offer financing of up to 100% of green energy upgrades

c-pace retrofit financing

Building owners can use C-PACE financing to retrofit their buildings


Building owners are cash flow positive in year one	Improve a building’s comfort and value	Offer financing of up to 100% of green energy upgrades

How it works

With C-PACE retrofit financing, building owners can enjoy the advantages of energy upgrades immediately and pay for them over time through a voluntary benefit assessment. It’s a safe investment that produces returns immediately and for years to come.

Building owners work with a contractor to develop projects that reduce energy usage, including: lighting, heating and cooling, insulation, motors, pumps, solar panels, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, and other green energy upgrades.
Contractors work with technical advisors to provide trustworthy savings projections and ensure that projected savings are greater than the repayment amount.
The Green Bank or a qualified capital provider will finance the project. Terms of up to 25 years allow building owners to spread payments out over time, resulting in positive cash ﬂow for comprehensive projects.
C-PACE ﬁnancing is repaid through an assessment that is placed on a building owner’s property by their municipality, similar to a municipal assessment, that can be transferred if there is a change of ownership.

Project requirements

An energy audit or feasibility study must be completed.
Upgrades must lower the energy consumption of the building or enable the building to produce clean energy.
Upgrades must be “permanently affixed” to the property; with the exception of district heating and cooling systems and microgrids.
The term of the C-PACE assessment must not exceed the weighted average expected useful life (EUL) of the measures. EUL is determined through the energy audit and approved by a qualified Technical Advisor as well as the Green Bank. Regardless of a project’s EUL, the term of the C-PACE assessment may not exceed 25 years unless approved in writing by the Green Bank.
All energy measures together must meet a savings to investment Ratio (SIR) of greater than 1, meaning that projected lifetime savings from the energy measures must exceed the total investment, inclusive of financing costs over the full term of the C-PACE assessment, over the useful life of the measures. Electric vehicle charging infrastructure is exempt from SIR requirements to accommodate increased on-site energy demand for vehicle charging.
All C-PACE transactions require the approval of the Green Bank, as the statewide administrator of C-PACE.

Eligible measures

Financing solar panels, upgraded lighting, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, heating and cooling, insulation, motors, windows, and pumps are just a few of the ways C-PACE goes to work. Any measure that lowers energy consumption or produces clean energy may be eligible, so building owners can select the ones that will benefit their property the most – by saving them money and increasing the value of their building.

Non-energy-saving measures directly related to installation of an energy conservation measure may be determined as eligible and included in the financing as long as the project’s SIR remains greater than 1 and if the measure will benefit the qualifying commercial real property (e.g., a roof to support solar panels or the pipeline infrastructure as necessary to enable a natural gas conversion).

Review all the eligible energy measures.