Efficiency finance pilot project to spur retrofits on existing buildings

The Environmental Defense Fund’s Investor Confidence Project (ICP) and Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) have launched a new pilot project to accelerate energy efficiency retrofits on existing buildings.

The program will provide interest-free loans to energy performance contractors who use ICP’s Investor Ready Energy Efficiency (IREE) certification. This certification brings rigorous measurement and verification metrics to energy efficiency retrofit projects.

The interest-free loans will be offered under PG&E’s existing On-Bill Financing (OBF) program, giving qualifying energy efficiency projects in existing commercial and multifamily buildings access to up to $100,000 at no interest. Qualifying projects will show positive cash flow for building owners – meaning loan payments will be less than bill savings.

EDF’s ICP is also running a pilot through the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU), and is the standard for property-assessed clean energy loans (PACE) in the state of Texas. Additional ICP programs for building owners, investors, and performance contractors exist in a half-dozen other states in the U.S. and across the European Union.