Page 14 - NBIZ August 2020

PACE in the

Brave New (Post-COVID- 19) World

By Charlene Heydinger ouston property owners have invested over $26 million in
energy and water-saving measures with immediate positive
Hcash flow and no out-of-pocket expenses. You can do the
same. Houston’s Property Assessed Clean Energy (TX-PACE)
Houston’s Property Assessed program is a proven financial tool allowing property owners to
upgrade facility infrastructure with little or no capital outlay.
This program enables businesses and nonprofits to lower their
Clean Energy (PACE) program operating costs and rely on resulting savings to pay for eligible
enables businesses and water conservation, energy efficiency, resiliency and distributed
generation projects. Owners gain access to private, affordable, long-
nonprofits to upgrade term financing that is not available through traditional funding
property with energy and avenues. Houston PACE is a market-based, bottom-line initiative
included in, and supportive of, Houston’s Action Climate Plan.
“PACE allows property owners/developers access to long-term,
water-saving measures that fixed-rate, non-recourse financing that is transferrable and cannot
reduce operating costs, accelerate. It is best to compare the debt to a water/sewer assess-
ment as opposed to traditional leveraged financing. The program
increase resiliency and create also allows us to finance the soft costs for obtaining financing as

healthier buildings. well as capitalized interest,” states Sean Ribble, business develop-
ment director, Mountain West, Greenworks Lending.
14 NBIZ ■ August 2020