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Leverage the many complementary benefits of energy efficiency programs to broaden your organization’s reach and partnership opportunities

Home energy assessments and upgrades can offer more than just energy savings benefits. They can make homes safer, enhance home value, and reduce health risks for residents. Better Buildings Neighborhood Program partners found that emphasizing the full range of benefits that upgrades offered helped...

Make sure there are enough customers in your target market to meet your goals and attract partners

Many programs that focused on a specific neighborhood or other small geographic areas have found it difficult to generate enough customer interest, partner interest, and upgrade activity to meet program goals. Regional or statewide approaches are often more attractive to contractors, lenders...

Design your financing activities to enable long-term sustainability

In order to overcome lenders’ concerns over the risk associated with energy efficiency loans, many Better Buildings Neighborhood Program partners offered credit enhancements to lenders (e.g., loan loss reserve funds) to attract lender participation and to mitigate lender losses in the event of loan...

Streamline the financing process with easy loan applications and quick approvals

Complicated loan and program application processes have deterred many potential customers from following through with an upgrade. Delays and overly burdensome requirements raise barriers to participation. Many programs have successfully employed strategies to reduce the number of requirements that...

Lending for Energy Efficiency Upgrades in Low- to Moderate-Income Communities: Bank of America's Energy Efficiency Finance Program

Author(s)

American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy

Publication Date

2016

Organizations or Programs

Elevate Energy,

Enhabit

This paper analyzes Bank of America's $55 million initiative to provide low-cost funding and grant support to advance energy efficiency investment in low- to moderate-income communities. The funding supported community development financial institutions (CDFIs) in developing and enhancing efficiency programs for residential, commercial, and multifamily buildings. We report on loan performance, energy savings, and the degree to which the savings offset the cost of the energy efficiency investment.

Alternative Underwriting Criteria: Using Utility Bill Payment History as a Proxy for Credit: Case Study on Clean Energy Works Oregon (now Enhabit)

Author(s)

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Publication Date

2012

Organizations or Programs

Enhabit

This case study highlights Clean Energy Works Oregon's (now Enhabit) low interest, on-bill financing and alternative underwriting practices which have achieved a low rejection rate while also maintaining a low loan default rate.