C-PACE Turns Boulder Business Energy Efficient

By Anca Gagiuc

Solar array at Room 214, Boulder, Colorado

Energesco Solutions has completed the first comprehensive energy efficiency and renewable power project in Colorado for Room 214, a marketing agency. The project was made possible utilizing the Colorado Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) financing program.

Room 214 is the first C-PACE-approved Small Business Association loan in the region and the second in the country. Its owners were given a $296,000 loan with financing provided by CleanFund, a private capital provider based in San Francisco. The funds were used to replace outdated equipment and upgrade building systems to be energy efficient. Among the measures designed and implemented by Energesco for Room 214 were:

• LED light upgrades
• HVAC system enhancements
• rooftop solar
• building controls
• electric vehicle chargers

Electric vehicle chargers at Room 214, Boulder Colorado

Combined, these upgrades are anticipated to generate annual savings in excess of $39,000, while reducing gas emissions by 1,869 metric tons—the equivalent of removing 358 passenger vehicles from the roads, annually. By using the C-PACE program, the marketing agency property also was granted longer financing terms, no explicit down payment requirement and a reduction of risk as the financing liability is retained by the building itself in the form of a tax assessment.

“The opportunity to serve as an inaugural partner with the C-PACE program afforded a ‘win-win’ for our client, maximizing the property’s energy efficiency while providing a long-term solution through the placement of new equipment,” James Lang, Energesco’s CFO, said in a prepared statement.

“Working with Energesco was essential to the project’s success,” added James Clark, co-founder, Room 214. “Energesco immediately took control of the entire project management process from bid and vendor management, onsite facility review, project engineering, financial review, project management and partner selection. All of which would have been impossible for us to self-navigate.”

Images courtesy of Energesco Solutions