Arlington County will pioneer Virginia’s first Commercial-Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) program—a public-private partnership to provide affordable, long-term financing for projects to improve the energy or water efficiency of commercial buildings in the county.
Under C-PACE, owners of existing buildings will be able to finance up to 100 percent of the cost of efficiency-enhancing projects, including renewable energy projects, for up to 25 years. Commercial property developers can use the program to finance up to 20 percent of the total construction cost of a new building, provided the building is designed to exceed energy efficiency standards. Thirty-three states and the District of Columbia currently allow PACE financing programs.