Insports, a local indoor recreational facility, is among more than 90 Connecticut businesses and nonprofits that have used the Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) program to secure long-term financing to fund energy improvements.
Insports is projected to save more than $1.8 million over the life of a project funded with $1 million in C-PACE financing. The work included solar panels, high-efficiency lighting, and heating and cooling improvements. Insports is a multi-sport facility on Trefoil Drive in Trumbull, off Route 111 and near Route 25 and the Monroe border.
The upgrades have improved lighting quality for customers and reduced the facility’s carbon footprint, according to publicity material from the Connecticut Green Bank, a quasi-public state agency that oversees the program.
No upfront costs
The C-PACE program offers commercial and nonprofit property owners long-term financing to fund energy improvements with no upfront costs and immediate energy savings.
To date, the Connecticut Green Bank has allocated more than $65 million for over 90 projects, ranging from boiler replacements to comprehensive solar and other energy-efficiency retrofits, for businesses and nonprofit organizations across the state.
Enhanced properties have included office towers, a shopping center, a performing arts center, industrial facilities, a recreation center, and nonprofit buildings.
The number of buildings that have received new financing from the program tripled from 2013 to 2014, going from 20 to more than 60 per year.
The Connecticut Green Bank was previously known as the state Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority.