At the urging of California Gov. Jerry Brown, U.S. officials have agreed to allow owners of apartment buildings financed with federal money to tap into favorable terms to borrow for energy upgrades.
The decision makes apartment owners eligible to take out 100 percent financing of energy-efficiency improvements ranging from new windows to solar power.
The loans come from the Property Assessed Clean Energy program. Known as PACE, the financing mechanism has been a popular program for adding solar power. But it also can be used to finance many water conservation upgrades, efficient heat and air systems, better windows and even insulation. Read more.