Lafayette, CO, May 28, 2024—Colorado C-PACE today announced the financing for the retrofit of a chiller plant located at the Alturas Space Center & Newport office building in Colorado Springs, Colorado. This project marks the fourth C-PACE financed project in El Paso County.

Bellco Credit Union, one of the largest credit unions in Colorado, provided the $818,000 in C-PACE financing. For Bellco, a long-time Colorado C-PACE capital provider, this project represents its eighth C-PACE financed project to date. The benefits of C-PACE financing are well-aligned with Bellco’s commitment to help customers lessen their impact on the environment.

Susan Rice, Bellco’s Senior Vice President of Commercial Lending, said, “As the mortgage holder on this property, we are excited to provide our customer with attractive long-term C-PACE financing for this critical energy infrastructure upgrade that will, over the life of the equipment, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by over 940 tons – a significant benefit to our customer and our community.” 

Dean Coombs, Director of Asset Management at Alturas Capital Partners a real estate investment and operating company based in Boise, Idaho that owns and operates real estate throughout the Western United States, said, “The building was in significant need of a chiller plant and controls upgrade. C-PACE financing helped make this project financially attractive while providing a path to compliance with the state’s new Building Performance Standards.” 

Brian McCarter, CEO of SRS, the Colorado C-PACE program administrator, said, “In today’s challenging financing environment its increasingly important for community banks, CDFIs, and credit unions, such as  Bellco, to support their small and mid-size building (SMB) owner clients with long-term financing solutions to enable critical energy infrastructure upgrades. The combination of technical and financial assistance is the key to the acceleration of energy efficiency and decarbonization in the underserved SMB sector.”

The project utilized the Energy Performance Improvement Calculator (EPIC™) tool to estimate the energy savings and greenhouse gas emissions reduction associated with the chiller plant retrofit. The EPIC-generated cost-benefit analytics, including projected annual cash flows over the finance term, savings-to-investment ratio, and property value increase, supported lender underwriting and property owner investment decision making. 

About Colorado C-PACE

A program of the New Energy Improvement District (NEID), administered by Sustainable Real Estate Solutions, Colorado C-PACE facilitates financing for energy efficiency, water efficiency and resiliency improvements in new and existing commercial buildings, including new heating/cooling systems, lighting, water pumps, insulation, and renewable energy projects. 

C-PACE offers long-term financing that covers 100 percent of the cost of energy efficiency upgrades to an existing building or, in new construction, up to 35 percent of eligible construction costs. These loans can be repaid over a period of up to 25 years and are structured as a regular line item on the property tax bill.  When a property is sold, the C-PACE assessment can stay with the property and transfer to the new owner, who will enjoy the ongoing utility cost savings associated with the project.

About SRS

Sustainable Real Estate Solutions (SRS) partners with state and local governments to administer commercial property assessed clean energy (C-PACE) programs. Founded in 2010 by experienced commercial real estate and energy efficiency professionals, the company’s proprietary technology-enabled Energy Performance Improvement Calculator (EPIC™) tool streamlines the management of the data-intensive C-PACE technical and financial underwriting process. SRS’s Investor Confidence Project-credentialed quality assurance methodology has facilitated over $710 million in C-PACE financing nationwide. SRS empowers C-PACE public-private partnerships across the country. The company is based in Monroe, Connecticut.