If you are the owner of a multifamily building or any commercial building, there’s a new tool to finance weatherization and other energy retrofits to reduce your utility bills—and even new construction. It’s called Property-Assessed Clean Energy, or PACE. Sustainable Middleborough advocated for this, and in January 2022 Middleborough became one of the early towns in the state to opt in.

• PACE can cover a lot of your rehab job—things like weatherization and air sealing, but also new heating-cooling systems, roofs, windows, doors, solar panels, motorized equipment, and more.

• Commercial, industrial, nonprofit buildings, and multifamily buildings with five or more units are all eligible. So are mixed commercial-residential buildings (no minimum on units), like many in Middleborough Center.

• The building owner still gets financing through a bank. But it doesn’t show up as debt on the books. It’s a betterment or lien, like a water or sewer lien, that owners pay back on their property taxes. And the payback period is 20 years, instead of 5 to 7 like most loans.

• The 20-year projected savings must be greater than the cost, which MassDevelopment calculates in the application. In effect, payments are made from the savings. To achieve that level of savings, a PACE rehab project is usually in the $250,000 range or higher.

• New construction can now be eligible for PACE financing for up to 25% of the total cost. The building must be 100% electrified, with no gas. Triple-paned windows, insulation, solar panels, heating-cooling, and geothermal systems could all be PACE eligible.

To Learn More

Find out if your project qualifies and learn more about PACE here. Or email questions to pace@massdevelopment.com.