Denver Seminary Finances Energy-Efficient Upgrades through Colorado’s C-PACE program

Lafayette, COColorado C-PACE today announced that the Denver Seminary will use Colorado’s C-PACE program to finance multi-measure energy efficiency upgrades to its administration, classroom, and library buildings at its Littleton, Colorado campus. The improvements include new energy-efficient heating and air-conditioning equipment, LED lighting and occupancy sensors.

Haynes Mechanical Systems of Greenwood Village, Colorado, acting as both developer and contractor, designed and engineered the project. Haynes Mechanical expects to install the improvements over the next 6 months. Denver Seminary anticipates over the useful life of the new equipment a 32% reduction in energy consumption and utility cost savings of approximately $1.6 million.

Chad Belt, a Project Sales Engineer with Haynes Mechanical, said, “Through exacting analysis, we help our clients better understand how their buildings consume energy and use that knowledge to implement strategies for efficiency.”  Danny Sprague, Project and Business Development Lead at Haynes Mechanical, added, “Before C-PACE financing, we’d see many projects languish. Even though many clients knew the proposed project would improve energy use, the return on investment didn’t make it feasible. Now, thanks to C-PACE, there’s few reasons for our clients to not follow through on energy efficiency measures.”

Petros PACE Finance, a national leader in C-PACE financing, will provide the $1.6 million financing for the project. John Bringenberg, Petros’ C-PACE originator in Colorado, said, “The Denver Seminary project is significant because it demonstrates how C-PACE financing can be applied to a wide-range of commercial property types—in this case a graduate-level educational institution.” He added, “Petros looks forward to more funding opportunities in Colorado, which is one of the country’s fastest growing C-PACE programs.”

“Repair costs have increased in recent years, as the buildings’ original heating and cooling equipment has reached the end of its life,” said Debra Kellar, Denver Seminary VP of Finance and Campus Operations. “The team at Petros PACE Finance made it easy to finance new systems, helping us to avoid costly repairs so we can continue preparing students for lives of service for years to come.”

 

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 and water 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 project cost and is repaid over a period of up to 20 years. The payments 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 enjoys 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 PACEworx™ Platform 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 more than $175 million in C-PACE financing nationwide—a level unmatched in the industry. SRS empowers C-PACE public-private partnerships across the country. The company is based in Trumbull, Connecticut.