About

Welcome to the Arlington C-PACE website. Whether you’re a building owner, a real estate developer, a contractor, a mortgage holder, or a capital provider, our goal is to provide you with the information you need to take advantage of this innovative building modernization program.

What is Arlington C-PACE?

Arlington C-PACE is a county-sponsored program that enables owners of commercial and industrial buildings to use private sector money to finance energy efficiency, renewable energy, water efficiency, and resiliency improvements to their property. The benefits of C-PACE include:

• 100 percent financing for existing building projects; up to 30 percent financing for new construction projects
• Long terms (up to 30 years)
• No upfront, out-of-pocket expense
• No personal guarantee required
• No application fee
• Well-designed projects for existing buildings are cash-flow positive.

More than 40 states, including Virginia, have passed legislation enabling C-PACE. On November 16, 2024, in accordance with the Commonwealth’s Clean Energy Financing Law, the Arlington County Board adopted an ordinance to amend, reenact, and recodify Chapter 68 of the Arlington County Code (Clean Energy Financing Ordinance) to update the County’s C-PACE program. The program can be used to finance both existing building retrofits and new construction projects.

Spearheaded by the team at the Arlington Initiative to Rethink Energy (AIRE), Arlington C-PACE will endeavor to advance several public policy goals as described in the County’s award-winning Community Energy Plan. These goals include reducing energy and water costs, increasing renewable energy deployment, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and creating local jobs.

Who Benefits?

Multiple stakeholders benefit from Arlington C-PACE:

• Building owners reduce their energy costs, increase their cash flow, and improve the value of their building—all with no upfront, out-of-pocket costs
• Contractors grow their business by closing more projects
• Developers benefit from reducing their weighted average cost of capital and filling gaps in their financing plan
• Capital providers receive more opportunities to fund attractive, secure, finance-ready projects
• Mortgage holders benefit from an improved asset; plus, the increased cash flow strengthens the owner’s repayment ability and reduces mortgage default risk
• The community enjoys local job growth, improved building stock, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions—all financed with private capital, not taxpayer dollars.

How Does Arlington C-PACE Work?

Arlington C-PACE enables existing building owners to finance 100 percent of eligible improvements through a long-term, fixed-rate financing tool that requires no upfront costs and no personal guarantee. After working with a contractor and the program administrator to identify eligible improvements, the building owner will then enter into a financing agreement with a pre-qualified private capital provider of his or her choosing. Upon finance closing, a voluntary special assessment will be recorded on the improved property. The special assessment, which is similar to a water or sewer district assessment, is then billed and collected by the capital provider and repaid by the owner over the financing term. In some cases, the energy cost savings may exceed the assessment payment, thereby enabling capital-intensive equipment upgrades and cash-flow-positive projects. And because the C-PACE assessment obligation is tied to the property (and not the owner), the assessment can transfer to the next owner when the property is sold.

For commercial property developers, Arlington C-PACE provides affordable, long-term, non-recourse financing for up to 30 percent of the total eligible construction cost, as long as the developer agrees to exceed the requirements of the current local energy code. Developers can use C-PACE financing to lower their equity contribution or reduce the need for other types of capital, including high-cost mezzanine financing.

Who Administers the Program?

Sustainable Real Estate Solutions (SRS) administers the Arlington C-PACE program.

What is  the Program Administration Fee?

The Arlington C-PACE program is self-financed through program fees charged to participating property owners. The fees cover the startup and recurring costs associated with designing and administering the program.

A one-time program administration fee, equal to 2.5 percent of the project finance amount, not to exceed $75,000 per project, is applied to each financed project. This fee is collected by the capital provider at loan closing, and remitted to the program administrator within 10 days of the closing.

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The Arlington Initiative to Rethink Energy (AIRE), which is spearheading the Arlington C-PACE program, helps Arlington County residents and business owners make smart decisions about energy, and supports individual actions that improve and sustain residents’ quality of life. Through rethinking energy, AIRE is committed to energy practices that will make Arlington County a more prosperous, healthful, safe, and secure place to live, work, and play.

For more information, visit https://www.arlingtonva.us/Government/Programs/Sustainability/AIRE.

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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 $880 million in C-PACE financing nationwide. SRS empowers C-PACE public-private partnerships across the country. The company is based in Monroe, Connecticut.

For more information, visit www.PACEworx.com.

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