Website petition page set up to gather public support for PACE program

The U.S. Green Building Council Long Island Chapter (USGBC-LI) is requesting that business owners and concerned individuals alike help support the PACE Assessment Protection Act, legislation that hopes to protect the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) finance program. A dedicated petition page has been created on the USGBC-LI website (www.usgbc-li.org/usgbc-li/pace/) for businesses to easily sign and voice concern over the future of PACE. These petitions together with those of the other 80 USGBC Chapters nationally will send a strong message of support to Congress. Vince Capogna, Chairman, USGBC-LI said, "The first PACE program in the nation designed to address energy efficiency was founded right here in Babylon, Long Island in 2008. These programs help expand local businesses, create jobs locally, aid in conserving energy and significantly reduce carbon emissions, all which ultimately help our fellow Long Island home owners and communities." The PACE program, currently active in the town of Babylon as the Long Island Green Homes program, and throughout the nation in select municipalities, allows home and business owners to finance energy efficiency retrofits. The program pays the contractor the entire cost of the energy-efficient improvements. Under a separate contract, the town sets up a repayment arrangement with the home or business owner such that the savings cover the monthly payments. If an owner moves, the payment obligation stays with the property, not the property owner, since the improvement is considered a permanent fixture. Thus far Babylon residents save on average $1,085 per year on their energy bills. Recently, new proposals from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has stated that residential PACE financing programs do not qualify for the financial requirements of the federal mortgage programs of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which together, compose the majority of mortgage lenders in the country. Homeowners who currently have a PACE loan, typically paid back over a 20 year time period, now cannot refinance their mortgage without first paying off the PACE loan. This announcement not only creates a financial hardship for current PACE loan holders, but will greatly reduce new homeowner interest in the program. According to Sammy Chu, director of the town of Babylon's Long Island Green Homes program, the announcement has also had the detrimental indirect effect of dramatically curbing private funding for the program. Chu said, "To date, the Long Island Green Homes program has retrofitted more than 300 homes and has over 200 more in progress. This program has been responsible for eliminating annual carbon dioxide emissions in the town of Babylon by more than 1,200 tons annually. Green Homes has created more than 25 jobs and has the potential to create 80 more this year alone. We have made homes more efficient, more comfortable and more hospitable to our environment...These improvements are not only saving our environment, but as a long term investment homeowners can expect nearly two dollars in energy savings for every dollar spent on their projects. In the face of the greatest economic crisis in over a generation, Green Homes is providing financial relief to participating homeowners, jobs for skilled and entry-level workers and making Babylon a healthier and more sustainable place to live and work." To help support the continuance of this highly important program, please visit the USGBC-LI PACE web page (www.usgbc-li.org/usgbc-li/pace/). USGBC is a non-profit organization dedicated to sustainable building design and construction. USGBC developed the LEED building rating system, which is an internationally recognized green building certification system, providing building owners and operators a concise framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions. USGBC's core purpose is to transform the way buildings and communities are designed, built and operated, enabling an environmentally and socially responsible, healthy, and prosperous environment that improves the quality of life. USGBC-LI works to bring these values to the communities of Long Island.