On April 17, 2019 the City of Chicago introduced the Chicago PACE program to the commercial real estate, development and sustainable communities at the Inaugural Chicago PACE summit. The event, hosted by the city’s program administrator for the the new program, Loop-Counterpointe PACE, was the first of many educational and awareness raising sessions that will be made available to property owners, developers and the greater community.
Designed to support both the City’s economic development and sustainability goals, Chicago PACE is a Department of Planning and Development program that provides low-cost, long-term private capital to fund energy efficiency, renewable energy, sustainability and resiliency projects undertaken by commercial and multifamily property owners and developers. Projects can be a retrofit of an existing property or can be new construction.
“Seventy two percent of our carbon emissions come from the energy used in our building stock. If you are going to hit any climate goal, you’re going to need to look at energy efficiency and renewable energy for your buildings,” stated Amy Jewel, City Energy Project City Advisor in Chicago, during her remarks at the Summit.
The Summit brought together property owners and developers with the Chicago PACE team and event sponsors or “friends” that included the energy services firms: Ameresco, AMS-Mechanical, Empower, Siemens, and Trane. Additional sponsors included a number of non-government organizations in the sustainability space that are working to promote the Chicago PACE program to their constituents or worked to help pave the way to the legislation, which is similarly available in 16+ states. The NGO’s included: Environmental Defense fund, Environmental Law and Policy Center, Illinois Green Association, Hispanic American Construction Industry Association and SEIA (Solar Energy Industry Association).
“This summit is meant to connect, learn and engage,” stated Eric Alini, managing partner of Counterpointe Energy Solutions (CES), which partnered with Chicago-based Loop Capital to administer the program for the City. “We want people to be part of what we are thinking about at Chicago PACE and we want to make sustainability work in Chicago.”
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A special thank you is due to the Chicago PACE Inaugural Summit "friends" listed below who helped to make the event a success via their support and early interest. Thank you for helping introduce the program to your members, colleagues and the community at large. If you or your group would like an introduction to Chicago PACE, please use the inquire button above.
