Commercial, Energy Efficiency, Industrial  -  January 19, 2017

DOE launches energy efficiency 'financing navigator'

The U.S. DOE has launched a new, web-based financing navigator aimed at making the process of finding energy efficiency project finance solutions easier for commercial and industrial organizations. 

Limited financing options are often cited as a major barrier to investing in energy efficient systems. The DOE is hoping the new system, dubbed the "Better Buildings Financing Navigator," will change that. Through the navigator, building owners, facility and energy managers, and other decision-makers will be able to connect with financiers, including banks and financial institutions, to pursue energy-saving measures. 

"We've seen the financing community make tremendous progress by innovating models and mechanisms to invest in building energy efficiency," Kathleen Hogan, deputy assistant secretary for energy efficiency at the DOE said in a Jan. 11 news release announcing the solution. "Now more than ever before, we can bring these smart financing solutions to the market and move forward more rapidly with energy efficiency projects and upgrades by providing the right information and making the right connections across people and programs."

The department said the financing navigator helps users identify relevant financing options in a rapidly expanding marketplace. Users can search by topic, or answer a few simple questions to get tailored results, and they can easily navigate white papers, technical research and advice collected from the industry to get the information they need.

The new tool also allows users to connect to the larger Better Buildings Challenge Financial Ally community, including banks and lenders that are committed to bold financial investments in energy efficiency and are actively pursuing new opportunities to finance projects. Through the Better Buildings Challenge, 30 of these organizations have partnered with the DOE to commit $5.4 billion in financing for energy saving projects, as well as sharing successful strategies that will maximize efficiency over the next decade, according to the department. 

The financing navigator covers efficiency projects of all sizes in all nonresidential building types. It was developed in consultation with industry leaders including the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, the Environmental Defense Fund, Metrus Energy, the Institute for Market Transformation, and dozens of other contributors.

The DOE's Better Buildings initiative, EDF and IMT are all Smart Energy Decisions content partners. 

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