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Tuesday, August 26, 2008, 8-10:45 a.m., Napa Valley Marriott, Napa

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September 25, 2008, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Doubletree Hotel, Rohnert Park

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‘Sustainability financing’ can extend solar, other technology

In Sonoma County, approximately 40 percent of carbon dioxide emissions come from the use of natural gas and electricity used to heat, power and cool buildings. Decreasing energy usage in buildings is not a silver bullet, but it is certainly not a component we can afford to ignore.

In an important first step, Santa Rosa has approved initial green building and energy-efficiency standards for new construction. These will help ensure that we don’t make the problem worse. The vast majority of greenhouse gas emissions, however, will come not from what we build between now and 2015, but from our existing homes and businesses.

How can we encourage businesses and homeowners to make their properties more energy efficient and install solar photovoltaic and solar water heating systems? Over a period of 10 to 20 years, electricity and natural gas savings offer significant returns on investments in solar PV and solar water heating. Many energy-efficiency measures are low cost and pay for themselves even more quickly.

While state rebates for solar PV and future incentives for solar water heating will lower the cost of these technologies, the price tag for these systems is still prohibitive for many residents. Why should working-class property owners be priced out of efforts to make our city more sustainable?

Now they don’t have to be, thanks to a promising new approach being pioneered by a former Clinton energy official and followed closely by cities across the state. The idea is simple: create a citywide, Sustainability Financing District to help Santa Rosa’s businesses and homeowners invest in energy-efficiency measures, solar PV and solar water heating systems.

Under this program, a property owner would first have an energy audit to determine the most cost-effective ways to decrease the building’s energy demand. The property owner could then choose from a list of qualified installers to make these improvements, and the city would pay for the up-front costs through secure bonds and loans. The business or homeowner would pay for the improvements over a 20-year period, with payments appearing as an assessment on property-tax bills, which would include a low interest rate and a small fee to cover the city’s administrative costs. Only those who participate in the program would pay.

Under this model, anyone who can pay monthly utility bills can afford to take advantage of the Sustainability Financing District. This is because the payback period is long enough that monthly savings on electricity and natural gas offset the additional tax assessment. Moreover, the city can access lower interest rates than what would be commercially available to individuals through a traditional line of equity or mortgage refinancing.

If a property owner sells before sustainability improvements to the building have been paid back, the additional assessment is transferred to the buyer – as are the financial benefits of lower utility payments. This ensures that costs and benefits are evenly distributed when a building changes hands.

A Sustainability Financing District in Santa Rosa and other cities throughout the North Bay would dovetail perfectly with the efforts of Solar Sonoma and Solar Marin to publicize the benefits of renewable energy and remove barriers to the solar market for the average business or homeowner.

In these tough financial times, this also presents an opportunity to strengthen the local market for renewable energy – thus creating new, green jobs and spurring economic development. This economic stimulus will provide high-quality opportunities for work and add real value to people’s properties, while bringing us closer to our climate protection goals at the same time.

To be sure, fighting climate change will take a major effort and a range of solutions. A Sustainability Financing District could be one of them.

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Michael Allen of Santa Rosa is the District Director for Second District State Sen. Patricia Wiggins. He can be reached at 707-695-6454 or e-mail mallen@pon.net.

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