Multifamily Housing
The Philadelphia Energy Authority strives to eliminate the financial barriers to energy upgrades by making clean energy accessible and affordable. Energy upgrades provide significant benefits to multifamily housing units, including increasing the property value, lowering its day-to-day operating costs, and reducing its carbon footprint.
Multifamily units who received energy upgrades
197
Low-income households in Philadelphia who are energy burdened
75%
Weatherization deferral rate due to home condition
>50%
Hard and soft costs for solar & energy efficiency eligible for C-PACE financing
100%
Multifamily Housing Financing Products
C-PACE financing is available for new and existing multifamily properties of 5+ units. See all financed Philadelphia C-PACE projects here.
PEA’s Affordable Multifamily Housing Program operates in conjunction with Philadelphia Green Capital Corp and Inclusive Prosperity Capital (IPC) to provide several lending products as well as tailored guidance and resources for prospective partners. PEA and PGCC’s innovative financing solutions to help streamline the process of executing energy upgrades on affordable multifamily housing units. Our lending products include the Navigator Pre-Development Loan, the Catalyst Term Loan, solar PPAs, long term ownership or debt capital for community-focused solar projects, and solar and storage loans.
Navigator Pre-Development Loan
The Navigator Pre-Development Loan provides an unsecured line of credit to finance pre-development energy projects in affordable multifamily properties. The Navigator Loan also allows owners to connect with technical service providers for project analysis, design, and implementation.
Learn MoreCatalyst Term Loan
The Catalyst Term Loan provides unsecured financing for new construction and renovation projects, including low- and moderate-income multifamily properties and community based non-profit organizations. This loan can contribute to:
- Energy efficiency or renewable energy upgrades,
- Performance auditing and verification, and
- Remediation for health and safety
Catalyst Term Loans can be repaid through energy cost savings with up to 20-year terms.
Learn MoreMultifamily Housing Pilot
Pilot Overview
PEA assembled a team for a multifamily pilot project, which is serving as the model for scaling up across Philadelphia. The implementation partners for the Multi-Family Affordable Housing Pilot are Mission First Housing Group, Friends Rehabilitation Program, BlocPower, CMC Energy Services, Stratis IOT, PECO Energy, and Philadelphia Gas Works. Phase 1 included auditing of the Mission First Housing Group and Friends Rehabilitation Program properties, totaling 189 units. CMC Energy Services collected key data on the properties and installed utility-funded measures to address electricity and gas consumption. Along with the energy conservation, CMC and Stratis IOT installed networked smart thermostats, which now allow BlocPower to collect aggregated and anonymous data on the conditions that tenants experience, which allowed BlocPower to refine their recommendations for larger investments in energy conservation.
PEA is leveraging the experience from the pilot project to provide technical assistance to property owners who are looking for ways to improve the energy performance of their buildings and to help cut utility costs for tenants.
Pilot Propeties
