Originally published on the ECOreport.
Last July, Leon County (home to Tallahassee) became the first Florida municipality to adopt the HERO PACE Program. Several other Florida counties and cities followed suit. The latest was Orlando, whose city council approved the program this week. These are a few of the milestones, as HERO PACE comes to Florida & Missouri.
HERO PACE Expanding Into Florida & Missouri
“The key here is drawing a distinction between communities that have approved/adopted HERO and those communities in which the HERO Program has officially launched. There is typically a gap of between 3–6 months between the time of approval/adoption and an actual launch,” explained a company spokesperson.
He added, “You’ll recall that on Sept. 15, the HERO Program launched in Jackson County, Missouri.”
The HERO Program is expected to launch in other Missouri counties and cities before the end of 2016.
Renovate America partnered with the Florida Development Finance Corporation to bring the HERO program to Florida.
When the first program launches in Leon County early in 2017, Florida will become the third state where HERO is active.
Renovate America’s HERO Program
Since it was launched in California, nearly 5 years ago, the HERO program was used to finance more than $1.9 billion in energy and efficiency improvements for more than 80,000 homeowners.
Renovate America’s HERO Program gives a more affordable option to the 1 in 6 American homeowners who need to replace an energy consumption system in their home every year.
Most of the time, they choose the least expensive (and often less efficient) option based on the upfront sticker price.
The HERO program is offered in partnership with local governments. Renovate America finances 100% of the home improvement, requiring no upfront cash outlay and offering fixed interest rates that are competitive with other options. Homeowners pay the loan off through their annual tax bill, over the course of up to 25 years.
Orlando Adopts The HERO Program
The latest city to adopt the HERO program has been enabling residents to live more “environmentally conscious lifestyles” since 2007. More than 1,200 of Orlando’s homes have already received energy retrofits. 10 municipal buildings have achieved LEED certification. The result is an estimated $1 million in annual energy savings.
“Adding this new financing option to our PACE program is another way we are providing the necessary tools to help our community reduce our impact on our environment,” said Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer.
Photo Credits: Top two images courtesy Renovate America; last image is Downtown Orlando skyline as seen from Gaston Edwards Park by Ryan McKee via Flickr (CC BY SA, 2.0 License)
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