Boston Community Capital's Solar Energy Advantage program recently received a $5.5 million low-cost loan and operating grant from Bank of America to expand its energy efficient retrofit financing programs in low- to moderate-income communities.
“The program’s design was sufficiently flexible to enable CDFIs to develop their own models. Some of the CDFIs in the program focused on multi-family housing, but other types of buildings were also eligible. Bank of America estimates 10,000 multifamily residential units and dozens of single-family homes, commercial buildings, community facilities and charter schools will receive retrofits.”
“Dick Jones, President of Boston Community Capital Solar Energy Advantage, one of the CDFIs funded by Bank of America, appreciated this flexibility. “They weren’t trying to be prescriptive, which a lot of funders tend to do,” he said. “Bank of America’s process forced us to think about what was important, what we were really doing, and what we were trying to learn.”’