The Montgomery County Commissioners’ expansion of access to funding from the state’s Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) program will help fund environmentally friendly residential projects. Dan Sokil aired the news in The Reporter Online.

C-PACE, a Pa. Department of Environmental Protection program, provides long-term, low-interest loans to commercial, industrial, and ag properties embarking on clean energy and clean water projects.

Last month, however, Gov. Tom Wolf expanded C-PACE funding eligibility to multifamily residential buildings, leaving individual approvals to each county in the state.

On Aug. 11, the Montgomery County Commissioners did just that, becoming the first in the commonwealth to do so.

“[The program] allows funding for energy-efficient projects and water conservation in new construction and rehabilitation,” said Rebecca Swanson, executive director of the Montgomery County Redevelopment Authority, program administrator.

“The state recently passed a bill that significantly expands the eligibility Specifically, the amendment allows C-PACE to now be used in multifamily and mixed-use buildings,” she explained.

The funding targets structures of five or more living units for indoor air quality (ventilation, HVAC, etc.) and building resiliency improvements (surviving natural disasters, mitigating flood damage, etc.).

When the measure passed unanimously, Commissioners Chairwoman Val Arkoosh charged the Redevelopment Authority to “Carry on! We look forward to hearing about the projects.”

More information on this funding is at The Reporter Online.