Financing Options Exist For Sustainable Retrofits

Bob Sykes was interviewed and quoted in a special report in Globe St. about retrofitting older commercial buildings to create cleaner and greener properties. While a retrofitting project can be extremely costly, many owners may not have the financial means to pursue this endeavor, but according to Sykes, there are options without going bankrupt during the process.

“As of March, 31,000 projects were LEED-certified in 2 billion square feet of commercial projects worldwide,” says Sykes. “Because of the economy, more and more are becoming certified through the less expensive LEED EBOM, which focuses on operations and maintenance as opposed to expensive retrofits.”

In addition, Sykes says, some lenders including Wells Fargo have made financial commitments to social-responsibilities programs such as solar energy and wind-efficient buildings Seeking out these lenders and programs is one way to subsidize the cost of making buildings more sustainable.