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Financing options for commercial and industrial businesses to carry out energy efficiency projects are expanding, spurred forward by the success of innovative financing vehicles for solar photovoltaic (PV) systems large and small.
Having recently launched a $30 million debt fund to finance capital leases and performance-based, off-balance-sheet energy reduction shared-service agreements (SSAs), Noesis Energy on April 17 announced that 28 energy project developers had signed up to use the Noesis Pro software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform to design, analyze, propose and finance energy efficiency projects for commercial and industrial (C&I) buildings during the first quarter.
Collectively, the 28 project developers who signed up to use the Web-based Noesis Pro platform to develop energy-efficiency project proposals for commercial and industrial businesses employ more than 600 people and make over 2,300 project proposals per year -- with a combined value of nearly $500 million, Noesis highlights in a news release. They span the energy-efficiency value chain, ranging from equipment manufacturing and energy management companies to companies providing engineering and consulting services, as well as design-and-build services for a wide range of energy-efficiency technologies -- including lighting, HVAC, building controls and solar photovoltaic (PV) systems.
"The common thread among all of our customers is that they've identified a gap or inefficiency within their sales or post-sales process where Noesis financial services and/or our Noesis Pro platform can help," Noesis Energy CEO Scott Harmon explained. "They're all looking for that extra edge so they can win more efficiency projects and grow their business."
With its SaaS energy-efficiency project development platform, Noesis aims to provide third-party commercial and industrial project developers with a toolkit that will enable them to expand the market for energy efficiency projects, which has been almost exclusively limited to government and large enterprise customers. As Energy Service Sales Leader of TraneOregon Pete Kramer elaborated:
“The biggest challenge we always face that holds back energy efficiency projects from moving forward are budget constraints and perceived risk with return on investment from savings. The Noesis Shared Savings Agreement model directly addresses both of these barriers. Having a simple solution where the customer only pays if the project delivers the promised savings just makes sense."
Images credit: 1) DUH Sourcing Solutions; 2) Noesis Energy
An experienced, independent journalist, editor and researcher, Andrew has crisscrossed the globe while reporting on sustainability, corporate social responsibility, social and environmental entrepreneurship, renewable energy, energy efficiency and clean technology. He studied geology at CU, Boulder, has an MBA in finance from Pace University, and completed a certificate program in international governance for biodiversity at UN University in Japan.