Connecticut Green Bank – Reagan Richmond – 2016

Goals:

The Connecticut Green Bank enlisted EDF Climate Corps fellow Reagan Richmond to increase the use of Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) financing for energy-saving building upgrades. The Green Bank has been on the leading edge of innovative clean energy finance through its C-PACE program– helping businesses across the state upgrade their building systems, while saving money and energy. With office building projects accounting for only 20% of all C-PACE projects, Connecticut Green Bank recognized an opportunity for growth worth exploring. Reagan was tasked with developing strategic partnerships with Commercial Real Estate (CRE) trade associations and organizations representing large building portfolio holders.

Solutions:

Reagan developed a formal process for vetting and tracking successful partnerships, and created a tool for their ongoing evaluation. After completing a landscape analysis of current successful partnerships, she identified opportunities for Connecticut Green Bank to expand current partnerships and built a roadmap for going deeper with these organizations. Growing the Green Bank’s network will increase collaboration and create greater shared value. After gathering additional input during stakeholder interviews, Reagan developed a ranking systems for prioritizing CRE’s top partners. Having established the avenues for moving forward, she updated marketing resources to include specific language directed towards CRE investors.

Potential Impact:

Reagan identified several new avenues for value-adding partnerships, which serve as both leads for Connecticut Green Bank, as well as opportunities for learning about, and collaborating on, resources with CRE groups. Moving forward, the tool will continue to serve the organization in its ongoing evaluation of partnerships.