SAN DIEGO, Calif., November 28, 2016 –
The company’s HERO PACE Bond platform is the first asset-backed securities (ABS) platform to solely produce green bonds
Renovate America, the leading provider of Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing, today released its first annual Green Bond Impact Report, which provides an overview of the company’s HERO PACE Bond platform, its eligible projects, the management of proceeds and data on the environmental impact associated with the green bonds issued by the company.
HERO PACE is the first asset-backed securities (ABS) platform to solely produce green bonds, with each of the company’s eight securitizations having been designated as green by Sustainalytics, an investment research firm specializing in environmental, social and governance (ESG) research and analysis.
“Through our Green Bond Impact Report, we can share the remarkable year the HERO PACE Bond platform has had since achieving green bond designation and the significant environmental impact it is having in hundreds of communities,” said Renovate America’s Managing Director of Capital Markets Craig Braun. “The HERO projects installed to date on more than 80,000 homes will save enough water to meet the hydration needs of everyone on the planet for one day or take one million Americans off the grid for a year.”
Green bonds enable capital-raising and investment for new and existing projects with environmental benefits. Last November, the HERO PACE Bond platform was found to adhere to the Green Bond Principles (GBP) – a set of commonly agreed-upon standards in the capital markets on what constitutes a green bond. These principles are updated annually by the International Capital Market Association (ICMA), which serves as Secretariat, interfacing with issuers, investors, and underwriters of green bonds. The GBP establish voluntary process guidelines that recommend transparency and disclosure and promote integrity in the development of the green bond market by clarifying the approach for issuance of a green bond. By issuing its first annual Green Bond Impact Report, Renovate America is aligning with these principles of transparency and disclosure.
HERO PACE Bonds do not fund aspirational or speculative projects; the proceeds have already been invested in home energy and efficiency improvements projects whose environmental impact is verified. Not only do the bonds already deliver a positive environmental impact and financial return for investors, they will continue to do so over the useful life of the installed products.
Moody’s Investor Service assigned the notes in the most recent securitization, HERO 2016-3, its highest Green Bond Assessment grade, GB 1. This securitization, in the amount of $320 million, was the largest such deal completed by any issuer. Taken together, the company’s eight securitizations total $1.7 billion. The platform has attracted international interest and was recently recognized by GlobalCapital, winning the 2016 Best Green/SRI ABS Deal of the Year, and ranking second, after Apple, for the 2016 North American Green/SRI Deal of the Year.
Download the Green Bond Impact Report here ›
About Renovate America
Renovate America has built a tech-enabled market platform for home improvement and commercial retrofits, and partners with state and local governments to offer communities the HERO Program. HERO is the leading residential Property Assessed Clean Energy program in the U.S. and has financed nearly $2 billion of home improvements. HERO is on track to save its customers more than $3 billion in energy and water bills, and has created more than 16,000 clean energy jobs. This unique public-private partnership offers consumers access to financing for more than 60 types of products that reduce energy and water consumption, without the need for government funding. The HERO Program has received a number of recognitions including a Climate Leadership Certificate for Innovative Partnerships by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, inclusion in the 2016 White House Water Summit, the Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award in California, and the Urban Land Institute Best of the Best. Renovate America has the world’s first green bond platform, with a volume of originations that enables securitization of HERO PACE bonds multiple times a year, attracting international investment to meet U.S. clean energy objectives.