Parkwood Place in Mountain Lake, MN provides assisted living and senior care options for elderly adults. They recently utilized the Rural Minnesota Energy Board’s Property Assessed Clean Energy—or PACE—program to finance energy efficiency upgrades in their facility.
Through PACE, energy-saving measures pursued by Parkwood Place received project financing and will be repaid as a separate item on their property tax assessment for a set period. PACE eliminates the burden of upfront costs by providing low-cost, long-term financing.
We chatted with Bill Freitag, President of JAND Development who owns Parkwood Place, to learn more about their experience and the work they accomplished using PACE.
CERTs: What motivated you to apply for PACE funding?
Bill Freitag: I received a mailer with the utility bill for Parkwood Place that offered PACE financing as an opportunity for potential energy efficiency upgrades. I pursued it because our business is very energy-conscious (we also work on energy-efficient residential and commercial buildings). The goal of the project is for savings in utility costs to pay for the upgrades, and I think we’ll easily meet that goal.
CERTs: What was your experience going through the PACE program with the Rural Minnesota Energy Board?
Bill Freitag: I thought the process was very straightforward. We had a minor hiccup figuring out who was going to do the energy audit for us. We had a person who had done our audits in the past, but ended up using an energy auditor certified by the PACE program. Robin Weis, the Program Administrator, did a great job.
CERTs: What did the project at Parkwood Place entail?
Bill Freitag: Our facility is a former hospital building that was purchased 18 years ago. Energy efficiency upgrades included installing a variable frequency drive on the water pump motors on the space heating lines; eliminating air handling compressor units on roof with a split heating and air conditioning system in the common areas on second floor; upgrading lighting to LED and T-8 and installing occupancy sensors; replacing the water heater; and insulating the boiler room.
CERTs: Would you recommend this to other businesses and property owners?
Bill Freitag: I have been recommending PACE to several others. I think they did a really good job and the program should be promoted more so that other business owners can become aware of it.
See presentation from energy auditor Richard Otten, CEM to walk through upgrades at Parkwood Place >>
Project Snapshot:
- Location: Parkwood Place in Mountain Lake, MN – Cottonwood County
- Description: Insulation, HVAC, Boiler, Lighting, Water Pump, Water Heater
- Useful Life of Upgrades:
- 12 years – Water Pump, Lighting, Water Heater, AC Units
- 15 years – Roof HVAC, Boiler Replacement
- 20 years – R9.8 mechanical room walls
- PACE Loan Term: 15 years
- Project Costs: $90,160
- Annual Energy Savings: 667.6 MMBTU
- Savings Per Year: $9,780 for equipment life
- Annual Payments: $8,751 for 15 years
- Annual Net Savings: $1,029 for 15 years
- Total Net Savings: $15,429* over equipment life
* Total Net Savings is calculated by multiplying the useful life of the improvement by the estimated annual savings, then subtracting the cost for materials, installation, and interest over the term of the assessment.
If you’d like to compare the dollar savings and energy savings of the various energy conservation measures, see the table below.
| Energy Conservation Measure | Annual Savings $ | Annual Savings MCF/MMBTU |
| Water Pump VFD | $1,126 | 32.6 |
| Roof HVAC Systems | $2,713 | 131 |
| Lightin | $1,333 | 38.6 |
| Boiler Replacement | $2,757 | 331 |
| Domestic Hot Water Heating | $392 | 47 |
| Replace Wall AC Units | $1,011 | 31.4 |
| Add R-9.8 to Perimeter Mechanical Walls | $448 | 56 |
| TOTALS | $9,780 | 667.6 |
Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) is a new way to finance energy efficiency and renewable energy upgrades to the buildings of commercial property owners.Energy-saving measures pursued by the owners receive project financing and are repaid as a separate item on their property tax assessment for a set period. PACE eliminates the burden of upfront costs by providing low-cost, long-term financing. |
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