The built environment is one of the biggest carbon challenges of our time. In the United States alone, residential and commercial buildings account for roughly 31 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. As policy winds shift and economic pressures mount, a financial innovation is drawing new attention for helping turn ambition into action: PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) financing.
In her article for Triple Pundit “New Alliance Picks Up the PACE on Decarbonizing the World’s Buildings,” Tina Casey traces the latest efforts to extend the PACE model beyond U.S. markets, standardize practices, and scale investments in retrofits and low-carbon new construction.
What Is PACE (and C-PACE)?
To re-cap for our readers:
PACE allows property owners to finance energy or other clean-upgrade improvements via a special assessment on their property tax bill. Because the financing obligation stays with the property (not the owner), the next owner continues payments.
C-PACE (Commercial PACE) is the version used for nonresidential and multifamily buildings. In many cases, it works in tandem with or complements traditional commercial lending.
One of the major advantages is that owners don’t need to bear the entire up-front cost themselves, and the repayment can extend over long terms (often 20–30 years).
PACE and C-PACE have grown steadily in the U.S., even in difficult macroeconomic environments. But until recently, their expansion beyond U.S. borders had been slow. The new alliance aimed at harmonizing standards could change that.
The New Alliance: Toward a Global PACE Market
The Green Finance Institute and the Climate Bonds Initiative have launched a Global Property Linked Finance Initiative to build a global bridging structure for PACE-type financing. They outline core principles for use by jurisdictions and capital markets to adopt or adapt PACE models.
This initiative is particularly timely because the magnitude of needed investment is enormous:
Globally, an estimated US$34 trillion in upgrades and retrofits of existing buildings is required by 2050 to align with net-zero pathways.
In the U.S. alone, PACE financing has already mobilized about US$18 billion to date.
By creating a more consistent, transparent, and interoperable global PACE market, the alliance hopes to reduce friction for capital flows, reduce transaction costs, and encourage more jurisdictions to adopt enabling laws.
What’s Changing (and What Must Change)
Tina Casey’s article underscores several key shifts and challenges for our readers in government, finance, real estate, and sustainability:
Attitudinal shift among commercial lenders
Lenders are increasingly seeing C-PACE not as a competitor, but as a complementary tool that can solve financing hurdles for energy upgrades.Policy enabling is still uneven
In the U.S., residential PACE is only authorized in a few states while C-PACE is active in many more. Internationally, jurisdictions are only beginning to explore PACE-style structures.Expanding eligible technologies and materials
To fully decarbonize, PACE must go beyond efficiency and electrification to include heat pumps, solar + storage, envelope upgrades, and low-embodied-carbon materials.Standards, transparency, and data
The alliance’s proposed principles aim to set a consistent baseline for disclosure, risk assessment, and performance measurement. Standardized metrics are critical to attract capital.Pilots, iteration, and scaling
PACE models will need to be adaptable across diverse markets and regulatory environments; pilots and iterative learning are essential.
Why NJPACE Matters—and What We Can Do
At NJPACE, our mission is to accelerate the adoption of PACE financing to rebuild sustainably, reduce carbon emissions, and advance resilient communities. Here’s how we can tie in with the momentum described in Casey’s article:
Thought leadership & advocacy
Publish model guidelines, case studies, and policy templates that translate the global alliance’s standards into local practice.Capacity building and training
Host workshops and webinars to demystify eligibility, underwriting, risk, and implementation for local governments, engineers, architects, and financiers.Catalyzing pilot projects
Partner with developers, municipalities, and financiers to launch pilot retrofits or new-build projects using PACE financing as proofs-of-concept.Data aggregation and transparency
Collect and publish performance data from PACE-enabled projects to build market confidence and refine evaluation models.Bridging to global capital
Help local actors access international capital pools if aligned with the alliance’s standards, potentially unlocking lower-cost capital.
A Call to Action: Time to Pick Up the Pace
Tina Casey’s article is both a snapshot and a signal. The PACE model is no longer an experimental niche—it is becoming a central financing lever in the architecture of decarbonization.
But expansion is not inevitable. It requires local champions, aligned policy, well-designed programs, and the courage to pilot and scale. That is the exact space NJPACE can occupy and lead.
Let’s use this moment to:
Engage with the global alliance’s consultation — bring local insight to the principles.
Map gaps in enabling legislation and program design — identify opportunities for adoption.
Promote demonstration projects — show the practical benefits of PACE financing.
Educate stakeholders — developers, lenders, municipalities, architects, and residents.
Support standardization and transparency — push for clear metrics and reporting.
If building decarbonization is to scale at the pace our climate demands, financial tools like PACE must transition from optional add-ons to mainstream infrastructure. NJPACE is well-positioned to be a central actor in that transformation.