December 2024

Welcome to the PACE newsletter! Each month, we share resources to help Boulder County businesses save money, promote environmental health, and improve climate impact and sustainability.

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What a year! We still have a month to go, but we’ve already helped many of you reduce greenhouse gas emissions, become more energy efficient, transition away from fossil fuel use, conserve water, and reduce waste. We believe 2024 will be our biggest year ever and we are grateful for your support and partnerships.

Here are just a few of the highlights:

Our landscaping program was a huge success. We helped over 100 landscaping companies replace more than 790 pieces of equipment. Companies like Greenspaces Landscaping in Boulder County are enjoying the benefits, including saving money on gas and getting new clients as a result of the upgraded equipment.

In April, we hosted our second landscaping equipment demo event at the Boulder County fairgrounds and 100 local businesses stopped by to try the cool, quiet tech. We are bringing the landscaping program back for 2025, so if you’re on the waitlist, be ready to hear from us soon.

We helped over 55 local restaurants replace more than 115 aging, inefficient refrigerators, ice makers, dishwashers, and more. You can read more about two of the businesses who took advantage of our rebates – Mana Thai and Henry’s. More stories are coming in early 2025 as we kick off next year’s rebate programs.

Finally, we continue to support businesses with zero waste, including rebates for reusable solutions in Lafayette and Boulder, incentives for bins, and signage and training.

Our 2025 rebates will be announced in January – we are looking forward to another great year serving our community. And if you own a mobile business (think food trucks or mobile groomers) we are cooking up something exciting to share with you very soon, so stay tuned!

We still have funding available for 2024 projects! If you’re thinking of replacing your old kitchen equipment, upgrading your HVAC system to an electric or hybrid heat pump, switching out your gas-powered water heater to an electric one, or doing an insulation or lighting project, what are you waiting for? Let PACE help make your end-of-year dollars go a little further with rebates! We also have extra incentives available for Equity Priority Buildings. 

For the full list of electrification incentives, including limits and requirements, check out our energy efficiency and electrification rebates page, or reach out to our advising team at info@pacepartners.com or 303-786-7223. Projects must be preapproved and completed by Dec 31, 2024, and we must receive a copy of your invoice by Jan 7, 2025 in order to receive a rebate from 2024.

The PACE team recently visited Boulder Baked in Superior, a newly opened bakery that runs on 100% electric energy. It’s the second location for innovator Seth Portner who seeks to create sweet treats while prioritizing electrification. 

Before starting the bakery concept in 2020, Portner had a more than twenty-year career in climate work. Now as a small business owner, "I've been on both sides, and I can tell you what works and what the challenges are," he explains.

Some challenges he’s encountered include the cost of appliances and increasing electric services, as well as finding contractors who are experienced with electric build outs. "There’s potential to offer more support to businesses navigating the electric transition," Portner adds. "The important thing is to reach businesses early in their building process."

Boulder Baked took advantage of PACE rebates that sweetened the deal as Portner prioritized electric appliances in his new build. The icing on the cake: he’s thrilled he gets to work with his family and demonstrate the possibilities of electrification. And he hopes he’ll save money too. "What I can say definitively is that we reduced the emissions associated with our bakery substantially, which for me is priceless," Portner concludes.

Accidents happen! Do you know what to do when a liquid material spill happens? This includes anything but clean water – could be soap, grease, cleaning solution, or food products. Outdoor spills need to be cleaned up properly to protect our waterways. For spills both indoors and outdoors, use dry cleanup methods (sweeping, dry absorbents) to clean them up immediately. Use a broom to sweep up the absorbent and place it in the trash. Never wash or hose down spills.

For spills that happen outdoors, use a barrier, or cover to protect nearby storm drains. If a spill reaches the storm drain system, notify your municipal stormwater staff. And remember to report pollution to your municipality.

The third phase of Longmont’s Universal Recycling Ordinance (URO) takes effect January 1, 2025. This means organics (composting) collections will now be required for food wholesalers, distributers, manufacturers, and grocery stores. 

The City of Longmont has assistance available to help businesses comply with the Universal Recycling Ordinance in the form of Longmont-specific Zero Waste Coupons. These coupons are available to Longmont commercial businesses for recycling or composting services and to multifamily properties for recycling services. Businesses may apply for the Zero Waste Coupon within 1 year of signing up for recycling and/or composting services. These coupons will be paid directly to your commercial hauler as a bill credit.  

• All commercial business properties will be eligible for $700.   
• Larger multifamily properties with 75 units or more will be eligible for $2,500.    
• Multifamily properties with 74 units or less will be eligible for $1,500.   

The coupons are made available in partnership with Boulder County on a one-time-only, first-come, first-served basis until funds run out. These amounts are expected to decrease after 2024. Apply today!

Start optimizing your building’s heating and cooling performance with the Efficiency Works Building Tune-up program, designed to optimize and enhance your existing HVAC systems. The program offers a path for every building:

• Performance Plus – Offsets the costs of listed service providers performing additional maintenance to improve the systems performance and save energy and money.
• Retrocommissioning – Provides participants expert building analysis at little to no cost to help lower participants’ electric energy costs. By evaluating systems and implementing cost-effective upgrades, participants can not only save energy, but also improve facility operations and increase occupant comfort.

Building Tune-up services are available to commercial electric customers of Longmont Power & Communications. All work must be completed by an authorized Performance Plus or Retrocommissioning service provider. Contact the Efficiency Works Business team at business@efficiencyworks.org to learn more.

PACEpartners.com | 303-786-7223 | info@PACEpartners.com

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