by Shane Henson — October 25, 2013—Securing financing for energy savings projects just got easier for building owners, ESCOs, contractors and engineers with the launch of the online Energy Conservation and Performance (E-CAP) Platform by CapX Partners, a capital provider to private equity and venture capital backed portfolio companies in the middle market range.
Through partnering with leading energy insurer Energi, the E-CAP Platform will incorporate Energi’s expertise in energy efficiency into the online underwriting process, helping to accurately securitize energy savings and protect project guarantees, says CapX Partners.
The E-CAP process will provide energy efficiency providers with turnkey access to best practices and leading performance guarantees and financing solutions. At first, E-CAP will enable qualified energy efficiency providers to identify efficiency projects, as well as bid for them on the Honest Buildings network. The platform will provide development memorandums, credit applications, and project implementation plans to facilitate the development process, then offers users turnkey performance insurance and financing options.
CapX Partners notes that U.S. energy service companies (ESCO) have contributed significantly to the rise of energy efficiency over the past several decades, with Navigant estimating the U.S. ESCO market at $4.9 billion in 2013. Notwithstanding, industry experts assert that inertia is the key impediment from greatly expanding this market. The user-friendly E-CAP Platform significantly increases capacity (financing and rated performance guarantees) while also providing compelling cost benefit and peer building analyses to building owners. E-CAP Platform will benefit ESCOs and non-ESCO firms alike by significantly expanding the market, the company says.
“Energy efficiency is unanimously regarded as a critical economic and environmental tool, and yet investment is still not widespread,” said Kevin Kaminski, senior vice president of Alternative Energy Solutions at Energi. “As one of the first third-party insurers for energy savings performance contracts, we understand that security is a crucial step to unlocking investor confidence and driving efficiency investments. The E-CAP Platform enables more energy efficiency providers to safely offer efficiency projects, backed with our underwriting expertise and the capital commitments of CapX.”
