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December 21, 2009 Section 3: Building Energy Use Funding for the installation of solar PV systems on low income single family and multi-family housing is available through the California Solar Initiative's Multifamily Affordable Solar Housing (MASH) and Single-Family Affordable Housing (SASH) Programs. Measures and actions far consideration: ^ Establish athird-party or municipal financing program for solar (PV and solar hot water) and other renewable technology projects. Property owners can take out a loan to pay for the cost of energy efficiency improvements and solar system installations over 20 years through a property based assessment on their property tax bills.'3 ^ Marketing campaign for solar financing, tax and rebate opportunities to San Leandro residents. Develop a website for San Leandro residents and/or educational pamphlets. For example, the California Solar Initiative provides rebates to residential and commercial facilities interested in solar PV installations. The California Energy Commission's New Solar Homes Partnership also provides financial support to home builders. ^ Increase the number of solar facilities on low income housing. Work with residents and owners of low-income residential units to secure funding from the California Solar Initiative to install solar PV. 3.4 Goal: Promote green building practices in both the new construction and remodel market Since half of the buildings that will exist in 2050 have already been built today, a significant emphasis must be placed on promoting retrofits of existing buildings. The new buildings that are being constructed are also likely to remain in the built environment for another 100 years or so with significant long term impacts. Reducing consumption of electricity, natural gas and water as well as promotion of environmentally sustainable material use will require aggressive implementation of green building practices in the City. 13 On October 19, 2009, Vice President Biden and the Middle Class Task Force released the Recovery Through Retrofit Report, which included provisions for a federal program to support municipal energy financing programs. Federal departments and agencies will assist with establishing underwriting criteria and model financing programs to provide upfront capital utilizing Recovery Act funding. The federal government will also facilitate the collection of data to evaluate the performance of municipal financing programs and speed the adoption of detailed, uniform "best practices" that include robust and effective homeowner and lender protections. Page 23 ~