Fannie Mae Is Persuading A Lot of Owners to Go Green

Fannie Mae’s green lending program is proving to be very popular, according to speakers on the Sustainability, Green Financing & Affordability Outlook panel at RealShare Apartments. Panelists—which included John Powell, EVP at Bellwether Enterprise; Jay Donaldson, President of the Fannie Mae and FHA platform at NorthMarq Capital; Molly Simpson, manager of green financing business at Fannie Mae Multifamily; and Paul Volkoff, national sales manager at Homasote and Tony Liou, president at Partner Energy—discussed the benefits of green lending and why it has become so popular for the agency.

It has been an interesting evolution for the agency. Fannie Mae’s green lending program originally launched in 2012, but it only grew to immense popularity in the last two years. The program requires that property owners reduce energy or water consumption—they can choose—by 25% to qualify, and it comes with major incentives, including the ability to underwrite the utility cost savings and Fannie Me reimburses for 100% of energy audit costs.

While Simpson couldn’t say which utilities had the most savings, water is the more affordable pathway to achieving the requirements for the program. “A lot of our clients choose to do water,” she said, adding that she couldn’t be more specific. “We are looking for ways to incentivize savings on energy. One of the ways is through renewables.” Water savings usually involves switching out fixtures, like faucet and showerheads, while energy savings requires changes to appliances, lighting systems and HVAC systems. “Water is mostly in the bathroom and kitchens, and it is in the fixtures, and those are usually a few hundred bucks,” added Liou. “Those are lower ticket items.”