CAPE CORAL, Fla. — In the aftermath of the recent hurricane emergency felt across the state, one Florida city has taken swift action to aid local residents’ recovery and preparedness efforts.
The Cape Coral City Council approved a robust hurricane response package for residents, including access to an innovative form of financing called HERO. HERO Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing empowers homeowners to make energy-efficient, renewable energy, and hurricane-resiliency improvements and pay for the upgrades over time through a voluntary assessment on their property tax bills.
Through its adoption of HERO, Cape Coral has joined in Florida Development Finance Corp.’s mission to bring the most comprehensive consumer safeguards and lowest interest rates in the PACE industry to their community to make Florida more energy efficient and hurricane-resistant. To date, 68 Florida communities across the state have enabled HERO financing, and it is currently available to more than 1.75 million households — nearly a quarter of the state.
Eligible improvements include storm shutters, roofing and windows, roof-to-wall connections, and other products that can protect against wind damage and may lower insurance premiums. HERO also can finance residential energy and efficiency upgrades, like rooftop solar and high-efficiency HVAC equipment, which may lower utility bills and make homes more comfortable. HERO also uses a data-driven contractor quality rating system that tracks customer satisfaction and removes contractors that do not maintain good or excellent ratings.
“As our community continues to rebuild from Hurricane Irma, PACE financing options are needed now more than ever as a means for property owners to make repairs quickly and protect against future storms,” said Melvin Kennedy, owner, Kennedy Construction Groups LLC, Ellenton, Florida. “HERO’s top-notch consumer safeguards and contractor rating system ensure Cape Coral residents have one less thing to worry about during this stressful time and can focus on what’s most important: keeping their family safe.”
For more information, visit www.heroprogram.com/coming-soon.
Publication date: 10/6/2017
Want more HVAC industry news and information? Join The NEWS on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn today!
