Bank of America Corp. is teaming up with community development lenders to make older commercial buildings more energy efficient.
The company said Thursday that it intends to provide $50 million in low-cost, long-term loans to as many as 12 community development financial institutions that would then use the funds to finance energy-efficient upgrades to older properties. It will choose the recipients based on which CDFIs offer the most "innovative" retrofit programs, Bank of America said in a news release.
"If we really want to address climate change, we have to improve the energy efficiency of existing buildings," said Anne Finucane, Bank of America's global strategy and marketing officer. Through this program, the bank "will fund the community lenders that have developed creative and effective approaches to financing energy-efficient retrofits."
Aside from the loans, the bank will provide the recipient CDFIs with $5 million in grants to help get the programs up and running.
The program is the second initiative the bank has announced recently aimed at combating global warming. Last week, it unveiled an ambitious plan to lower its energy consumption and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 15% worldwide over the next four years.
