Category Archives: Thought Leadership

By Tony Liou, Partner Energy President Steps to reaching your net zero goals and avoiding “stranded assets” With the increased focus on ESG+R and climate change, more corporations and investors are making public commitments to carbon neutrality. The Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative that launched in December 2020 now has 128 signatories–overseeing $43 trillion in assets–committed to […]

By Tony Liou, Partner Energy President & Kathryn Peacock, Principal and National Client Manager for Partner Engineering and Science, Inc Fed says climate change can result in direct financial risks and bank stress testing is likely coming. Lenders can start managing those risks now. Lenders and investors are beginning to identify climate change impact as […]

For Earth Day 2021, take action by reducing your portfolio’s carbon footprint and reaching your ESG goals By Tony Liou, Partner Energy President Since its debut in 1970, Earth Day has since expanded into 192 countries and EARTHDAY.ORG now works with more than 75,000 partners in order to “drive positive action for our planet.” Earth Day is […]

CRE needs to prepare for a shifting landscape. By Tony Liou, Partner Energy President As President Biden signs sweeping climate change executive orders, the commercial real estate industry is also ramping up the conversation around Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG). Just this month, at the virtual MBA CREF21: Lending, Investing, Servicing and Technology Convention & […]

As more investors focus on ESG policies, we try to demystify the E in ESG. By Tony Liou, Partner Energy President In the past year, ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) investing has gone from a niche strategy to a mainstream approach utilized by more institutional real estate investors. Companies like BlackRock and PGIM are scaling […]

After a year of record-breaking disasters, the need for real estate resiliency is clear. By Tony Liou, Partner Energy President There is no denying that the number of natural disasters and their severity have increased over the years. Wildfires have burned more than four million acres in California in 2020, which is double the previous […]

Green Advantage Shifts Focus to Incentivize Workforce Housingby Tony Liou, Partner Energy President Citing a refocus towards affordable housing, the FHFA eliminated the green lending cap exclusion last fall, leading to uncertainty in the green lending market. Last month, Freddie Mac announced their continued commitment to the success of the Green Advantage program by shifting […]

For both new construction and LIHTC-backed rehab projects, Partner Energy helps clients secure tax credit financing for affordable and low-income housing projects nationwide. Lenders see opportunity in these markets, as explained in this article from GlobeSt.com  

The Federal Housing Finance Administration (FHFA) just released new requirements for the 2019 Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Green Lending Programs. The new requirements may increase the implementation cost of these loans for some borrowers. However, with careful consideration of the type and quantity of energy-saving and water-saving measures implemented, this cost can be minimized. […]