In 2017, the City of Lawrence issued our first “Green” Bonds to finance a citywide energy efficiency retrofit program in 40+ city facilities. The energy efficiency retrofit project addresses key Green Bond eligible environmental benefits including pollution reduction, climate change mitigation, and conservation of natural resources.
What are Green Bonds?
Green Bonds enable capital-raising and investment for new and existing projects with environmental benefits.
Green Bonds are any type of bond instrument where the proceeds will be exclusively applied to finance Green projects that address key areas of concern including climate change, natural resource conservation, pollution reduction, and loss of biodiversity.
The City of Lawrence will follow the internationally-recognized Green Bond Principles in structuring and reporting our green bond project. The Green Bond Principles (GBP) are voluntary process guidelines that recommend transparency and disclosure, and promote integrity in the development of the Green Bond market.
What’s included in this citywide energy savings project?
The energy efficiency retrofit project includes energy-saving projects throughout city facilities – from City Hall to our parks system. The energy conservation measures (ECMS) include upgrades of boilers and chillers to models that use less energy, LED lighting retrofits, roof replacements, a solar photovoltaic system, and weatherization projects.
The energy efficiency retrofit project is part of the state of Kansas Facilities Conservation Improvement Program (FCIP) a state program for performance contracts for public entities. In performance contracts, the energy savings are quantified, and the savings guaranteed. The City of Lawrence will save $450,000 in avoided energy costs each year for the 20 year life of the project, and these annual savings will be used to finance the bond payments.
Want to learn more?
Check out our FCIP project page.
Review the third party-verified energy saving reports that show the environmental benefits of the project after construction:
- June 2019
- June 2020
- June 2021