BOSTON – Gov. Maura Healey recently announced the launch of the Massachusetts Community Climate Bank, the nation’s first “green bank” dedicated to affordable housing.
Seeded with $50 million in state funds from the Mass. Department of Environmental Protection, the initiative is designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the building sector. It will leverage federal funding and private sector opportunities to accelerate affordable, decarbonized housing development.
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One of the climate bank’s primary goals is to attract private sector capital and federal funds available under the Inflation Reduction Act to finance building retrofits aligned with the state’s long-term climate objectives and new construction of decarbonized buildings.
In Massachusetts, the building sector is responsible for over a quarter of total greenhouse gas emissions. The state’s Clean Energy and Climate Plan calls for a 49% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from residential heating by 2030, and a 95% reduction by 2050.
The bank will focus on the affordable housing market, where residents bear a disproportionate burden in energy costs and climate impacts, to promote an equitable energy transition. Over time, the bank will diversify investments to include other decarbonization measures that benefit communities.
“The Massachusetts Community Climate Bank will be our financial engine for moving forward on our climate goals, relieving the pressure of high housing costs and creating good jobs and healthier communities,” Healey said.
The climate bank will accelerate the pace of building decarbonization projects by lending directly to building owners. It will finance heat pumps, upgrades to windows and walls, heat pump water heaters, high-efficiency appliances and solar panels.
The bank also will position Massachusetts to compete for funding from the National Clean Investment Fund under the Inflation Reduction Act and to anchor engagement with other federal finance opportunities.
