EP145 Turning Efficiency into Equity: Inside the C-PACE Model with PACE Equity with Tricia Baker and Karl Peer (October 2025)

About this episode

In this episode, Bill Spohn discusses C-PACE financing and its impact on sustainable building with guests Tricia Baker and Karl Peer.

QUOTES: "We created the CIRRUS Low Carbon program to speak to developers' pocketbooks — build a better building, and you get a better rate." — Tricia Baker "Early design is peace of mind — it saves you a buck or two and a lot of headaches later." — Karl Peer In this episode of RESTalk, host Bill Spohn is joined by Tricia Baker, Senior Vice President of Strategy and Impact at PACE Equity, and Karl Peer, an in-house engineer with deep experience in HERS ratings and energy modeling. Together, they unpack the power of C-PACE (Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy) financing — a state-enabled program that helps developers and building owners access long-term, low-cost private capital for sustainable building upgrades and construction. Tricia introduces CIRRUS Low Carbon, a unique PACE Equity program that rewards better-performing buildings with lower interest rates. Buildings that meet a HERS score of 55 or better automatically qualify for discounted financing, offering developers meaningful savings — often 50 basis points lower than standard rates. She emphasizes how this program directly links building performance to financial incentive, creating a clear economic reason to…

People in this episode

Host: Bill Spohn

Guests: Tricia Baker, Karl Peer

Topics covered

• C-PACE financing
• sustainable building
• energy efficiency
• financial incentives
• low-carbon projects

Keywords

• C-PACE
• sustainable building upgrades
• energy modeling
• HERS ratings
• financial savings

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: PACE Equity, RESNET

Products: CIRRUS Low Carbon

More episodes of RESTalk

• EP151 Emerging Leaders, Real Talk: The Future of HERS® Starts Here (March 2026) · April 13, 2026 · 23 min
• EP150 Women Building the Future: Voices from the RESNET® Community (March 2026) · March 16, 2026 · 29 min
• EP149 Inside the 2026 RESNET® Conference: The Next Era of HERS® (January 2026) · February 9, 2026 · 25 min
• EP148 A New Chapter for RESNET: A Conversation with Executive Director Shelby Gatlin (January 2026) · January 12, 2026 · 18 min
• EP147 Best of 2025: The Year RESNET® Hit Another Gear (December 2025) · December 15, 2025 · 21 min
• EP146 Beyond the Score: Market Signals, QA, and the Future of RESNET® with Steve Baden (October 2025) · November 10, 2025 · 33 min