Should Atlanta Adopt Residential PACE? Exploring Perspectives and Implementation Pathways
Author(s)
Gupta, Soumya
Advisor(s)
Lee Raymond, Seumalu Elora
Clayton Paige
Editor(s)
Collections
Supplementary to:
Permanent Link
Abstract
As cities across the United States face growing urgency to decarbonize the built environment, Residential Property Assessed Clean Energy (R-PACE) programs offer an innovative financing mechanism to advance equitable and scalable housing sustainability. R-PACE is a financing mechanism for homeowners, enabling them to fund energy efficiency upgrades, renewable energy systems, and disaster mitigation retrofits through property tax voluntary special assessments rather than traditional loans. This paper investigates the potential for implementing R-PACE in the City of Atlanta, grounded in a detailed evaluation of existing programs and pilot models through a systematic literature review, expert interviews, and online community survey insights. The analysis centers on three core evaluation criteria: (1) Financial Risk and Market Stability, (2) Financial Accessibility and Equity, and (3) Program Transparency and Administrative Efficiency.
Through interviews with experts, the paper identifies opportunities and limitations of R-PACE as a green finance tool in the Southeastern urban context. Atlanta’s housing market, marked by rising energy burdens and affordability challenges, provides fertile ground for evaluating how R-PACE could fill existing programmatic gaps, particularly in middle-income homeowner segments currently underserved by traditional incentives or low income assistance. Findings from the survey of over 40 Atlantans reveal a spectrum of awareness, trust, and willingness to participate in property tied clean energy programs. Notably, concerns around foreclosure risk, contractor oversight, and administrative transparency echo those raised by national evaluations and state-level program failures. However, innovations in underwriting, homeowner education, and direct billing mechanisms suggest a path forward that mitigates these concerns while unlocking private capital for residential energy upgrades.
The paper concludes with a series of targeted policy recommendations for designing an Atlanta specific R-PACE pilot. These include introducing consumer protection guardrails, building contractor accountability frameworks, expanding access across income tiers without exacerbating housing precarity, and layering R-PACE with rebates and public subsidies. Ultimately, the proposed framework envisions R-PACE as part of a broader ecosystem of green finance tools, positioning Atlanta as a Southern leader in housing sustainability and climate resilience.
Sponsor
Date
2025-12-01
Extent
Resource Type
Text
Resource Subtype
Rights Statement
Unless otherwise noted, all materials are protected under U.S. Copyright Law and all rights are reserved