Freddie Mac Offers New “Green Rebate”

Freddie Mac’s Green Rebate offering encourages borrowers on first mortgages to use the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager® tool to assess the energy performance of their multifamily properties, as a first step in identifying opportunities for improvements. As an incentive to borrowers to make this assessment, Freddie Mac will now provide a rebate of $5,000 for new loans when the ENERGY STAR Score for the property is reported, regardless of the score achieved.

All multifamily buildings with greater than 20 units are eligible to receive an Energy Star Score, a 1 to 100 scale that indicates how a multifamily property performs compared to other similar properties across the U.S. in terms of its energy performance; 50 represents median energy performance and 75-100 represents superior energy performance and is eligible for Energy Star certification.