LEAP has partnered with the City of Charlottesville, the UVA Community Credit Union, and other local financial institutions to help reduce your energy costs, upgrade your facility, and improve the environmental quality of our community. Here’s how:

Benchmark

We use the Environmental Protection Agency’s Portfolio Manager® to benchmark your building, set your energy use target and see how your estimated design energy stacks up against similar existing buildings nationwide. Portfolio Manager® is an online tool you can that can be used to measure and track energy and water consumption, as well as greenhouse gas emissions. (This step is optional, though highly recommended.)

Assess

LEAP’s expert building scientists are more than happy to provide a free, walk-through audit of small to medium-sized commercial buildings in the City of Charlottesville, and to provide you with a report to guide your decision-making process as to what improvements to make first and which will provide the biggest return on investment. For larger commercial buildings, we’re happy to introduce you to a local engineering firm that specializes in investment-grade audits. (This step is optional, though highly recommended.)

Finance

LEAP is proud to partner with the UVA Community Credit Union and other local financial institutions to offer businesses located in the City of Charlottesville a streamlined path for energy efficiency or renewable energy project loans. Through a generous grant from the City of Charlottesville, LEAP also offers city business owners a rate reduction program with rates as low as 1.99% APR and terms of up to 10 years, secured or unsecured depending on loan amount. Companies are limited to one rate reduction per calendar year and participation in the program is subject to review and approval.

Click here for a list of eligible improvements. Check out Get Started to learn more about the loan application process.

Implement

Once your loan is approved, the work begins! LEAP is here to offer referrals to local, trusted contractors, and to guide you through the process of implementation.

Share!

Share your success story with your clients or customers or other businesses to encourage energy conservation and clean energy in your industry and our community. LEAP is here to support your marketing initiatives to show your community that you’ve reduced your carbon footprint. Get in touch if you want assistance with a press release, testimonial or other promo efforts. (Again, this step is optional.)

Here are some of the local businesses that have worked with LEAP: Alloy Workshop, Barrett Early Learning Center, Cedars Court, Covenant School (lower school campus), Fork Union Baptist Church, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville, Indoor BioTechnologies, Innisfree Village, Jean Theory, McCallum and Kudravetz Law Firm, Mudhouse Coffee Shop (Downtown Mall), MS Events, On Our Own, University Montessori, Westminster Presbyterian Church (Rugby Road, Charlottesville).