SEF Blog

Sora West, a mixed-use complex proposed for 1 West Elm Street in Conshohocken, PA, has secured $9.9 million in financing as part of Pennsylvania’s C-PACE Program. As the third-party administrator for Montgomery County, Sustainable Energy Fund oversaw the C-PACE project application process to ensure compliance with Act 30 Statute and the C-PACE Guidelines. Green Works Lending executed the C-PACE transaction with Sora West. This two-parcel complex will include an 8-story, 127-room hotel, restaurant, rooftop lounge, and plaza and a restored fire station with a total footprint of 91,858 square feet. Together, the property meets the energy savings guidelines for new construction / substantial rehabilitation as outlined in the Montgomery County C-PACE Guidelines with energy savings ranging from 7% to 61% better than current building code.  

C-PACE financing will be used to upgrade the facility’s building energy systems, including the building envelope, HVAC, lighting, and other systems. These improvements are projected to save an estimated 349,644 kWh in electricity, 4,914 therms of natural gas annually. Sora West is expected to achieve beyond-code energy savings with improvements across the building’s systems, including lighting, HVAC systems, building envelope, elevators, and domestic hot water heaters. Lighting improvements include upgrading to LED lighting, resulting in a 33% energy savings for interior lighting and a 43% savings for exterior lighting. HVAC systems include improvements to equipment efficiency with average SEER/IEER cooling improvements of 61% and HSPF/COP heating improvements of 10%.  The hotel insulation is proposed to have an averaged 47% increase over code for wall, curtainwall, and window insulation, and a 7% increase in roof insulation for the hotel space. The fire station is proposed to have an 11% increased insulation in the attic; no increase is listed for the walls. Condensing DHW heaters will be utilized to provide hot water to the facility, providing a 14% increase in thermal efficiency.