Conduit Capital U.S., Climate First Bancorp, and GreenGen join forces to address the financing gap for sustainable upgrades, offering flexible, fast financing to accelerate retrofits of existing buildings
Innovative partnership aims to mitigate the impending commercial debt surge projected to peak in 2027
ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA / ACCESS Newswire / July 10, 2025 / The formation of Sustainable Credit Partners (SCP), a transformative private lender for commercial real estate focused on accelerating decarbonization and value retention in the U.S. mid-market commercial property sector, is announced today by the founding partnership of Conduit Capital U.S. (CCAP), Climate First Bancorp, and GreenGen, SCP will broaden access to nationwide financing for underserved mid-market U.S. real estate owners through a new private credit program that combines capital for energy efficiency retrofits, advanced technical expertise, and first mortgage financing in a simplified way.
Climate First Bancorp Logo
Commercial Real Estate (CRE) stands at the intersection of need and opportunity. It is grappling with maturing debt, mounting regulatory requirements, and a growing threat of the "brown discount" negatively affecting the value of less sustainable assets. The CRE market is poised for a streamlined solution to finance future-looking building upgrades and new green construction refinancing. According to S&P Global, over $3.4 trillion in U.S. commercial real estate loans will mature between 2025 and 2027, many issued during periods of historically low interest rates. At the same time, 80% of existing U.S. buildings require retrofits to meet emerging decarbonization targets, according to a 2022 report by Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL). New regulations are ramping up enforcement on energy and carbon standards, often with financial penalties for non-compliance-further compounding the urgency for sustainable upgrades, regardless of sustainability goals of the property. For both highly levered recently completed green construction and buildings exposed to a brown discount risk, the need for flexible bridge capital persists.
SCP solves this mid-market borrower need by integrating climate risk expertise into every step of the loan origination and asset management process. This approach creates a scalable framework to tackle these critical challenges while driving the adoption of solutions that reduce carbon emissions and help future-proof each asset. SCP's loan process is designed to meet the borrower where they are. If they have an existing asset, SCP provides analysis of potential energy efficiency and resiliency projects that the borrower can implement to deliver cost savings and drive asset value with the proceeds from SCP loans. For already green assets, SCP provides a welcome source of flexible financing. Unlike single-purpose green financing, SCP offers an end-to-end solution with in-house technical advisory and flexible first mortgage capital all in one simple loan vehicle.
"Our goal at Conduit Capital is to develop unique solutions and operationalize them to bend the curve of climate change," said Robert Zulkoski, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Conduit Capital U.S. "The mortgage industry has a tremendous opportunity to catalyze the growth of U.S. building retrofitting. SCP will support improvements in energy efficiency, resiliency, and sustainability, and as a result increase the long-term value of the asset. SCP offers more than C-PACE can provide, in one streamlined package. We're excited to launch the SCP platform to open access to capital in a way that is cheaper, faster, and easier than other financing currently available, scaling energy efficiency and decarbonization across the built environment."
"Our team is thrilled about this partnership with SCP, which will enable CRE asset owners to reduce their operating expenses through flexible financing from a team experienced in green retrofit finance," said Chris Cucci, EVP and Chief Strategy Officer at Climate First Bank.
"GreenGen's technical expertise, coupled with our ability to engineer solutions that drive financial, and climate returns, uniquely positions us to transform middle-market properties. This partnership enables us to develop healthier communities while enhancing asset value and wealth in underserved markets," said Bradford Dockser, CEO and Co-Founder of GreenGen.
For more information, please visit www.scpcre.com or contact SCP at info@scpcre.com
About Conduit Capital US
Conduit Capital US (CCAP) is building a leading-edge multi-strategy impact investment manager. CCAP creates institutional equity and credit growth strategies for private capital to catalyze impact at scale by activating capital at scale, which achieve both social and environmental objectives and market-rate returns.
CCAP delivers these in two ways:
Innovation: as an incubator, manager and thought leader on forward-leaning impact investment solutions -both platforms and products.
Radical collaboration: working with ecosystem partners in the impact community and beyond.
About Climate First Bancorp:
Climate First Bancorp?is a financial holding company operating a values-based FDIC-insured bank (Climate First Bank) and a mission driven, Federal Reserve Bank-regulated fintech (OneEthos). Climate First Bancorp is committed to promoting environmental sustainability and social impact through finance. Climate First Bancorp is a Florida Legal Benefit Corporation, a Certified B Corp, and holds a carbon offset partnership with We Are Neutral. With a commitment to transparency, community engagement, and environmental stewardship, Climate First Bancorp is redefining the future of finance for a more sustainable tomorrow.
Climate First Bancorp reports annually on its impact in line with corporate social responsibility goals, read the most recent Impact Report here.
For more information, please visit: www.climatefirstbank.com
About GreenGen
Founded in 2011, GreenGen is a global leader in energy and sustainability solutions, empowering organizations to Operate in the Green®. With expertise integrating energy, real estate, capital markets, and technology, GreenGen transforms the built environment by implementing end-to-end decarbonization strategies that drive financial and environmental outcomes.
GreenGen's unique approach helps global real estate owners, investors, private equity firms, and governments achieve measurable results across diverse assets and verticals. The GreenGen team unites engineers, PhDs, MBAs, environmental experts, and associates across 10 countries in the Americas,?Europe,?Asia, and?India. GreenGen has completed projects in 25 countries to-date, leaving a tangible mark on the global landscape.
For more information, visit greengen.com.
Contact Information
John Collins
Collins Strategy Group
john@collinssg.com
(917) 496-4587
Rachel Kent
Marketing Director
rachel.kent@climatefirstbank.com
(518)669-3550
Katie O'Shea
Director of Marketing, GreenGen
media@greengen.com
SOURCE: Climate First Bank
Related Images
Sustainable Credit Partners Logo
GreenGen Logo
View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire:
https://www.accessnewswire.com/newsroom/en/banking-and-financial-services/green-lending-program-launched-to-tackle-energy-efficiency-financing-1047397
