Washington, D.C. – June 22, 2023 – Galvanize Climate Solutions (“Galvanize”), the climate-focused global investment firm, today announced a partnership with leading climate change strategic advisory and government affairs firm, Boundary Stone Partners (“BSP”), and the launch of SCALE (Scaling Communities’ Ability to Leverage Energy Efficiency & Electrification). Initiated by Galvanize’s recently launched sustainable real estate strategy, Galvanize Real Estate (“GRE”), and built by BSP, SCALE is a proprietary tool designed to help take advantage of financial incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and accelerate decarbonization. SCALE will support GRE as it aims to achieve a net-zero portfolio and can be applied to stakeholders across the real estate industry who are looking to translate and implement tax credits and funding for climate-aligned capital improvements.
The IRA provides $280 billion in incentives for clean energy technology and building improvements, and aims to reduce the 40% of annual global CO2 emissions generated by the built environment. In order to capitalize on these opportunities, however, real estate investors and developers must be able to unpack numerous complex guidelines posed by the IRA. To streamline this process, SCALE identifies the eligible incentives and offers a quick and easy way to determine qualifications and provide relevant detail on each provision. By enabling GRE to utilize the tax credits, rebates and other incentives from the IRA, SCALE can allow GRE, and the broader real estate industry, to accelerate investments in renewable energy, high-efficiency heating and cooling, and whole-building retrofits.
“We believe that climate change will be one of the most consequential secular trends in the U.S. real estate market for decades to come, and the passage of the IRA is a tremendous tailwind for efforts in real estate and beyond,” said Joseph Sumberg, Managing Partner & Head of Galvanize Real Estate. “As we execute on our strategy to decarbonize real estate, SCALE is a critical resource to help us unlock clean energy advancements and material operational savings. We are grateful for the partnership and knowledge transfer from Boundary Stone Partners, and we hope the creation of this tool will help to pave the way for others in the real estate industry to leverage opportunities provided by the IRA and accelerate decarbonization in the built environment.”
SCALE follows the launch of GRE, a sustainable real estate strategy that aims to invest in and decarbonize real estate, while improving cash flow and increasing asset value, earlier this year. The strategy aims to leverage a proprietary sustainability framework based on decades of experience in real estate, risk management and sustainable practices in the built environment, alongside Galvanize’s in-house experts in science, technology, policy and market development. As a first-of-its-kind strategy, GRE also aims to deliver on intended impact and go well beyond existing industry commitments by tying its sustainability goals to compensation. SCALE will help GRE to tap into the many benefits of the IRA and aim to support GRE across its investments.
“Less than a year since the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, Boundary Stone is laser-focused on helping companies and investors deploy clean energy to reduce climate pollution by tapping into the strongest climate investments in U.S. history,” said Udai Rohatgi, Partner, Boundary Stone Partners and former senior staff at the U.S. Department of Energy. “We’re thrilled to partner with Galvanize Real Estate on their sustainable real estate strategy that aims to significantly reduce carbon emissions and lower energy bills all while improving comfort and creating jobs in the building sector.”
About Galvanize Climate Solutions
Galvanize Climate Solutions (“Galvanize”) is a climate-focused global investment firm with the objective of delivering capital and expertise to accelerate climate solutions. Founded by Katie Hall and Tom Steyer, Galvanize’s investment strategies span across asset classes including venture capital and growth equity, public equities, and real estate. We integrate expertise across investment, climate impact, market development, talent, technology, and policy with the aim of driving material climate impact and creating long-term value for our investors.
About Boundary Stone Partners
Boundary Stone Partners is the premier government affairs firm focused on climate change. BSP’s mission is to facilitate engagement between the federal government and its clients such as energy and climate tech companies, NGOs, investors, and industry coalitions to reach net zero emissions as quickly as possible. The firm brings deep bipartisan experience in the executive branch, on Capitol Hill, and in the private sector to work on public policy design, government affairs and lobbying, stakeholder management, strategic communications and regulatory and political intelligence.