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Santa Barbara NonProfit Realty
updated: May 28, 2011, 8:45 AM
Santa Barbara NonProfit Realty was created for and is dedicated to equipping
schools with photovoltaic (solar) energy to the greatest capacity each campus
can physically host in an effort to reduce or even eliminate their electricity
costs and, ergo, stretch their budget dollars. And we pay for this by having
each real estate agent involved (such as myself) forego half his/her standard
commission and instead channel it directly from escrow into each participating
school's Solar on Schools fund.
Less than a week old now, SBNPR is presently endorsed on a trial basis by the
Santa Barbara School Districts to use Peabody Charter Elementary as the
endeavor's "pilot" project. Then, if all goes well, SBNPR will expand the
program throughout the District, and hopefully, success willing, to every
school, public and private, throughout Santa Barbara County!
Ideally each school or district (or private "angels"} will collateralize the
California Energy Commission loan (a 1% ten-year loan) for their own
installations, with the diverted real estate commissions then paying all
interest and principle costs on the loans. Hence, no costs to the schools at
all.
Another possibility is to engage companies who might need "carbon credits" (such
as any of the oil companies with rigs out in the Santa Babara Channel) to either
provide the loan collateral or matching funds in exchange for the "cap-and-
trade" carbon credits earned through our solar installations on the schools.
And yet another exciting possibility on the horizon comes with "feed-in
tariffs," which would allow schools (or even private homes) to actually get paid
by electric companies for any surplus renewable energy they produce. Currently
producers of surplus renewable energy can only hope to zero-out their utility
bills. But if and when "feed-in tariff" legislation does indeed come to
fruition, schools could conceivably become small generation plants by
installing, say, twice the PV panels they need to cover their own usage. Each
school could then enjoy hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra revenues paid
back to them from the electric companies, especially over the summer months when
the sun-baked schools sit largely idle. This not only would be a "win" for the
cash-strapped schools, but also for the municipalities served since the city's
tax burden would be reduced by not having to "foot" their schools' electricity
bills. And the program would even help the electric companies by generating
clean, green energy for the gride, thereby reducing those utility companied need
to build addition fossil fuel generation facilities as demand for power grows.
Verily a win-win-win scenario!!!
"Case in point: Just last year both Al Gore and George Lucas purchased homes
(for $8.2m and $18m respectively) here in the Santa Barbara/Montecito area. Had
SBNPR been in business then, and had Al and George used it as their real estate
agent, up to two schools could have been equipped with enough solar panels to
completely cover their electricity usage, the savings from which could have gone
a long ways towards the refunding of slashed programs or the hiring back of
laid-off staff. And that's just with two measly transactions!" says Santa
Barbara NonProfit Realty founder and Chair, Robert Johnson.
And as if the "good karma" reasons for choosing Santa Barbara NonProfit Realty
wasn't enough, it turns out there is also a financial incentive. This comes by
way of SBNPR being a bona fide 501(c)3, which allows sellers, and possibly even
buyers, to "write-off" nearly half of their commission costs as a charitable
donation.
There is also the opportunity for local banks to use SBNPR to handle their
foreclosures. Currently, 31% of real estate transactions in Santa Barbara
County involve "distressed" properties. Were a bank to use SBNPR for those
transactions, it might go a long way towards repairing its tarnished image by
being able to claim, appropriately, they are putting money back into the
community through the Solar on Schools program.
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