The Affordable Community Energy Services Company (ACE) offering is now closed and is no longer accepting investments.

Affordable Community Energy Services Company (ACE)

Sustainability for Low-Income Housing

Regulation Crowdfunding
Chicago, IL
Environment
US Investors Only
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OUR MISSION

To bring environmental and financial sustainability to owners and residents of low-income housing.

And, in the process, provide a return to our social impact investors.

WHO WE ARE

Affordable Community Energy Services Company ("ACE") is a mission-driven, for-profit social enterprise. ACE brings broad-based energy efficiency, water conservation and renewable energy improvements to the vastly under-served owners and residents of low-income housing. And today—more than at any time in recent history—this is a mission facing daunting barriers! We need the support of social impact investors like you to help us overcome these barriers.

WHY ACE IS ESSENTIAL

Our Clients' Challenge

In our experience, owners of low-income housing often face three barriers to performing green retrofits at their properties:

  • They lack the available staff to initiate and perform the work
  • They lack the expertise to design the optimal solutions
    and to assess the risks
  • Most importantly, they can’t access the capital to pay for the work

This is the real value of ACE: providing the necessary capital to complete these improvements, which will be made easier through your investment in ACE.

ACE's Solution

To address these barriers, ACE:

  • Provides all of the resources and expertise necessary to perform these improvements
  • Assumes the risks of their performance
  • Provides 100% of the capital:
    • With no liability on owner for ACE financing
    • No mortgage on the owner’s real estate

To see the specific improvements that ACE might install, see the FAQ section.

WELCOME TO THE ACE FAMILY

Tropic Construction and eConserve were service partners with ACE management on past projects, but not yet with ACE.

INVESTMENT

The Investment

Class B Common Stock in ACE

Share price: $50

Minimum Investment: $250

When you invest you are betting the company’s future value will exceed $3,555,600 Million


Other Benefits of Investing

Helping to Keep Affordable Housing Affordable

Helping to Fight Climate Change

Preserving Natural Resources

Helping to Create Healthier and Safer Environments for Low-income 

Communities


At ACE, we are dedicated to help meet the serious challenges facing low-income housing communities and our planet.

Through the important work of ACE, we intend to make a significant social impact by:

  • Improving the quality-of-life in low-income communities.
  • Helping to protect the environment.
  • Providing shareholders with a positive financial return.

And we think that’s a lot of good!

WHY WE NEED YOU

Your investment is of great importance to the future of ACE and the people that we serve.


A critical step in ACE’s business model is to secure project loans, which will allow us to provide 100% of the capital required by our projects. These loans are not easy to obtain. Lenders must first be comfortable that the projected energy and water savings will be realized and then they must accept the fact that the assets securing the project loans are limited. We have convinced some lenders that the savings projections are reliable, but still might have to convince others, and we still must convince lenders that they would have adequate security. As a result, obtaining a project loan has proven to be even more difficult than we had anticipated and we have not yet been successful in obtaining a loan. Therefore, a key objective of this crowdfunding campaign is to create a stronger balance sheet for ACE to support the project loans necessary to grow the business.


The good news is that if we obtain a project loan of a sufficient size, we expect to be engaged by affiliates of Mercy Housing, Inc., a large developer and manager of affordable housing projects, for a project or multiple projects that would entail providing water- and energy-efficiency measures projected to generate substantial revenues over the next 10 years (see Next Up: Mercy Housing below).  In addition to helping to create a stronger balance sheet for ACE, your investment will help ACE to grow its team and reach out to more customers.


ACE IS A TRUE TRIPLE BOTTOM-LINE ENTERPRISE, INTENDING TO DELIVER BENEFITS TO LOW-INCOME HOUSING COMMUNITIES, OUR PLANET AND OUR INVESTORS.

1. Help Keep Affordable Housing

    Affordable.

Maintaining affordable* housing for seniors, disabled individuals and families with low income has always been a challenge. The National Low-income Housing Coalition estimates that the U.S. “has a shortage of 7.4 million affordable and available rental homes…resulting in 35 affordable and available units for every 100 [extremely low-income] households.” 

(Source: National Low Income Housing Coalition, the GAP Report - A Shortage of AffordableHomes, March 2017.)


Now, with the current political climate, that challenge is even greater. ACE’s work will provide critical and direct financial and other support to the owners of low-income housing and, to a certain extent, to its residents by reducing and controlling their utility costs.


This will help to:

  • Maintain the quality of existing low-income housing
  • Allow some owners to preserve existing affordable housing and reclaim market-rate housing for low-income housing by lowering projected operating costs
  • Provide tangible proof to low-income communities that people are investing in their homes—and in them.










2. Help Sustain Our Environment.

ACE's work reduces dangerous greenhouse gases (GHG) and preserves precious water resources, while creating a more healthful physical environment for the residents of the projects we improve. 


Through our energy efficiency and water conservation improvements our goal for a typical future project is to:

  • Reduce electricity consumption by 15-40%
  • Reduce natural gas consumption by 20-40%
  • Reduce water consumption by 25-60%

ACE's renewable improvements further reduce GHG

3. Achieve Targeted Sustainable Returns.

ACE intends to develop multiple sustainability projects. For each such project, ACE would expect to obtain revenue (which will vary from project to project) from some or all of the following sources:

  • A Developer's Fee targeted at 10% of total project costs
  • Contract Revenues over the term of an anticipated 10-year agreement consisting of:
    • A share of energy and water savings
    • Payments for onsite solar or cogeneration electricity production
    • Other subsidies made in certain states for solar production

(ACE will also receive one-time subsidies from state and utility incentive programs for energy efficiency improvements and Federal tax credits for its renewable improvements, which are used to reduce the capital costs of its projects.)

As an ACE investor:

  • The value of your investment will grow with ACE's success
  • As determined by ACE management and assuming ACE's future success, your return could eventually be in the form of:
    • Dividends declared at a later stage in the company’s development
    • Proceeds from a sale or recapitalization of ACE

*See the description of Risks in Offering Details below describing the relative possibility of the declaration of dividends or the sale of ACE.










THE MARKET SIZE

4.8 million Units

of low-income housing in U.S.

2.5 million Units

of low-income housing in ACE's target states

$19 million

ACE's potential revenues over 10 years

THE TARGET MARKET

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development ("HUD") subsidizes 4.8 million housing units for low-income families and individuals (source: "Federal Housing Assistance for Low-Income Households," Congressional Budget Office, September 2015). These subsidized units are what form ACE's initial market target.  However, many of these units are in states where either current utility costs or utility subsidies, or both, are too low to support ACE's broader-based scope of improvements.  Currently, ACE's modeling suggests that projects may be financially feasible in the following states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.  These target states collectively have approximately 2.5 million of the total units of HUD-subsidized housing (source: "National and State Housing Fact Sheets & Data," Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, August 2017).  If we are able to convince the owners of even 3% of these units to work with us, our internal financial models project total revenues over 10 years of approximately $19 million.  As technologies become more productive, utility costs rise and ACE's scale becomes larger, ACE is hopeful that it would be able to expand its service model to other states and to unsubsidized but "affordable" housing, serving low-income families and individuals.  

ALMOST NO ONE ELSE IS TAKING ON THE CHALLENGE

As important and potentially profitable as this work is, established energy services companies are paying little attention to this underserved, but significant, low-income housing market. ACE believes that these companies have decided that serving low-income housing is too difficult—because of complex governmental regulations and multiple stakeholders—and not as lucrative as it is for other building types. And, low-income housing owners, even those who have an environmental conscience and who want more efficient facilities, may lack the staff, expertise or capital to do it themselves.

“Using [HHDC's Energy Subsidiary's] innovative, mission-driven energy service company model, Continental Plaza’s building owner has been able to dramatically reduce the building’s energy and water costs with minimal upfront investments."                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  — Megan Houston, Institute for Market Transformation, April 2015

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

As far as we know, few if any people have applied an energy services model like ACE's to low-income housing to the same extent as Jeff Greenberger has while he was the COO in charge of the projects at HHDC. Mr. Greenberger, because of his experience and passion for the important mission of these projects received--together with other key members of the HHDC subsidiary and its strategic partners--the following recognition and awards for HHDC:


HUD Energy Innovation Fund Grant

Chicago 2015 Innovative Energy Efficiency Partnership of the Year (see quote below)

Enterprise Community Partners’ Clinton Global Initiative Commitment

Requests to speak at numerous national conferences


"The [Continental Plaza Retrofit Project] is well deserving of the Innovative Energy Efficiency Partnership award because they did not let lack of in-house personnel, expertise, or complexity of capital hinder the project from moving forward. They created a successful model comprised of the right stakeholders, in a manner that was off balance sheet for the owners of the project, and transferred risk of performance to make the project more palatable to owners."


                                           — The Retrofit Chicago’s Commercial Buildings Initiative Press Release



NEXT UP: MERCY HOUSING

This is not an, “if we build it they will come” situation.  


We have already gained approval in concept from Mercy Housing Inc.'s (“Mercy Housing”) Executive Leadership Team for a broad-based energy efficiency and water conservation retrofit project for most of the California multifamily housing portfolio owned by Mercy affiliates ("Mercy/ACE Portfolio Project"), subject to detailed audits and analysis, permitting, financing, final contracting and approvals. The Mercy/ACE Portfolio Project may include up to 110 properties and affect up to approximately 6,600 low-income families and individuals. (Mercy Housing, through its affiliates, is a national owner of low-income housing with approximately 20,000 units nationally.)


ACE has already substantially completed a pilot for Mercy Housing involving six of its properties, using subsidies from the California Low-Income Weatherization Program ("LIWP Project").  ACE has also completed the audit, analysis and design stages for work at six additional Mercy Housing properties ("Phase 2") and has just begun installation of these improvements for completion by the end of 2017. As the improvements at these twelve properties go on-line, ACE expects to begin to generate revenue and to be able to assess the accuracy of our projections for future work. Our legal rights relating to the work at these twelve properties are documented in Utility Savings Agreements ("USA's") signed with the special purpose entities ("SPE's") that own each individual property. Mercy Housing is either the controlling general partner or the sole owner of these SPE's, but it has not guaranteed the SPE's performance.  


We are pursuing the financing for this project and have targeted completion of the project by late 2018/early 2019. Note, the financing for the Mercy/ACE Portfolio Project, which is essential to its commencement, has not been obtained; this represents a significant risk to your investment.  (See the Risks section in Offering Details below.)

“What ACE offers that other companies lack are transparency, full-service, one stop shop offerings, shared savings, payments based on actual performance and experience and focus on affordable housing. I can’t emphasize how important ACE’s experience is in multi-family affordable housing. It’s a complicated world to navigate. That, along with other features, makes it . . . a clear choice for Mercy Housing."                                                                                                                                                                                                  — Caitlin Rood, National Sustainability Director of Mercy Housing

OUR POTENTIAL FOR GROWTH

The Company believes that there is pent-up demand for its services and that, if it is able to identify sufficient and reliable sources of project capital on terms acceptable to the Company, it will be able to sign agreements with other customers like Mercy Housing. 

The projections above are based on the following major assumptions (which may or may not prove to be accurate):

  • We are able to finance and complete the Mercy/ACE Portfolio Project.
  • We are able to sign one more agreement with owners for energy efficiency retrofit projects of 5,000 units in 2018 and agreements of at least 10,000 units each year for the following 4 years starting in 2019.
  • We do not encounter competition or resistance from potential customers that would cause our fees or percentage of customer energy or water saving to be reduced.
  • Energy and water rates grow at approximately 2 to 3% per year.
  • Our energy efficiency, water conservation and renewable energy project installation costs and actual operating, maintenance and capital replacement costs are consistent with our projected costs.
  • There is no increase in our financing costs.
  • In the states where ACE intends to pursue projects, there is no termination of energy efficiency programs that provide subsidies of the type used by the Company and no decrease in the current rates or funding of subsidies for such programs.
  • The Federal Investment Tax Credits that support solar developments remain in place and generally available and the Federal Tax Code and other economic factors are such that the value of the tax credits remain at least equal to current values
  • .

As you can see from these projections, ACE is an operating company that we hope will deliver strong returns and steady growth. We do not expect to provide the kinds of multiple returns that, say, a breakthrough technology company might provide.  


These projections and statements of expectations are forward-looking statements and, as such, are highly uncertain. See the discussion of Risks in Offering Details below for further information on risks that may cause the forward-looking statements above to prove to be inaccurate.

WE RECOGNIZE GOOOD WHEN WE SEE IT

We want to thank you, if you choose to be one of our investors, for putting your money where your values are—particularly our early investors and our large investors. Here are our gifts to you for becoming part of the ACE family:

  • The First 100 Investors Investing at Least $500 apiece:
    • $2/$100 Invested 
  • The Super-Investors Who Invest More Than $5,000 apiece: 
    • For an investment of between $5,000 and $9,999, $1/$100 Invested
    • For an investment of between $10,000 and $19,999, $2/$100 Invested
    • For an investment equal to or greater than $20,000, $3/$100 Invested

Credits can be used as follows:

  • Taken as a discount against your investment amount
  • Left in ACE to help it support low-income housing communities and to protect the planet

All Investors will:

  • Be recognized on the Wall of GOOOD for adding positive social impact for low-income communities and our planet to their investment portfolio. This honored wall of Do-GOOODers will be maintained on the ACE Website.  (Note, we will not include your name without your approval.)
  • Receive a GOOOD to the Power of ThreeTM Certificate of Recognition for being socially responsible investors.

*All perks occur after the offering is completed.  In fact, we will not be allowed to communicate with you, even to thank you (other than through the general Comments section) until after the offering is completed and closed.  But know that we thank you for your investment in the meantime.  

FAQ

What is the difference between “Affordable” housing and “Low-income” housing and which does ACE serve?


We use these terms interchangeably. “Affordable” housing is an industry term used to mean government subsidized housing for individuals and families whose income falls below levels that make quality housing otherwise unaffordable. The subsidies are either project-based support (tax credits or low-interest loans to reduce the cost of the housing to the developer) or tenant-based support (direct subsidies to the residents). ACE is not currently pursuing a third category of affordable housing, which is government-owned public housing, where residents live rent-free.  

Who is your competition?



We know of only two organizations that make providing broad-based sustainability services to affordable housing a priority: Commons Energy in Vermont and Elevate in Illinois. Having these two excellent organizations pursuing the same objectives is a good thing for ACE because this competition should attract more capital to our market. There could be others of which we are not aware, and there are many other service providers who market more limited services to affordable housing including lighting, specific efficiency projects and renewable energy and, in some cases, they will finance the improvements.

What are your plans for growing the ACE team?


As we add projects and expand our business development efforts, we will need additional staff. It is our intention to continue to stay as lean as possible until we believe that the level of work is sufficiently large and predictable to support additional full-time employees. Until then, we will continue to use the variable resources of our strategic partners, Bright Power, Inc. and dbHMS, and the resources of other service providers whom we either know or will have vetted adequately. Our first new hire will most likely be an experienced project manager with some expertise in sustainable technology.

Why don’t the owners of low-income housing do this work themselves?


Most non-profit owners of affordable housing are resource-strapped. In our experience, members of their staff typically work extremely hard to perform their core functions, so it’s difficult for them then to add the evaluation, installation and management of new green improvements to their “day jobs.” In addition, they may lack the internal expertise to assess and assume the risks associated with the performance of these improvements.

Ultimately a major barrier preventing them from doing this work is the difficulty of obtaining the capital necessary to pay for the improvements. To our understanding this is true for several reasons:

  • Their annual budgeting process limits them to making improvements that can pay for themselves during that budget year, which eliminates most measures.
  • By the nature of the governmental regulations to which they are subject, they typically cannot accumulate the reserves necessary to pay for these improvements from cash.
  • It is difficult for them to borrow new money because existing partners and lenders do not want their positions disturbed by new money.

Confronted by these barriers and faced with the ongoing challenge of maintaining affordable housing—and without the assistance of ACE or a similar provider—they may choose to do nothing

What effect will the current Administration in Washington have on ACE’s business?


The answer to this question is different for our energy efficiency and water conservation work, on the one hand, and our renewable energy improvements, on the other.


Fortunately, when it comes to energy efficiency and water conservation, the states and local utilities are the drivers of sustainability and the source for most of the meaningful financial subsidies. Progressive states like California, New York, as well as a number of states in New England, Mid-Atlantic and Upper Midwest have for the most part maintained or increased their announced support of sustainability. These are the states that ACE is targeting, so ACE doesn't expect the policies that may be adopted by the Federal government to have a material impact on the financial subsidies supporting its energy efficiency and water conservation work.  


The answer is different for our renewable strategies. Historically, renewable improvements were only possible with the financial subsidies coming from Federal tax credits. These tax credits were renewed with bipartisan support in 2015 and many observers believe they will not be repealed. However, the current Administration and members of Congress have announced their hope to reduce the maximum corporate tax rate from 35% to 15%. If this were to happen the proceeds from the tax credits would be reduced proportionately (e.g., by 58%) or, even worse, the corporations, who are the primary investors in these credits, would conclude that they weren’t worth the trouble and would no longer invest in the credits at all. Thus, one of the important sources of capital used by ACE to pay for renewable systems would either be materially reduced or eliminated altogether. However, the productivity of solar panels and other renewable systems has been improving at such a rapid rate that we can reasonably hope for a time in the near future when Federal subsidies may not be required to make renewable systems financially feasible.

What kind of retrofit improvements do you install at the properties?


We start out with the goal of installing as much energy efficiency, water conservation and renewable energy improvements as is technically and financially feasible. Currently, there are limits to what we can afford to do. However, our approach of using improvements with faster paybacks (like lighting, water conservation and controls) to, in a sense, subsidize important measures with longer paybacks, allows us to do a broader scope of improvements than is typical. We call this the “Whole Tree” approach, as opposed to a more typical “Low-hanging Fruit” approach.

The measures that we are often able to install include the following:

  • Energy-efficiency lighting and lighting controls
  • Low-flow faucets, shower-heads and toilets (we also focus very closely on leak detection and prevention)
  • Energy-efficient domestic hot water heaters
  • Building and system controls
  • Insulation and air-sealing
  • Recommissioning (making sure that all existing equipment is properly tuned and maintained and being operated correctly)
  • Repiping
  • Renewable energy systems, typically solar photovoltaic panels (that produce electricity) and solar thermal panels (that reduce the need for natural gas and/or electricity to heat or cool the properties)

Other site-specific improvements are often found as we perform detailed audits and analyses.

How does ACE intend to grow its business?


During his years working on this model, first as part of a subsidiary of Hispanic Housing Development Corporation and now at ACE, Jeff Greenberger has had discussions with a number of national and regional owners of affordable housing about working with ACE. There is an increasing interest by many of these owners in exploring how they might work with ACE. Because of the limited size and resources of ACE and the importance of successfully launching and implementing the Mercy/ACE Portfolio Project, we have not advanced these discussions, choosing instead to focus on getting the Mercy Housing project moving. As soon as we know that the installation of the Mercy Housing improvements is well underway, we will actively pursue these other identified opportunities in person and expand our business development activities in general.

 

Our business development strategy, beyond contacting our key prospects, will include:

  • Continuing to work with our partners, particularly Bright Power, Inc., in reaching out to their existing and prospective customers.
  • Expanding our efforts with the significant groups supporting affordable housing, including the Stewards for Affordable Housing’s Future (“SAHF”), NeighborWorks, the Department of Energy/HUD Better Building Challenge Participants, Local Initiatives Support Services (“LISC”) and Enterprise Community Partners, among others.
  • Continuing to speak at conferences and place articles in publications designed to reach affordable housing owners.

We also hope that investors and others visiting this site will share our mission and value proposition with any owners of affordable housing that they may know

Where does ACE stand in seeking a loan for the Mercy/ACE Portfolio Project?


We have spoken to a large number of possible lenders without success. However, ACE is in active discussion with two potential mission-driven lenders and remains optimistic that a loan will be secured from one of them (or from one of the other potential funders with whom we have had more preliminary discussions). Jeff Greenberger, an ACE principal, intends to loan funds to the Company for immediate needs of the next phase of work within the Mercy/ACE Portfolio Project (Phase 2 comprised of six properties), unless and until a project loan is obtained. Mr. Greenberger intends to be repaid these and other project-related advances provided by him at such time as ACE receives funds from a loan. These project-related advances are currently estimated to become approximately $128,000. If a project loan is not obtained, Mr. Greenberger may or may not seek repayment for these advances from the proceeds of this Offering. 

ACE continues to explore a number of other avenues to finance the project and may use proceeds of this campaign to pay for portions of the Mercy/ACE Portfolio Project as it works to find a third-party financial partner that will provide a project loan

What were the reasons for the separation of the ACE mission from Hispanic Housing Development Corporation?


Early in 2012, Hispanic Housing Development Corporation (“HHDC”), a non-profit owner and manager of affordable housing, formed an energy efficiency subsidiary, Affordable Community Energy, Inc. (“HHDC Energy Subsidiary”)—which is not the same as ACE, the company engaged in this offering of Class B Common Stock. The goal of HHDC, which was generously supported by an Energy Innovation Fund grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”), was to determine whether a replicable, sustainable business model could be developed to provide broad-based efficiency, conservation and renewable improvements to affordable housing owners. The HHDC Energy Subsidiary used the HHDC portfolio of properties to prove the financial and technical elements of a viable business model. During the four years of its existence, the HHDC Energy Subsidiary completed more than $10 million of improvements across the HHDC portfolio.


In early 2016, once the model proved successful, HHDC and Jeff Greenberger recognized that HHDC’s primary mission was the development and ownership of affordable housing and not sustainability. In addition, Mr. Greenberger recognized that he could execute the original business strategy more organically as a stand-alone business. As a result, ACE was formed on July 1, 2016 as a totally separate entity to carry on the mission of the HHDC Energy Subsidiary.


HHDC invested substantial capital and time in the creation of HHDC Energy Subsidiary. Much of that investment has been repaid by the performance of the improvements made at the HHDC portfolio and the remainder is expected to be repaid through HHDC Energy Subsidiary’s share of savings and the revenue from the renewable electricity being produced on-site. The Company has no obligations to HHDC. From HHDC’s viewpoint the efforts that led to "proof of concept" for ACE were a success

How do you measure savings in water and energy?


ACE is compensated for the value of the reduction in consumption of energy and water as a result of its improvements. This value is calculated according to the following formula:


(Base Year Consumption–Performance Year Consumption) x Utility Rate = Savings


  • Base Year Consumption means the consumption of electricity, natural gas and water in the period before ACE makes its improvements. Before we make improvements for any customer, we obtain a reliable baseline of its pre-improvement consumption of electricity, natural gas and water from their prior utility bills for a period of between 12-18 months. However, to make sure that we don’t realize windfall savings or suffer unfair comparisons, the Base Year will be adjusted as appropriate to reflect differences in temperatures, use and occupancy from year to year.
  • Performance Year Consumption means the consumption reported in these same utilities’ bills after our improvements have been installed.
  • Utility Rate means the rate charged from time to time by the electricity, natural gas or water provider. Thus, as rates rise, the value of ACE’s share of the Savings will increase.

NEXT STEPS

If we have your attention, here are some next steps you can take:

  • Please be sure to review carefully the other sections, particularly the Risks section in Offering Details below.

  • If you have further questions or comments, please leave them on the Comments page.

We hope to welcome you soon as part of the ACE family!

In the Press

Show More
Multifamily Housing at Continental Plaza, Chicago
April 1, 2015

Continental Plaza is an example of how energy and water upgrades can help preserve affordable housing while reducing carbon emissions and conserving natural resources. Using ACE, Inc.’s innovative, mission-driven energy service company model, Continental Plaza reduced its annual utility costs by over $47,000 under the shared-savings agreement—a 15 percent utility cost reduction. A building owner who receives all of the energy and water cost savings could have seen its 2014 utilities reduced by as much as $109,282. (Note: ACE Inc. was the Hispanic Housing Development Corporation subsidiary that pioneered ACE’s model and of which Jeff Greenberger was COO at the time.)

Clean Energy for Resilient Communities: Expanding Solar Generation in Baltimore’s Low‐Income Neighborhoods
February 1, 2014

ACE Inc., the Hispanic Housing Development Corporation subsidiary that pioneered ACE’s model and of which Jeff Greenberger was COO at the time, was referred to as an example of Raising Equity Investment for Solar in Affordable Housing.

Financing Green Retrofits for Affordable Housing
October 27, 2014

Jeff Greenberger, as COO of ACE Inc., the Hispanic Housing Development Corporation subsidiary that pioneered ACE’s model, spoke at a Greenbuild panel titled “Financing Green Retrofits for Affordable Housing: A Polyphonic View”, and presented how ACE Inc. retrofitted a 1,174-unit portfolio serving seniors, the disabled and families.

Retrofit Chicago Commercial Buildings Initiative Recognizes Energy Efficiency Leaders Across the City
October 21, 2015

ACE Inc, the Hispanic Housing Development Corporation subsidiary that pioneered ACE’s model and of which Jeff Greenberger was the COO at the time, received retrofit Chicago Innovative Partnership of the Year award.

Developers seek resilient financing for resilient housing
March 19, 2015

ACE Inc., the Hispanic Housing Development Corporation subsidiary that pioneered ACE’s model and of which Jeff Greenberger was COO at the time, had developed a systematic approach to funding clean energy retrofits.

A Green New World Encouraging Eco-Friendly Behavior in Your Community
September 1, 2015

Jeff Greenberger, as COO of ACE Inc., the Hispanic Housing Development Corporation subsidiary that pioneered ACE’s model, talked about how building green committees could encourage eco-friendly behaviors of the residents.

Improving Efficiency: Affordable Housing Owners Use Different Approaches on Energy and Water Retrofit Projects (NH&RA)
November 1, 2014

Benchmarking: What It Is, Why it’s Important, and How People Are Using It
February 1, 2015

Financing Renewables in Multifamily - Better Buildings Challenge
May 27, 2016

Jeff Greenberger, as COO of ACE Inc., the Hispanic Housing Development Corporation subsidiary that pioneered ACE’s model, addressed on the Economics of Solar ESCOs at a webinar hosted by U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

Made to Fit: How Paid-From-Savings Projects Can Work for Small Organizations, Too
February 7, 2017

Jeff Greenberger, as COO of ACE Inc., the Hispanic Housing Development Corporation subsidiary that pioneered ACE’s model, spoke at a webinar hosted by U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

2016 ACEEE Energy Efficiency Finance Forum
May 24, 2016

Jeff Greenberger, as COO of ACE Inc., the Hispanic Housing Development Corporation subsidiary that pioneered ACE’s model, participated in a panel discussion titled Financial Product Innovation: Maturing Products and Growing Demand.

Preservation Through Energy Efficiency Road Show
September 29, 2015

Jeff Greenberger, as COO of ACE Inc., the Hispanic Housing Development Corporation subsidiary that pioneered ACE’s model, participated in a panel discussion titled Evaluating Retrofit Financing Options.

Solar on Affordable Housing: Business Development Opportunity
June 2, 2015

Jeff Greenberger, as COO of ACE Inc., the Hispanic Housing Development Corporation subsidiary that pioneered ACE’s model, spoke at the webinar about innovative ways to finance clean energy.

Greenbuild International Conference and Expo 2014
October 22, 2014

At this panel discussion, Jeff Greenberger, as COO of ACE Inc., the Hispanic Housing Development Corporation subsidiary that pioneered ACE’s model, described how a mission-driven energy solution company can be a source for the payment of all of the costs of a comprehensive energy and water efficiency retrofit.

2014 BUILDINGChicago/Greening the Heartland Sessions
September 1, 2014

Jeff Greenberger, as COO of ACE Inc., the Hispanic Housing Development Corporation subsidiary that pioneered ACE’s model, addressed on the topic of Harvesting the Whole Tree: Comprehensive Sustainability Services for Affordable Multifamily Housing Properties.

Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities GREEN Working Group Convening
November 27, 2012

Jeff Greenberger, as COO of ACE Inc., the Hispanic Housing Development Corporation subsidiary that pioneered ACE’s model, spoke about innovative financing models.

Offering Summary

Maximum 20,000  shares of Class B Common Stock ($1,000,000)

Minimum 200 shares of Class B Common Stock ($10,000)


Company
Affordable Community Energy Services Company
 

Corporate Address
180 N. Michigan Avenue, Suite 2405, Chicago, IL 60601
 

Description of Business
An energy services company (ESCO) providing broad-based energy efficiency, water conservation and renewable energy retrofit improvements to the owners of multifamily low-income ("affordable") housing.
 

Type of Security Offered
Shares of Class B Common Stock (the "Shares", or the "Securities")
 
Purchase Price of Security Offered
$50
 

Minimum Investment Amount (per investor)
$250











Unless required by applicable law, no holder of Class B Common Stock shall have any voting right or power in respect of Class B Common Stock, and no holder of Class B Common Stock shall be entitled in respect of Class B Common Stock to notice of any stockholders’ meeting; provided, that no amendment of the Second Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation of the Company (the “Restated Articles”) that adversely affects the rights of holders of Class B Common Stock as set forth in  Article 5 of the Restated Articles of Incorporation (other than any amendment that proportionally affects the rights of holders of the Class A Common Stock in the same manner) shall become effective unless it shall have been approved by vote of holders of more than 50% of all outstanding shares of Class B Common Stock, voting as a separate class on the basis of one vote per share of Class B Common Stock held.

If ACE completes this offering of shares of Class B Common Stock with the sale of the minimum number of the shares of this offering (200 shares), then ACE will at the time of the completion of the offering have the following capital structure:

Class A Common Stock (voting): 45,000 shares owned directly and indirectly (through Greenberger Holding LLC) by Jeffrey Greenberger and his spouse.

Class B Common Stock (non-voting): 200 shares to be owned by purchasers in this offering

Convertible Note Holders: 4,712 shares of Class A Common Stock issuable on conversion of notes owned by prior investors

Irregular Use of Proceeds

The Company might incur Irregular Use of Process that may include Salary and other personnel-related payments to its President, repayments of project-related advances made by the President, payments for marketing and strategic advisory services to the President’s brother and to repay the principal and interest due on a portion of the Convertible Promissory Notes that have been purchased by relatives of the President and Madelyn Greenberger, his spouse. See Related Party Transactions above.
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Most recent fiscal year-end:
Prior fiscal year-end:
Total Assets
$61,774.00 USD
$0.00 USD
Cash And Cash Equivalents
$61,774.00 USD
$0.00 USD
Accounts Receivable
$0.00 USD
$0.00 USD
Short Term Debt
$6,601.00 USD
$0.00 USD
Long Term Debt
$98,845.00 USD
$0.00 USD
Revenues And Sales
$0.00 USD
$0.00 USD
Costs Of Goods Sold
$73,706.00 USD
$0.00 USD
Taxes Paid
$0.00 USD
$0.00 USD
Net Income
-$73,706.00 USD
$0.00 USD

Risks

A crowdfunding investment involves risk. You should not invest any funds in this offering unless you can afford to lose your entire investment. In making an investment decision, investors must rely on their own examination of the issuer and the terms of the offering, including the merits and risks involved. These securities have not been recommended or approved by any federal or state securities commission or regulatory authority. Furthermore, these authorities have not passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of this document. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission does not pass upon the merits of any securities offered or the terms of the offering, nor does it pass upon the accuracy or completeness of any offering document or literature. These securities are offered under an exemption from registration; however, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has not made an independent determination that these securities are exempt from registration.

Updates

Don't Miss the Day

over 1 year ago

Dear investors and followers,


We are approaching the end of ACE's crowdfunding campaign! This is your last chance to be part of ACE’s mission to help low-income housing communities and the planet.

ACE is more than thankful for your emotional support, yet we do hope to get your monetary investment, too. As we continue with the $6 million project with Mercy Housing in the coming year and expect a financial return, a substantial working capital would help us to make sure that we deliver the best service. This means that every investment you make would be of great value to ACE and our mission!

Please take this last chance and invest in ACE today.

We appreciate your help.


Sincerely,

The ACE Team

Time is running out. Invest in ACE now!

over 1 year ago

Dear StartEngine Followers,


Thank you for being a part of ACE's crowdfunding campaign over the past few months. We are heartened by your interest in improving lives for low-income communities and for protecting our environment—which, as you know, is at the heart of ACE's work. We are closing our campaign in TWO days! That’s two days left for you to invest in ACE and put your money where your values are!

As a mission-driven energy services company providing comprehensive green retrofits to low-income housing, ACE has completed important work over the past few years. Happily, ACE just obtained a commitment for a $3 million financing commitment for our $6 million California project. But it has been a long haul and we still need to increase our working and growth capital. We hope you will continue to be part of the ACE family. Your support, both emotionally and monetarily, is greatly appreciated. Our minimum investment amount is only $250, but please give more if you can. 

Feel free to leave us a comment if you have any questions.

ACE appreciates your support.

 

Sincerely,

The ACE Team

ACE secured $3 million loan to proceed with the Mercy Project

over 1 year ago

Dear investors and followers,


We have tremendous news to report: ACE has found its financial partner! As a result, we will be able to deliver meaningful sustainable benefits to approximately 6,000 units of low-income housing and the odds that this investment will be financially rewarding have greatly increased.

The Loan Committee of the Reinvestment Fund has approved a $3 million loan to ACE that will allow us to complete the comprehensive retrofit of approximately 90 multifamily affordable housing properties owned by Mercy Housing in California.

This loan approval will have several game-changing impacts:

  • Reinvestment Fund is making this loan in part because it believes that this will be a new line of business; it is not only prepared, but expecting, to make additional loans to ACE for future projects. It appears that we have finally found our “checkbook.”
  • ACE will be receiving substantial and sustainable revenue generated by the Mercy Project.
  • Obtaining this loan and the long-term commitment from Reinvestment Fund substantially reduces the risks associated with your investment in ACE.
  • By completing this loan and commencing the Mercy Project, ACE will have demonstrated to other owners of multifamily affordable housing that ACE can deliver, which will make future business development easier.

We are extremely excited about 2018 and beyond as a result of this news. For those of you who have invested in ACE, we thank you for your support; we couldn’t have gotten here without you. And for those of you who haven't, we welcome you to be part of ACE's future. Please consider investing in ACE and share this opportunity with people who have the same passion as us. We appreciate your help.

For more details about the loan approval, please read at www.affordablecommunityenergyservices.com/unique-3-million-loan-benefits-low-income-families-environment/.


Sincerely,

ACE Team


ACE Joins DOE Residential Network

over 1 year ago

Happy New Year investors!


At the beginning of this year, ACE has a list of exciting news to share with you. And here is the first one:


ACE has become a new member of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Better Buildings Residential Network, which connects energy efficiency programs and partners to share best practices and learn from one another to increase the number of homes that are energy efficient.


ACE will benefit immediately by receiving access to monthly topical calls with peers about residential energy efficiency strategies. Calls have discussed business partners and workforce development, marketing and outreach, evaluation and data collection, financing, moderate- and low-income markets, and so on.


Joining the Network will provide ACE more opportunities to establish itself in the energy efficiency industry and to jointly work with other organizations to make affordable housing affordable and the planet livable.


For more details, please read the press release at: https://www.affordablecommunityenergyservices.com/affordable-community-energy-services-company-joins-doe-residential-network/

Notice of Funds Disbursement

over 1 year ago

[The following is an automated notice from the StartEngine team].

Hello!

As you might know, Affordable Community Energy Services Company (ACE) has exceeded its minimum funding goal. When a company reaches its minimum on StartEngine, it's about to begin withdrawing funds. If you invested in Affordable Community Energy Services Company (ACE) be on the lookout for an email that describes more about the disbursement process.


This campaign will continue to accept investments until its indicated closing date.


Thanks for funding the future.

-StartEngine

We reached our minimum funding goal!

over 1 year ago

Recently, with the help of our investors, we passed our initial goal of $10,000! We thank you for supporting our mission.

Still there's plenty of work to do.

If you haven't invested yet, please consider doing so.

If you have invested, please spread the words for us and urge your friends to do so, too.

Doing good to the low-income housing communities and our environment requires a lot more than what we have now.

And there are less than 2 months left for our campaign.

We need your help more than ever!

ACE is making exciting progress and calling for more support!

almost 2 years ago

Welcome to our new investors and followers. To all of you, thank-you for supporting ACE’s mission to help low-income housing communities and to protect the environment!  Now that you are part of ACE's movement, we want to keep you updated on our work:

•  Crowdfunding Progress, but a Long Way to Go.  After launching our crowdfunding campaign, we've received additional investments and commitments of almost $20,000 from more than 15 investors. We are still waiting for some investors to finalize their investments on the StartEngine platform, but with all the commitments, we are exceeding the minimum funding goal set with the platform. But this was an arbitrary minimum, we have as our goal to raise between $200,000 and $500,000 to provide the additional liquidity that will be required as ACE moves on to new projects.

•   Term Sheet with A Project Lender. The good news is that we have signed a Term Sheet with the Reinvestment Fund to provide the project loan for the $5.5 million Mercy California Project.  While we still have details to iron out, RF is aiming for a loan committee meeting in late November.  We are working diligently, and hope to close the loan by early in 2018.

•   More Visibility for ACE’s Work.  ACE has been cited as an industry pioneer, tapping into social impact investors like you to help fund energy efficiency for low-income housing. Check out the press coverage here.

We are very positive about our progress in our core business and in the preliminary results of our crowdfunding campaign, but we still have an urgent need to raise additional funds to provide the liquidity required to strengthen ACE’s balance sheet. This will help us reach more low-income individuals and families and to grow our business.

Please join us in the cause and share your support with those whom you think our mission might resonate. And if you haven’t yet invested, please do so now.

Thank you for being part of GOOOD to the Power of ThreeTM.

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