Alachua County Energy Efficiency Program

The following upgrades are allowable expenses under this program. You may choose to accept between $5,000 and $15,000 to improve your unit (see more information on how the amount impacts your affordability commitment below).

Envelope Upgrades

• Wall insulation. Add insulation to building walls. Preference is given if post-implementation R-value exceeds the current building energy code minimum.
• Attic/Roof/Ceiling insulation. Add insulation to building attic/roof/ceiling. Preference is given if post-implementation R-value exceeds the current building energy code minimum.
• Underfloor insulation. Add or repair underfloor insulation.
• Air sealing. Seal air leaks with fire caulk to reduce air infiltration. Includes caulking, weather stripping, and sealing around doors, windows, and other locations of uncontrolled airflow. Where feasible, a blower door test should be used to measure air leakage before and after measure implementation.
• Solar film. Add solar film to windows to reflect solar heat.
• Window replacement. Replace existing windows with ENERGY STAR certified windows in instances where windows present a clear leak in the building envelope. Preference is given if the U- value of new windows meets the current building energy code minimum. Window replacement cannot be completed for manufactured units.
• Exterior door replacement. Replace existing exterior doors with ENERGY STAR certified doors in instances where doors present a clear leak in the building envelope. Preference is given if the U- value of new door meets the current building energy code minimum. Door replacement cannot be completed for manufactured units.

Appliance Upgrades

• Clothes washer. Replace existing clothes washer with ENERGY STAR certified clothes washer. Applies only to equipment installed within the dwelling unit; not applicable for equipment in common areas.
• Clothes dryer. Replace existing clothes dryer with ENERGY STAR certified clothes dryer. Applies only to equipment installed within the dwelling unit, not applicable for equipment in common areas.
• Refrigerator and freezer. Replace existing refrigerators and freezers with ENERGY STAR certified equipment.
• Ovens and stoves. Replace existing oven and/or stove with ENERGY STAR-certified equipment. See Section IV(G)(3) of this document for additional guidance.
• Dishwashers. Add or replace existing dishwasher with ENERGY STAR-certified equipment.
• Room air conditioners. Replace existing room air conditioners with ENERGY STAR certified equipment.
• Advanced power strip. Install Tier 1 or Tier 2 advanced power strip on an entertainment center or home office equipment. Advanced power strips automatically shut off equipment based on a master load.
• Appliance recycling. Recycle inefficient room air conditioners, refrigerators, and freezers to take them out of circulation.

Lighting Upgrades

• LED Lighting. Replace existing interior or exterior lamps and/or fixtures with LEDs.

HVAC Upgrades

• Central Air Conditioning. Install an appropriately sized, high-efficiency central air conditioning system that meets or exceeds ENERGY STAR standards.
• Mini-split Air Conditioning. Install a high-efficiency mini-split system meeting or exceeding ENERGY STAR standards.
• Packaged Terminal Air Conditioner (PTAC) or Packaged Terminal Heat Pump (PTHP). Install high efficiency packaged terminal air conditioner (PTAC) or packaged terminal heat pump (PTHP). The efficiency of new equipment must exceed the current building energy code minimum.
• Ground Source Heat Pump. Install ground source heat pump system meeting or exceeding ENERGY STAR standards.
• Furnace Blower Motor (ECM). Retrofit existing furnace distribution system supply fan motor with electronically commutated (EC) motor.
• Smart Thermostat. Install programmable, learning, or connected thermostats to configure heating and cooling temperature setpoint setbacks.
• Duct Sealing. Seal air leaks and add insulation to heating and cooling distribution system ducts in unconditioned spaces.

Domestic Hot Water Upgrades

• Low-flow water fixtures – Shower. Install low-flow showerheads. To qualify, the flow rate must be at least 0.5 gallons per minute less than the existing showerhead.
• Low-flow water fixtures – Faucet. Install a low-flow faucet aerator on bathroom or kitchen faucets. Flow rate must be less than 1.5 gallons per minute for bathrooms and less than 2.2 gallons per minute for kitchens. For instances in which a new aerator cannot be installed, replace faucet fixture.
• Pipe Insulation. Install insulation on uninsulated domestic hot water distribution piping. Applies only to electric domestic hot water heaters.
• Water Heater. Install an appropriately sized, high-efficiency water heater that meets or exceeds ENERGY STAR certified standards.

Other

• Water-Efficient Toilet. Install WaterSense toilet (1.28 gallons/flush)
Radon remediation. This program is under development.

Affordability Commitment

Alachua County is dedicated to ensuring that the housing improved by this program will remain affordable to low-income residents. We are asking participating landlords to commit to keeping their property affordable as a condition of this program. This means that landlords that choose to participate in this program are agreeing not to raise their rent above the amount of inflation (as determined by the Consumer Price Index) for a length of time corresponding to the amount of funding they receive. The following table outlines the affordability commitment that corresponds to each award level.

Participating landlords can use the CPI Inflation Calculator​ available on the Bureau of Labor Statistics website to input their initial rental rate to see the new maximum rent amount they can charge per the above commitment, based on the Consumer Price Index account of average annual inflation. Property owners who wish to remove their property from the affordable rental housing market before the end of the affordability commitment period will be asked to refund the program dollar amount along with a ten percent administrative fee.

Reasonability Justification

The Alachua County Board of County Commissioners realizes that some costs of property ownership, including property taxes and insurance costs, rise faster than the cost of inflation. For this reason, ACEEP Program Managers have worked with the Alachua County Housing Authority to develop a Reasonability Justification clause for this program, which is designed from the Section 8 voucher program with the same name.

Property owners who feel they have no choice but to raise rent beyond the allowable inflation increase may select an amount that they feel is in line with current affordable housing prices, so long as they can justify that amount by providing evidence based on other rentals in their geographic area. Additional details about this option can be found in the program paperwork.

All landlords who raise rent beyond inflation will be asked to provide a reasonability justification.

What are the benefits of participating as a property owner?

Benefits to participating in the program include:

• Free home improvements with compliance with the affordability commitment.
• Program managers identify, schedule, and pay the contractors for you.
• More loyal, longer-term tenants. Lower utility bills help alleviate financial stress for tenants, and could entice them to stay longer, meaning fewer months with no tenants.
• For months in between tenants, landlords save on energy costs, too.

What are the costs of participating as a property owner?

Landlords can get a rough idea of program costs versus benefits by determining how much they would have charged for rent without the affordability commitment in place, and how much they are instead receiving in grant funding in place of these rent increases. (Remember, landlords can still raise rent while in the program, so long as it does not exceed the rate of inflation. For example, a unit with a $1000/month rental rate, rent could be increased from 2022 to 2023 by $65, as the annual Consumer Price Index inflation rate for 2022 was 6.5%).

Most property owners who currently own affordable housing intend to continue keeping their properties at an affordable level for the foreseeable future. For these owners, the costs of the program will be minimal, as the affordability commitment asks landlords to commit to a practice that they are already doing. With the addition of the reasonability justification, landlords can now adjust their rental amounts to accommodate major shifts in local rental rates, further reducing any costs associated with program participation.

Will I need to pay anything back?

So long as you abide by the affordability commitment for the length of time that you sign up for, you will not need to pay anything back.

How do I make sure I get the affordability commitment timeline that I want?

Alachua County works with Rebuilding Together North Central Florida, a 501c3 non-profit with a long history in our community, to evaluate your property and determine what sorts of energy efficiency improvements will make the biggest impact on utility bills. They then work with contractors to develop a series of quotes detailing the costs of various upgrades, and work directly with you, the landlords, to determine which upgrades you want at the quoted costs. Rebuilding Together NCF will then put together a work order with your agreed-upon upgrades, which will serve as the basis of determining the affordability commitment.

What if I need to leave the program early? (This could mean selling the property, no longer renting the property, or choosing to raise the rental rate beyond inflation without an approved reasonability justification.)

While Alachua County understands that sometimes unexpected things happen, landlord participants are only one half of the parties impacted by a decision to leave the program. Like the rest of the country, Alachua County is facing an affordable housing crisis for renters, which this program is designed to address. Should you choose to leave the program early, you will be asked to pay back the entirety of the award amount and an additional 10% administrative fee. This ensures that we are able to redistribute the funding to another property to support our local affordable housing rental market. If you decide to sell your property, you can avoid this payback condition by working with the new owner to sign onto the program for the remainder of the affordability commitment. If the new owner is unwilling to maintain the commitment, the unit is considered to be leaving the program early.

What if my rental is in an HOA?

The following upgrades are allowable expenses under this program. Your landlord could choose to accept between $5,000 and $15,000 to improve your unit.

Envelope Upgrades

• Wall insulation. Add insulation to building walls. Preference is given if post-implementation R-value exceeds the current building energy code minimum.
• Attic/Roof/Ceiling insulation. Add insulation to building attic/roof/ceiling. Preference is given if post- implementation R- value exceeds the current building energy code minimum.
• Air sealing. Seal air leaks with fire caulk to reduce air infiltration. Includes caulking, weather stripping, and sealing around doors, windows, and other locations of uncontrolled airflow. Where feasible, a blower door test should be used to measure air leakage before and after measure implementation.
• Solar film. Add solar film to windows to reflect solar heat.
• Window replacement. Replace existing windows with ENERGY STAR certified windows in instances where windows present a clear leak in the building envelope. Preference is given if the U- value of new windows meets the current building energy code minimum. Window replacement cannot be completed for manufactured units.
• Exterio​r door replacement. Replace existing exterior doors with ENERGY STAR certified doors in instances where doors present a clear leak in the building envelope. Preference is given if the U- value of new door meets the current building energy code minimum. Door replacement cannot be completed for manufactured units.​

Appliance Upgrades

• Clothes washer. Replace existing clothes washer with ENERGY STAR certified clothes washer. Applies only to equipment installed within the dwelling unit; not applicable for equipment in common areas.
• Clothes dryer. Replace existing clothes dryer with ENERGY STAR certified clothes dryer. Applies only to equipment installed within the dwelling unit, not applicable for equipment in common areas.
• Refrigerator and freezer. Replace existing refrigerators and freezers with ENERGY STAR-certified equipment.
• Ovens and stoves. Replace existing oven and/or stove with ENERGY STAR-certified equipment. See Section IV(G)(3) of this document for additional guidance.
• Dishwashers. Add or replace existing dishwasher with ENERGY STAR-certified equipment.
• Room air conditioners. Replace existing room air conditioners with ENERGY STAR-certified equipment.
• Advanced power strip. Install Tier 1 or Tier 2 advanced power strip on an entertainment center or home office equipment. Advanced power strips automatically shut off equipment based on a master load.
• Appliance recycling. Recycle inefficient room air conditioners, refrigerators, and freezers to take them out of circulation.

Lighting Upgrades

• LED Lighting. Replace existing interior or exterior lamps and/or fixtures with LEDs.

HVAC Upgrades

• Central Air Conditioning. Install an appropriately sized, high-efficiency central air conditioning system that meets or exceeds ENERGY STAR standards.
• Mini-split Air Conditioning. Install a high-efficiency mini-split system meeting or exceeding ENERGY STAR standards.
• Packaged Terminal Air Conditioner (PTAC) or Packaged Terminal Heat Pump (PTHP). Install high efficiency packaged terminal air conditioner (PTAC) or packaged terminal heat pump (PTHP). The efficiency of new equipment must exceed the current building energy code minimum.
• Ground Source Heat Pump. Install ground source heat pump system meeting or exceeding ENERGY STAR standards.
• Furnace Blower Motor (ECM). Retrofit existing furnace distribution system supply fan motor with electronically commutated (EC) motor.
• Smart Thermostat. Install programmable, learning, or connected thermostats to configure heating and cooling temperature setpoint setbacks.
• Duct Sealing. Seal air leaks and add insulation to heating and cooling distribution system ducts in unconditioned spaces.

Domestic Hot Water Upgrades

• Water Heater. Install an appropriately sized, high-efficiency water heater that meets or exceeds ENERGY STAR standards.
• Low-flow water fixtures – Shower. Install low-flow showerheads. To qualify, the flow rate must be at least 0.5 gallons per minute less than the existing showerhead.
• Low-flow water fixtures – Faucet. Install a low-flow faucet aerator on bathroom or kitchen faucets. Flow rate must be less than 1.5 gallons per minute for bathrooms and less than 2.2 gallons per minute for kitchens. For instances in which a new aerator cannot be installed, replace faucet fixture.
• Pipe Insulation. Install insulation on uninsulated domestic hot water distribution piping. Applies only to electric domestic hot water heaters.

Other

• Water Efficient Toilet. Install WaterSense toilet (1.28 gallons/flush)
• Radon remediation. This program is under development.

The Affordability Commitment

Alachua County is dedicated to ensuring that the housing improved by this program will remain affordable to low-income residents. Participating landlords agree to keep their property affordable as a condition of this program. This means that landlords that choose to participate in this program have agreed not to raise their rent above the amount of inflation (as determined by the Consumer Price Index) for a length of time corresponding to the amount of funding they receive. The following table outlines the affordability commitment that corresponds to each award level.

Participating landlords and their tenants can use the CPI Inflation Calculator available on the Bureau of Labor Statistics website to input their starting rental rate to see the new maximum rent amount they can charge, based on the Consumer Price Index account of average annual inflation. Renters who use this tool to determine that their rent has been raised beyond the allowable amount are encouraged to contact program managers.

Reasonability Justification

Due to rapidly rising property tax and insurance rates, the County has created a new Reasonability Justification clause based on a Section 8 program with the same name. This clause allows your landlord to apply to raise rent beyond inflation after demonstrating that their rent continues to conform to affordable rent prices within the immediate geographic area. Such requests must be approved by ACEEP staff.

What are the benefits of participating as a renter?

Tenants receive weatherization and energy efficiency upgrades in their rental unit, to help lower utility bills.

What are the costs of participating as a renter?

Renters are not required to pay any money in order to participate in ACEEP. Renters must devote some time to submitting the appropriate paperwork, and work with program staff to coordinate the pre-assessment tune-up and contracted upgrades.

What does program participation look like for a renter?

Renters who wish to participate will need to submit the appropriate paperwork to verify that they qualify as low-income renters. In some circumstances, renters will need to speak with their landlords about participation. Both the landlord and renters must be knowing and willing participants in order to proceed with the program.​

Once approved for the program, renters will need to coordinate with program staff to complete a pre-assessment tune-up. This tune-up involves several hours of work and energy education with program staff, who install first-level energy- and water-efficiency upgrades, and help tenants better understand their utility bills and energy and water usage. This process usually takes 2-3 hours, and includes a health and safety overview of the unit and an evaluation of the best energy/water efficiency improvements for your residence.

After a successful pre-assessment, program staff will work with contractors to collect quotes and will put together a final work order with your landlord. Those contractors will then come out to your unit to install the upgrades. The length of time this will take depends on the type of upgrade, and your contract should be able to provide an estimate and answer questions about whether the renter’s presence is required.

After upgrades are complete, program staff will make one final trip to the unit to collect pictures of the installed upgrades for verification that they were completed. They may ask you if you were satisfied with the installation and ask you to complete a survey. Staff will give you a program overview document describing what upgrades the unit received, and will contain information about who to contact with questions or concerns.

Finally, the County is interested in whether the upgrades actually worked. For this reason, the program staff will continue to work with you for a short time to determine the energy impacts of the improvements by reviewing your utility bills.

Can I apply for the program more than once?

While rental units themselves are not allowed to receive upgrades more than one time through the current program, renters may apply for the program multiple times, so long as they continue to qualify as low-income through the methods described above. This means that if you move to a new unit that has not benefited from the program, you can speak to your landlord about applying again. You will need to re-submit your qualification paperwork at this time.

I didn’t participate in the program, but I was notified in my lease that my unit is still part of the program. Can I apply for the program again?

No. Program participation is tied to the unit, not the tenant. This means that if your unit has participated in the past, it is ineligible to participate again. You may apply at a future date if you move into a new unit that has not received upgrades in the past.

Despite not being the original tenant, you should still see all of the upgrades described in the lease document, and your landlord should continue to abide by the affordability commitment until your landlord’s chosen term is complete. For concerns in this area, see the final question on this page.

What do I do if the improvements are not maintained, or if my rent increases more than I think it should?

For questions during the program, you can contact aceep@rebuildingtogetherncf.org for the fastest response time. Once the upgrades have been installed, please contact the County directly here.

The following upgrades are allowable expenses under this program. You may choose to accept between $5,000 and $15,000 to improve your unit (see more information on how the amount impacts your affordability commitment below).

Envelope Upgrades

• Wall insulation. Add insulation to building walls. Preference is given if post-implementation R-value exceeds the current building energy code minimum.
• Attic/Roof/Ceiling insulation. Add insulation to building attic/roof/ceiling. Preference is given if post- implementation R- value exceeds the current building energy code minimum.
• Underfloor insulation. Add or repair underfloor insulation.
• Air sealing. Seal air leaks with fire caulk to reduce air infiltration. Includes caulking, weather stripping, and sealing around doors, windows, and other locations of uncontrolled airflow. Where feasible, a blower door test should be used to measure air leakage before and after measure implementation.
• Solar film. Add solar film to windows to reflect solar heat.
• Window replacement. Replace existing windows with ENERGY STAR certified windows in instances where windows present a clear leak in the building envelope. Preference is given if the U- value of new windows meets the current building energy code minimum. Window replacement cannot be completed for manufactured units.
• Exterior door replacement. Replace existing exterior doors with ENERGY STAR certified doors in instances where doors present a clear leak in the building envelope. Preference is given if the U- value of new door meets the current building energy code minimum. Door replacement cannot be completed for manufactured units.

Appliance Upgrades

• Clothes washer. Replace existing clothes washer with ENERGY STAR certified clothes washer. Applies only to equipment installed within the dwelling unit; not applicable for equipment in common areas.
• Clothes dryer. Replace existing clothes dryer with ENERGY STAR certified clothes dryer. Applies only to equipment installed within the dwelling unit, not applicable for equipment in common areas.
• Refrigerator and freezer. Replace existing refrigerators and freezers with ENERGY STAR-certified equipment.
• Ovens and stoves. Replace existing oven and/or stove with ENERGY STAR-certified equipment. See Section IV(G)(3) of this document for additional guidance.
• Dishwashers. Add or replace existing dishwasher with ENERGY STAR-certified equipment.
• Room air conditioners. Replace existing room air conditioners with ENERGY STAR-certified equipment.
• Advanced power strip. Install Tier 1 or Tier 1 advanced power strip on an entertainment center or home office equipment. Advanced power strips automatically shut off equipment based on a master load (Tier or occupant sensor (Tier 2).
• Appliance recycling. Recycle inefficient room air conditioners, refrigerators, and freezers to take them out of circulation.

Lighting Upgrades

• LED Lighting. Replace existing interior or exterior lamps and/or fixtures with LEDs.

HVAC Upgrades

• Central Air Conditioning. Install an appropriately sized, high-efficiency central air conditioning system that meets or exceeds ENERGY STAR standards.
• Mini-split Air Conditioning. Install high-efficiency mini-split system meeting or exceeding ENERGY STAR standards.
• Packaged Terminal Air Conditioner (PTAC) or Packaged Terminal Heat Pump (PTHP). Install high efficiency packaged terminal air conditioner (PTAC) or packaged terminal heat pump (PTHP). The efficiency of new equipment must exceed the current building energy code minimum.
• Ground Source Heat Pump. Install ground source heat pump system meeting or exceeding ENERGY STAR standards.
• Furnace Blower Motor (ECM). Retrofit existing furnace distribution system supply fan motor with electronically commutated (EC) motor.
• Smart Thermostat. Install programmable, learning, or connected thermostats to configure heating and cooling temperature setpoint setbacks.
• Duct Sealing. Seal air leaks and add insulation to heating and cooling distribution system ducts in unconditioned spaces.

Domestic Hot Water Upgrades

• Water Heater. Install an appropriately sized, high-efficiency water heater that meets or exceeds ENERGY STAR standards.
• Low-flow water fixtures – Shower. Install low-flow showerheads. To qualify, the flow rate must be at least 0.5 gallons per minute less than the existing showerhead.
• Low-flow water fixtures – Faucet. Install a low-flow faucet aerator on bathroom or kitchen faucets. Flow rate must be less than 1.5 gallons per minute for bathrooms and less than 2.2 gallons per minute for kitchens. For instances in which a new aerator cannot be installed, replace faucet fixture.
• Pipe Insulation. Install insulation on uninsulated domestic hot water distribution piping. Applies only to electric domestic hot water heaters.

Other

• Water Efficient Toilet. Install WaterSense toilet (1.28 gallons/flush)
• Radon remediation. This program is under development.

The Affordability Commitment

Alachua County is dedicated to ensuring that the housing improved by this program will remain affordable to low-income residents. We are asking participating landlords to commit to keeping their property affordable as a condition of this program. This means that landlords that choose to participate in this program are agreeing not to raise their rent above the amount of inflation (as determined by the Consumer Price Index) for a length of time corresponding to the amount of funding they receive. The following table outlines the affordability commitment that corresponds to each award level.

Participating landlords can use the CPI Inflation Calculator available on the Bureau of Labor Statistics website to input their initial rental rate to see the new maximum rent amount they can charge per their chosen commitment, based on the Consumer Price Index account of average annual inflation. Property owners who wish to remove their property from the affordable rental housing market before the end of the affordability commitment period will be asked to refund the program dollar amount along with a ten percent administrative fee.

Determining Initial Rent

Because the affordability commitment is based on the initial rental rate, Alachua County requires that the initial rental rate is set at an affordable level to ensure that the unit is brought onto the market as an affordable unit. For this reason, all small business owner participants will be required to work with the Alachua County Housing Authority to recruit a Section 8 tenant as their first tenant. This has the dual benefit of ensuring that initial rental rates are set at an affordable level, and ensuring that the first tenants in the new unit qualify for this program, as Section 8 is a qualifying federal program.

Reasonability Justification

The Alachua County Board of County Commissioners realizes that some costs of property ownership, including property taxes and insurance costs, rise faster than the cost of inflation. For this reason, ACEEP Program Managers have worked with the Alachua County Housing Authority to develop a Reasonability Justification clause for this program, which is designed from the Section 8 voucher program with the same name.

Property owners who feel they have no choice but to raise rent beyond the allowable inflation increase may select an amount that they feel is in line with current affordable housing prices, so long as they can justify that amount by providing evidence based on other rentals in their geographic area. Additional details about this option can be found in the program paperwork.

All landlords who raise rent beyond inflation will be asked to provide a reasonability justification.

What sort of funding does this program provide?

ACEEP is a grant-based program, but does contain a payback provision (the affordability commitment). For this reason, the paperwork required to participate includes a Land Use Restriction Agreement, which places a formal lien on the property for the length of the affordability commitment.

Will I need to pay anything back?

So long as you abide by the affordability commitment for the length of time that you sign up for, you will not need to pay anything back.

How do I make sure I get the affordability commitment timeline that I want?

Alachua County works with Rebuilding Together North Central Florida, a 501c3 non-profit with a long history in our community, to evaluate your property and determine what sorts of energy efficiency improvements will make the biggest impact on utility bills. They then work with contractors to develop a series of quotes detailing the costs of various upgrades, and work directly with you, the landlords, to determine which upgrades you want at the quoted costs. Rebuilding Together NCF will then put together a work order with your agreed-upon upgrades, which will serve as the basis of determining the affordability commitment.

What if I need to leave the program early? (This could mean selling the property, no longer renting the property, or choosing to raise the rental rate beyond inflation without an approved reasonability justification.)

While Alachua County understands that sometimes unexpected things happen, landlord participants are only one half of the parties impacted by a decision to leave the program. Like the rest of the country, Alachua County is facing an affordable housing crisis for renters, which this program is designed to address. Should you choose to leave the program early, you will be asked to pay back the entirety of the award amount and an additional 10% administrative fee. This ensures that we are able to redistribute the funding to another property to support our local affordable housing rental market. If you decide to sell your property, you can avoid this payback condition by working with the new owner to sign onto the program for the remainder of the affordability commitment. If the new owner is unwilling to maintain the commitment, the unit is considered to be leaving the program early.​

What if my rental is in an HOA?

Rebuilding Together NCF works with every property owner to determine the best course of action to bring down energy costs for tenants. They will work to ensure that the upgrades they recommend comply with HOA guidelines, and in some circumstances, will even file paperwork with your HOA on the landlord’s behalf (with the landlord’s permission).