The Drake Oak Brook, located at 2301 York Road, recently got an energy efficient makeover with improvements expected to provide the hotel with approximately $1 million in lifetime savings.
The Oak Brook location is part of the luxury hotel group’s Autograph Collection and recently underwent a rebranding effort in addition to a remodel.
Initial repairs and renovations at the hotel took place in 2018 with a full-fledged repair carrying into late 2019. When the pandemic hit in 2020, things were halted temporarily until management put some of their staff to work to avoid layoffs and continue remodeling efforts.
Anna Maria Kowalik, senior vice president and director of business development for Inland Green Capital, said the environmental finance and investment company used a funding tool known as PACE to retroactively refinance The Drake Oak Brook’s remodel.
PACE, or Property Assessed Clean Energy, allows commercial property owners to obtain up to 100% long-term, fixed-rate financing for energy efficiency improvements.
For The Drake Oak Brook, that included new windows and building envelope elements, upgraded boilers, chillers, HVAC infrastructure improvements, water-conserving plumbing installations, LED lighting, automated controls, covered canopy areas outdoors for weather protection and more.
“Most of the work is done, so what the PACE financed was virtually completed; we weren’t financing dollars to pay for the work while it was getting done, but rather looked at what energy efficiency measures had been installed and how we could pay for those,” she said.
Kowalik added that each individual room of The Drake Oak Brook was equipped with automated thermostats, so whenever a client enters a room, the lights, heating or air will turn on, as well as turn off when they exit. New low flow toilets and faucets aimed at conversing water were also installed, which will help reduce utility costs over time.
“Inland Green Capital allowed us to achieve our goal of taking a 60-year-old property and converting it to a much more high-efficiency, green hotel,” said Jim Nagle, owner of The Drake Oak Brook.
Kowalik said Inland Green Capital refinanced $2.76 million in energy efficient improvements for the hotel.
“As part of any commercial PACE financing, there is an energy assessment,” Kowalik said. “An energy engineer comes in to evaluate and to provide recommendations and that’s where they get these saving numbers.”
According to data provided by Inland Green Capital, total water saving for The Drake Oak Brook will now be over 1.5 million gallons annually.
C-PACE is available in 37 states by legislation, but not all states have an active program that offers the tool, added Kowalik. But because Inland Green Capital is based in the Midwest, they have a heightened presence in Illinois, Kowalik said.
To date, the PACE program has provided financing for over 2,500 commercial projects, totaling $2 billion in funding and has created nearly 22,400 jobs nationwide.
For more information on PACE, visit www.inlandgreencapital.com/about-pace.
