Lite Green by Sebrina Smith
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If you've been considering upgrading your home to include some green alternatives, now is a good time to go ahead. At least in San Francisco.

A new program in San Francisco will introduce legislation to allow homeowners to get loans for environmental upgrades, and repay the loans through increased property taxes over the life of the loan. The sponsors of the legislation are Mayor Gavin Newsom and Supervisor Eric Mar.

The idea builds on an existing Berkeley program that allows homeowners to install solar systems and other energy efficient improvements to their homes and pay the loans off over a 20 year period.

The new San Francisco program would also apply to water-saving improvements, as well as things like solar panels.

California is already leading the way in environmental solutions, with San Francisco itself having some of the toughest standards in the country. A law passed in 2008, for instance, requires that all new buildings are certified by the U.S. Green Building Council.

While the Board of Supervisors must still approve the measure, the City has already secured funding for the project for the first round of loans through the Renewable Funding LLC.

"It will be the biggest revolving fund that we know of out there," Newsom said. "To Berkeley's credit, it's really well-conceived and thought out."

Source: San Francisco Examiner