Sparkfund: Efficiency-as-a-Service Financing Enables Technology Upgrades for Assisted Living Provider

Sparkfund offers an innovative platform to energy market providers, the SparkOS, that enables them to offer organizations a subscription to the heating, cooling, lighting, and resiliency they need to run their business for less than it costs those organizations today. With the SparkOS, market providers can offer an off-balance sheet solution with no upfront costs to customers, in which all installed equipment is owned and maintained by Sparkfund. Sparkfund offers a 24x7 guarantee that includes all needed upgrades and maintenance to ensure the energy systems work when organizations need them. To do this, the subscription integrates technology like internet of things (IoT), smart controls, demand response, and anomaly detection. That means Sparkfund can fix an issue before it results in costly failure, avoiding disruption and minimizing cost to the business. If an asset is underperforming, Sparkfund will replace it for free, smoothing spiky repair costs and eliminating concerns about capital budgets and which systems to replace when. The technology subscription covers systems such as lighting, HVAC, fans, electric vehicles, EV charging, monitoring and controls, refrigeration, and more.

Affinity Living Group Project Highlight:

Affinity Living Group is the eleventh-largest assisted living provider in the U.S., with 104 communities across North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi. A key part of achieving its mission—to create the best life for all it serves—is expanding its network of senior living communities to accommodate more residents, and improving resident experiences at each location. Renovation and portfolio expansion were both necessary to fulfill Affinity’s mission, but the company didn’t have the time or capital—or want to take on the risk—to do both at once.

Sparkfund’s Technology Subscription enabled Affinity to get new lighting without having to divert resources away from serving their residents. After finding success at three pilot locations, including their corporate headquarters, Affinity rolled out indoor and outdoor lighting upgrades via the technology subscription across 16 locations. Sparkfund upgraded an average of 257 indoor lights per building. Outdoor installations included an average of six solar-powered lights in previously unlit parking lots. Not only did the upgrades make Affinity’s facilities a safer place for residents struggling with the loss of vision and balance — their chief goal — but the new lights also improved building aesthetics. Affinity plans to scale the Technology Subscription across their entire portfolio in the near future.

To learn more about Efficiency-as-a-Service for energy projects, see the Better Buildings Efficiency-as-a-Service Toolkit.