First Active goes green with loans for eco-friendly home improvements
The Green Loan offers clients the opportunity to apply for a mortgage top-up of a personal loan to fund the purchase of a range of environmentally friendly products and systems. The company will also plant one tree for every Green Loan arranged through one of its 60 outlets.
According to First Active, the product “supports the objectives set out by World Environment Day” on June 5.
To qualify for a Green Loan, customers must be funding the purchase of a renewable energy-based heating system that qualifies for a grant under Sustainable Energy Ireland’s greener homes scheme such as solar heating or a heat pump for space heating or hot water; wood chip or pellet stoves and boilers — with or without an integral boiler.
Green mortgages are also available to buy houses with building energy ratings of A1 to C3; and personal loans are on offer for flexible fuel or hybrid cars.
First Active head of product marketing Joe Heneghan said: “The focus of this year’s World Environment Day was to encourage nations across the globe to ‘Kick the habit’ and de-carbonise their economies and lifestyles. First Active is proud to be supporting this by introducing our innovative new loan offer. We consider this to be an important step in encouraging people to use domestic renewable energy.”
According to Mr Heneghan, First Active wants to offer customers the chance to provide a tangible benefit to the environment while also upgrading their homes and cars in an efficient way.
“As the focus has also been put on the role of forests in countering rises in greenhouse gases, we aim to contribute to this by planting a tree in an Irish forest on behalf of every customer who takes out a Green Loan with us.”
The trees will be planted for First Active by the JFK Trust, a not-for-profit community group that plants trees at Lacken Forest in New Ross, Co Wexford, in association with Coillte.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
