The Sustainable Energy Fund (SEF) has honored Peter Krajsa, Co-Chair and Founder of the National Energy Improvement Fund (NEIF), with the Epstein Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Epstein Award is presented to a deserving individual each year for a lifetime of work moving society towards a sustainable energy future.

“We are thrilled to award Peter Krajsa with the Epstein Award,” said John Costlow, president and CEO of Sustainable Energy Fund.

“He has greatly impacted the sustainable energy community throughout his career and directly influenced the future of sustainable energy,” Costlow said.

The award was presented July 11 at the Hotel Hershey.

Krajsa is recognized as an innovator in energy efficiency finance for more than two decades. He co-founded NEIF, the United States’ only Certified B-Corp energy efficiency lender, which provides affordable financing for energy improvements nationally.

Working with contractors, manufacturers, green banks, governments and utilities, NEIF has been responsible for close to $1 billion in home and commercial energy improvements.

Previously, Krajsa spearheaded the creation of national energy finance programs as CEO of his family’s business, AFC First Financial Corp. These included the development of the company’s national EnergyLoan program as one of Fannie Mae’s first approved lenders; creation of Pennsylvania’s Keystone Home Energy Loan Program, which laid the foundation for WHEEL (Warehouse for Energy Efficiency Loans), the world’s first investment grade rated securitization of a portfolio of unsecured energy loans, and several utility and state financing programs.

Under Krajsa’s leadership, AFC First was named by the U.S. Department of Energy as the nation’s first private Home Performance with Energy Star sponsor, selected as one of five national pilot lenders for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Power Saver program, received the Alliance to Save Energy Andromeda Award and established the Green Energy Training Academy supported by the Rockefeller Foundation.

NEIF, founded in 2018 by Krajsa, Matthew Brown and Laura Nelson, has completed more than 12,000 energy upgrades to date. NEIF is supervised and regulated as a consumer lender and servicer in 26 states and operates a commercial financing platform nationally in partnership with 12 utilities. NEIF provides point-of purchase financing for energy and resilience improvements like heating, cooling, roofing, insulation, lighting and battery storage.

NEIF was named a Home Improvement Expert Partner by the U.S. Department of Energy in 2019.

NEIF is headquartered in Denver, Col., and Allentown.

Krajsa received a BS in Economics from The Wharton School. He’s a graduate of William Allen High School.