CH2M HILL, the global full-service consultancy firm, has joined forces with EKO Asset Management Partners, a specialized investment and advisory firm, to form a new partnership aimed at developing and implementing infrastructure projects that create positive environmental impact and unlock new types of investment capital. The new venture is called Green Path Partners.

On April 23, the announcement came in conjunction with a gathering of family office and institutional investors looking at environmental investment opportunities convened by EKO and Sonen Capital at JP Morgan Chase in New York City.

"Institutional investors from foundations, family offices, pensions and endowments are increasingly interested in opportunities to support natural infrastructure as a way to deliver both public and private projects," adds Jason Scott, EKO's co-founder and managing partner.

Green Path Partners will target projects that:

• Utilize natural infrastructure or offer an opportunity to integrate natural infrastructure into a traditional infrastructure approach;
• Provide a positive ecological impact with significant and demonstrable social and economic outcomes; and
• Afford an opportunity to use innovative financial structures, non-traditional impact investment capital, or both.

GPP intends to work with clients to identify potential projects that meet these criteria; help them secure investor funding or alternative financing that will pay for the project; and help identify revenue sources that can be used to repay investors or creditors, similar to traditional funding through a municipal bond issue.These types of projects could be delivered on a "pay-for-performance" basis by private entities raising private capital and using environmental approaches (e.g. bioswales, permeable pavement, rain gardens, etc.) to deliver the services, Scott says. In this way, private actors take the risk of financing the infrastructure development and only are paid by government if and when the infrastructure is built and delivers the desired services.AECOM also announced a few days ago the launch of a $150 million infrastructure fund.Source: CH2M HILL