New Energy Efficiency Tax Incentive Bill Introduced in Congress

The Washington, D.C.-based Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) Intl. applauded the introduction of a new bill in the House and Senate yesterday (S. 822, House number not available yet) which, if passed, would extend and expand the energy efficient tax incentives for building owners and managers provided in the 2005 Energy Act.

EXTEND, the Energy Efficiency Tax Incentives Act, was introduced on March 8, 2007, in both the House and the Senate. This legislation extends the act until the end of 2012 and increases the deduction to $2.25 per square foot, or 75 cents per square foot for partial credit for each of the three subsystems of the building (lighting, HVAC and hot water, and building envelope). The current law allows building owners and managers to receive an accelerated deduction of up to $1.80 per square foot for energy-efficient upgrades that exceed ASHRAE 90.1 (2001) by 50 percent. Partial credit of up to 60 cents per square foot is available for energy-efficient upgrades to each of the three main subsystems of the building that exceed ASHRAE 90.1 by 16 2/3 percent (1/3 of 50 percent). The incentives apply to energy-efficient upgrades placed in service between 1/1/06 and 12/31/08.

“The introduction of the extension bill is great news because it creates a realistic timeframe for building owners and managers to make the investments to comply with the ambitious requirements for the incentives,” says BOMA Intl. Chairman and Chief Elected Officer Kurt R. Padavano, RPA, CPM, FMA, SMA, and chief operating officer at Advance Realty Group, Bedminster, NJ. “Tax incentives like these are crucial because they help building owners make the financial case to implement energy-efficiency upgrades.”

Senate co-sponsors of the bill are Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Gordon Smith (R-OR), Jim Bunning (R-KY), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Norm Coleman (R-MN), John Kerry (D-MA), Ken Salazar (D-CO), and Wayne Allard (R-CO). House co-sponsors of the bill are Jim McDermott (D-WA), Ed Markey (D-MA), and Jerry Weller (R-IL).

This information was reprinted from the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) Intl., an international federation of more than 90 local associations and affiliated organizations. BOMA’s 16,500-plus members own or manage more than 9 billion square feet of commercial properties in North America and throughout the world. The mission of BOMA Intl. is to enhance the human, intellectual, and physical assets of the commercial real estate industry through advocacy, education, research, standards, and information. Founded in 1907, BOMA Intl. celebrates 100 years of commercial real estate in 2007. Learn more at (www.boma.org).