March 14, 2007—The Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International applauded the introduction of a new bill in the House and Senate which, if passed, would extend and expand the energy efficient tax incentives for building owners and managers provided in the 2005 Energy Act.
The EXTEND the Energy Efficiency Tax Incentives Act (EXTEND) 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/sf, or $0.75/sf for partial credit for each of the three subsystems of the building (lighting; HVAC and hot water; and building envelope), says BOMA.
The current law allows building owners and managers to receive an accelerated deduction of up to $1.80/sf for energy efficient upgrades that exceed ASHRAE 90.1 (2001) by 50 percent. Partial credit of up to $0.60/sf is available for energy efficiency 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%). The incentives apply to energy efficient upgrades placed in service between 1/1/06 and /08.
Senate co-sponsors of the bill are Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), Gordon Smith (R-Ore.), Jim Bunning (R-Ky.), Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), John Kerry (D-Mass.), Ken Salazar (D-Colo.) and Wayne Allard (R-Colo.). House co-sponsors of the bill are Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), and Jerry Weller (R-Ill.).
The Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International is 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. For more information, see the Web site.
