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Green Building Blog

How to Claim the 179D Deduction for 2021 and Beyond

Thu, Apr 08, 2021 @ 08:52 / by Jim Newman posted in PACE, indoor air quality, EPA, tax deductions

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Popular energy efficiency tax incentive, 179D, made permanent. Indoor air quality improvements may qualify.

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005), Section 179D, established a tax deduction of up to $1.80 per square foot for qualifying structures, including a retroactive deduction for existing facilities that meet specific requirements. After several extensions, this beneficial tax credit was finally made permanent.Tax Law - Folder.  Closeup View.

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Critical Strategies for Safely Reopening Buildings after COVID

Tue, Feb 02, 2021 @ 09:12 / by Jim Newman posted in HVAC, Codes & Standards, ASHRAE, indoor air quality, EPA, coronavirus, COVID-19, water quality

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With entire buildings, and even campuses, being shuttered for months on end, you can’t simply reopen a closed building and assume it will be business as usual. In reopening closed buildings during – or after – the pandemic, how building owners and maintenance staff manage the essential building functions of indoor air quality and potable water can have an enormous impact on the health and safety of tenants and visitors.

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Why Your Energy Star Rating May Go Down in 2018

Wed, Sep 27, 2017 @ 03:05 / by Jim Newman posted in ASHRAE, Energy Audit, EPA, Energy Star

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And What You Can Do About It in 2017

The good news is that EPA’s Energy Star Portfolio Manager is getting a much needed data update.

The bad news is that it may cause some Energy Star scores to go down.

How Portfolio Manager Works

ENE_prt_v_c.jpgAs you probably know, Energy Star Portfolio Manager (ESPM) is a well-known and widely used program for comparing energy use among existing buildings. Building owners and managers use ESPM to see how well their building performs with regards to energy use. The ESPM rates the building on a 1-100 scale against buildings of similar size and use. It also takes into consideration climatization so that buildings in different climate zones can be compared with each other. 

Energy Star requires a score of 75 or better to earn Certification. For details, click here. If your score is below 75, or you would like to see a higher score – and lower utility bills – consider implementing some low-cost or no-cost Energy Conservation Measures (ECMs) with relatively fast paybacks. Other ECMs might be more expensive with long paybacks. In that case you may want to consider alternative financing, such as Property Assessed Clean Energy, or PACE (Click to learn how PACE can help you.)

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