Two enthusiastic thumbs up for the administration's proposed Better Buildings Initiative, announced on February 3. Better Buildings seeks a 20 percent improvement in commercial building energy efficiency by 2020, leading to an estimated $40 billion annual cost savings for property owners and tenants.
To this end, the administration would convert the current $1.80 per square foot deduction for commercial energy-saving improvements to a tax credit. A credit would allow building owners to reduce their income tax obligations dollar for dollar when they undertake an energy retrofit, a far more powerful financial incentive than the deduction currently in force. The administration estimates that the proposal could result in a ten-fold increase in energy efficiency retrofits for commercial buildings
