Legislation and Incentives Resource Center

Expanded commercial building regulations

Encourages local governments to expand regulation of fossil fuel use in commercial buildings. Also extends significant incentives for states to expand local building codes and performance standards for existing and newly constructed commercial buildings.

Grants and favorable loans

Commits billions of dollars toward grants, loans and funding to help modernize existing infrastructure throughout the nation. Programs encourage building electrification and decarbonization by funding solutions that improve energy efficiency, optimize demand management, incorporate renewable energy technologies, and reduce air pollution. Select funding highlights:

• Public K-12 Schools – $500 million in grant funding for facilities projects that improve indoor air quality and energy efficiency via HVAC, lighting, controls and other solutions.
  
  
• Public/Private Commercial Buildings – $550 million in Energy Efficiency & Conservation Block Grant Program funding for local governments to redistribute as grants to retrofit commercial buildings to meet updated building codes and improved energy efficiency requirements.
  
  
• Higher Education Institutions – $10 million to fund new Building Training Assessment Centers’ technical curriculum and program development to train technicians, architects and engineers on implementing building efficiency and decarbonization solutions.

A skilled workforce is critical to the successful execution of infrastructure projects. The legislation also funds training and scholarships for in-demand building operators and service providers on the latest building regulations and energy technologies.  

Significant tax incentives

Offers several expanded tax incentives for decarbonizing building retrofits, installing renewable energy technologies, improving whole building performance, and more. Most notably:

• Energy Investment Tax Credit (48 ITC) – Now offers a credit value of up to 50% of the total cost of energy property projects that include thermal energy storage, solar, geothermal heat pumps, and more.
  
  
• Commercial Building Energy Efficiency Tax Deduction (179D) – Now offers up to $5/sq.ft. for commercial building retrofit/new construction that improves energy efficiency by 25% or more.
  
  
• Tax Cuts & Jobs Act of 2017: Temporarily expanded bonus depreciation of 80% for eligible projects completed between Jan. 1-Dec. 31, 2023 – reduced by 20% each subsequent year through Jan. 1, 2027.

Tax-exempt entities are now eligible to receive benefits of select tax incentives through direct pay delivered as a tax refund from the federal government.

Utility Rebates

U.S. electric utilities award customers over $3 billion in rebates for improving energy efficiency in buildings every year. Today, over 600 existing commercial and industrial building rebate programs offer incentives for installing high-efficiency and electric HVAC technologies (notable for heat pumps and chillers), energy storage, building management systems (controls), lighting and renewable energy solutions.

This recent legislation provides utilities with billions of dollars in additional funding to introduce or expand these rebate programs.