commentBuilding Star Legislation Promises Funding for Retrofits
On March 4, 2010, Senators Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Mark Pryor of Arkansas introduced legislation to create the Building Star program, which would offer incentives and rebates for energy efficiency improvements to commercial buildings. The creators of the bill argue that it would create 150,000 jobs with $6 billion in federal investment, and leverage $2–$3 in private funding for every federal dollar spent.
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Although only recently introduced, the Building Star legislation enjoys broad industry support. It was developed by Rebuilding America, a coalition of industry groups representing contractors, manufacturers, financial service companies, and efficiency advocates. According to Kurt Shickman, director of research for Energy Future Coalition, which spearheaded the development effort, the bill came out of discussions about including energy efficiency in the federal economic stimulus bill. Shickman says that participants in meetings asked, “How do we get building energy efficiency into a stimulus bill in a way that makes sense?” But conversation quickly turned to longer-term solutions. “We wanted to extend the benefits of the stimulus,” Shickman said, and the Building Star bill was the result.
The two-part bill creates rebates for products and services as well as a package of tax incentives, grants, and low-interest loans for building owners. Rebates would cover insulation, equipment, and lighting as well as services such as energy audits and building commissioning (see table). The bill would also increase the Energy-Efficient Commercial Buildings Tax Deduction from $1.80/ft² to $3.00/ft² ($19–$32/m²). Other incentives would be available for variable-speed drives for motors and chillers and Energy Star (reflective) roofs; building owners could take the incentive or the rebate for these products, but not both. Finally, the bill creates a loan program to cover those portions of a retrofit not covered by the rebate program.
It remains to be seen whether the Building Star program, or its residential cousin Home Star (currently working its way through committees), will pass through Congress. According to Shickman, it would make sense to combine the two programs into one bill, since they share common goals and financing requirements. However the final bill comes out, Shickman thinks it has good chances of passing thanks to industry and White House support. “It’s hard to argue that we shouldn’t deal with energy waste in the building sector,” he said. And it’s hard to argue with a bill that creates jobs in an economic downturn.
Copyright 2010 by BuildingGreen, LLC
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