Quarterly Advocates Call
As mentioned in the previous post, in 2016, we are moving to a quarterly call for our volunteer advocates.
The first call will be on Monday, January 11, 2016 from 4:00PM - 5:00PM ET.
Here is the link to start the Webex: https://usgbc.webex.com/usgbc/onstage/g.php?MTID=e9efe25c4ce2740dde774a8aabcf54e01
2016 State Legislative Sessions
Even year legislative sessions are traditionally shorter for many states; while some states do not convene. You can find out when your state legislature will reconvene here. Pre-filing of legislation is also underway and you will likely see the number of bills increase as January gets underway.
Congress Closing Out 2015
Congress recently released a spending bill and tax extenders package. The sprawling legislation covers FY2016 funding for all federal agencies and includes short and longer term extensions for a number of popular incentives for businesses and consumers. The Obama Administration has signaled his intent to sign the legislation. Based on an initial review of the package it is generally a win for those in the green building industry.
The omnibus would provide $11 billion for programs under the Department of Energy (DOE), a $794 million increase above the fiscal 2015 enacted level but $528 million below the president's request. Specially the Buildings Technologies Office received an increase in funding from $172 million in Fiscal Year 2015 (FY15) to $200 million in Fiscal Year 2016 (FY16).The bill funds programs like the Clean Energy Manufacturing Innovation Institutes at $70 million FY16 and provides $10 million for a competitive funding opportunity to achieve deeper energy efficiency improvements in small and medium-sized buildings.
Funding levels at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) were not as successful at $8.1 billion, which is a $100 million dollar reduction from last year’s funding.
Construction, facility operations and maintenance across the federal agencies continue to be a significant driver for green building. This includes:
All new construction and major renovation projects will incorporate federal sustainability guidelines and many will pursue LEED certification. These increases are good for our
members who work in the public sector and also good for our continued activity with federal agencies.
As expected a number of real estate and energy incentives were included for a two-year extension, one year retrospective for 2015 and one year prospective for 2016. This includes:
These are items we actively lobbied on with real estate and energy partners and with many of our member companies before Greenbuild.
The package includes a five-year extension of tax incentives for wind and solar energy producers. The deal extends the 30 percent solar investment tax credit and a credit for solar-powered energy-efficient properties for three years before winding it down for two years. Also, the deal extends the wind energy production tax credit for two years before a three-year phase out. There is also a technical change that allows projects to claim the incentives once construction has been initiated as opposed to when the project is completed. These incentives were negotiated in exchange to lifting the 40-year ban on exports of crude oil. JCT estimates these changes in total are expected to infuse $23.873 billion into the renewable energy market over the next decade.
The omnibus would provide $11 billion for programs under the Department of Energy (DOE), a $794 million increase above the fiscal 2015 enacted level but $528 million below the president's request. Specially the Buildings Technologies Office received an increase in funding from $172 million in Fiscal Year 2015 (FY15) to $200 million in Fiscal Year 2016 (FY16).The bill funds programs like the Clean Energy Manufacturing Innovation Institutes at $70 million FY16 and provides $10 million for a competitive funding opportunity to achieve deeper energy efficiency improvements in small and medium-sized buildings.
Funding levels at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) were not as successful at $8.1 billion, which is a $100 million dollar reduction from last year’s funding.
Construction, facility operations and maintenance across the federal agencies continue to be a significant driver for green building. This includes:
- The General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Building Fund allocates $1.607 billion for construction and acquisition of several projects, including $52.733 million for new construction and acquisition projects that are joint U.S. courthouses and Federal buildings and $735.331 million for repairs and alterations, including associated design and construction services; and
- Military construction facilities are slated to receive $8.2 billion total (increase of$1.4 billion above the FY15) enacted level for construction, renovation, operation and maintenance of facilities across the military branches; and
- Major construction for Veterans Affairs is slated to receive $1.2 billion major construction ($862 million above the 2015 level).
All new construction and major renovation projects will incorporate federal sustainability guidelines and many will pursue LEED certification. These increases are good for our
members who work in the public sector and also good for our continued activity with federal agencies.
As expected a number of real estate and energy incentives were included for a two-year extension, one year retrospective for 2015 and one year prospective for 2016. This includes:
- The 45(L) New and Efficient Homes Credit (the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) estimates the extension will cost $760 million); and
- The 179(D) The Energy Efficient Commercial Building Tax Deduction, with a standards update for 2016 (JCT estimates this extension will cost $324 million); and
- Parity for employer-provided mass transit and parking benefits (JCT estimates this extension will cost $188 million).
These are items we actively lobbied on with real estate and energy partners and with many of our member companies before Greenbuild.
The package includes a five-year extension of tax incentives for wind and solar energy producers. The deal extends the 30 percent solar investment tax credit and a credit for solar-powered energy-efficient properties for three years before winding it down for two years. Also, the deal extends the wind energy production tax credit for two years before a three-year phase out. There is also a technical change that allows projects to claim the incentives once construction has been initiated as opposed to when the project is completed. These incentives were negotiated in exchange to lifting the 40-year ban on exports of crude oil. JCT estimates these changes in total are expected to infuse $23.873 billion into the renewable energy market over the next decade.
