In the past two years, several federal tax incentives have been extended and enhanced for designing and constructing energy-efficient buildings, both residential and commercial. Some of these measures should be equally attractive for businesses and individuals looking to remodel existing homes and workplaces to save on energy and, as a bonus, taxes.

Four federal laws enacted since early 2008 contain provisions targeting energy conservation: the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, PL 110-185 (ESA); the Housing Assistance Tax Act of 2008, PL 110-289 (HATA); the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, PL 110-343 (EESA); and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, PL 111-5 (ARRA)

In addition, many states and local governments have enacted provisions to encourage energy-efficient buildings.

Too often, a flurry of legislative activity can overwhelm taxpayers and their advisers with new provisions. Typically, the taxing authorities need time to develop summaries and guidelines for newly enacted laws. As a result, taxpayers who could benefit from the deductions and credits might not be aware of them, in some cases missing out on substantial savings. Here are five recent federal provisions expanded or extended by the EESA and the ARRA that should be of interest to builders, architects and anyone in the market for a new building or thinking about retrofitting one for energy savings. These are by no means all the tax incentives for energy-efficient building or remodeling even in these two acts. The EESA extended a number of provisions of the landmark Energy Policy Act of 2005. Among the ESA’s provisions were those providing for 50% bonus depreciation on equipment and more funding for the low-income home energy assistance program. HATA requires states to consider energy efficiency in low-income housing when allocating available tax credits to those projects.

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