By Joel Ackerman, CPA

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct) is a complicated government method that encourages integrators to make US buildings more energy-efficient. Less than 1 percent of eligible buildings owners or leaseholders have taken advantage of this multi-billion dollar benefit.

The US government does a lot of good things to encourage more efficient building; unfortunately the process is cumbersome and requires third-party engineering certification. This comprehensive tax legislation is where we find the $1.80 per square foot tax benefit we all talk about and we’ll attempt to clarify the process and increase the awareness of this very important benefit. The elusive $1.80 that EPAct holds can be broken down into three categories: Lighting, HVAC and Building Envelope. Each is worth $0.60/SF in tax benefits. The EPAct relies on the ASHRAE 90.1-2001 specification as a baseline to calculate savings percentages. To qualify for the full $1.80, the building must be 50 percent more efficient than this 2001 standard. To qualify for the partial incentive, the savings must be 16 ²/₃ percent better than 90.1-2001 in the respective categories.

Lighting

Lighting consumes approximately 40% of the energy in commercial buildings; the goal is to rein in this energy hog. By using a $0.60 per SF tax benefit, EPAct encourages the use of more efficient fixtures and controls. In order to qualify for the lighting portion of the available deductions, lighting energy consumption must beat the ASHRAE 90.1-200 1 specifications for efficiency by 16 ²/₃%. If the building is undergoing a lighting retrofit or adding controls, it is worth investigating whether or not this new system will qualify for the $0.60 lighting deduction. In majority of cases the lighting savings level is achieved and can be introduced to your ROI calculations – win-win.

HVAC

HVAC is the second largest energy consumer in commercial buildings and can be very tricky to retrofit without major renovation and disruption to the space. The addition of new controls has the ability to bring the system energy consumption down by 16 2/3 percent in order to achieve the second tax benefit of $0.60/SF. This total of $1.20/SF could be included in the ROI calculations for your building owner. In a 100,000 SF building, this could be as high as $120,000 in tax benefits. Unlike tax credits, deductions don’t translate dollar for dollar; rather they are calculated as part of your tax return. The numbers add up fast and can make the purchase decision for your building owner easier.

Architects and designers

The benefits get even better for the architect and specifying segment of the market. The Government doesn’t pay tax, so what happens when the tens of thousands of schools, federal and state buildings are upgraded? Prior to 2008 this tax benefit was simply lost, or wasted. The government quickly realized that in order to encourage architects and designers to implement energy efficiency in federal buildings they had to provide encouragement. The EPAct was amended to run until 2013 and included a provision that for all public, government or non-profit buildings the EPAct tax benefit would go back to the designer of the specifications which could be the architect, designer or lighting contractor. This has resulted in approximately $25Mper month in tax benefits being discovered by one engineering/tax firm alone. As with many Federal grants and subsidies this EPACT deduction is out there to reward taxpayers for their efforts in saving energy. What better reward than with cash in the pocket from tax savings.

Want to be a hero to your clients? Did your client construct or renovate their lighting, HVAC, or building envelope to their commercial building? Discuss EPACT — you could save the client thousands of tax dollars.

Joel E. Ackerman, CPA is Director of Business Development for the Northeast for Engineered Tax Services, Inc. He earned a Masters degree in Tax from C.W. Post – Long Island University and a Bachelor of Science degree from Syracuse University. With over 16 years of experience in public accounting, Joel specializes in engineering-based real estate tax products such as cost segregation studies and energy efficiency studies.  He is active in the local CPA community and serves on the Board of Directors for the Suffolk County chapter of the New York Society of Certified Public Accountants. He is currently planning a series of seminars for the Suffolk and Nassau County Bar Associations on the benefits and technical aspects of real estate related tax and engineering opportunities.

ABOUT ENGINEERED TAX SERVICES

ETS has provided thousands of energy tax certifications since 2005. Handling over 50 certifications every month, they have perfected the process by working closely with the Internal Revenue Service on a regular basis. Their precise documentation meets and exceeds the standards required by the Department of Energy and the IRS and has consistently withstood the toughest scrutiny.  ETS is a member of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). With the most innovative and highest-quality LEED and green building knowledge and training, the approved USGBC educational courses helps green building professionals across all market sectors build the capacity to build their careers.

Engineered Tax Services (ETS) is a nationally licensed engineering firm with professionally staffed engineers who marry the science of engineering with the principles of tax and accounting to arrive at financial solutions that result in increased cash flow, minimized tax payments and increased return on investment.  ETS engineering professionals have over 100 years of combined experience in energy modeling. The ETS team consists of multi-disciplinary professionals including Professional Engineers (PE), LEED Accredited Professionals (AP), Certified Public Accountants (CPA) and architectural professionals. ETS specializes in providing a wide spectrum of engineered accounting solutions such as energy tax credits, cost segregation studies, energy audits, carbon footprint certification and insurance appraisals.

CONTACT:
Joel Ackerman

Engineered Tax Services

Toll Free: 1.800.236.6519

Northeast Office: 516-398-7807

email: jackerman@engineeredtaxservices.com

website: www.engineeredtaxservices.com