For Lorax, continuing education is a critical component of our ongoing development as a company. We are not only a relationships company, but also a company that is keyed into the industry and up to date on current technologies, sustainable strategies, and green building incentives. In March, Lorax attended both the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) 2016 National Symposium on Market Transformation as well as the National Facilities Management and Technology (NFMT) Conference & Exposition. Here is what we gleaned:
- On the whole, existing buildings in the United States use more energy than any country’s total energy use except China and the U.S.
- Certain upgrades to your building’s mechanical, interior lighting, and envelope since 2006 can be claimed as a tax deduction for this year’s taxes, via EPAct 179D.
- Indoor Environmental Quality can sway employee productivity by 4-6%.
- ASHRAE has developed a new standard for commissioning of existing buildings (ASHRAE 0.2-2015, Commissioning Process for Existing Building Systems and Assemblies) which can help update an existing building to meet current facility requirements. Existing building commissioning only costs about $0.30/SF and has a simple payback of 1.1 years.
- The capital cost to purchase and install on-site solar systems has fallen 60% since 2010.
- There is a 30% federal tax credit for residential and commercial solar projects, called the Solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC), which will expire on December 31, 2016, with the possibility of being renewed until 2022.
The major take-away from our recent learning opportunities is that buildings, particularly existing buildings, have the greatest opportunity for energy
efficiency out of all energy consumers. Now is the prime time to capitalize on these energy efficiency opportunities through incentives, short simple payback, lower costs, federal tax credits, and higher employee productivity. We can help you get the best bang for your buck through first cost payback as well as operational savings when it comes to high performance buildings!