Are there any benefits or incentives available for publicly-owned buildings?
For publicly-owned buildings, the tax deduction can be assigned to the designer of the building. A public agency could assign the credit to the building designer, negotiate a fee reduction and so realize the credit in that way. Designers are defined by IRS Notice 2006-52 as “a person that creates the technical specifications for installation of energy efficient commercial building property…for example, an architect, engineer, contractor, environmental consultant or energy services provider… A person that merely installs, repairs or maintains the property is not a designer.” In March 2008 the IRS released new rules clarifying several aspects of the commercial building energy efficiency tax deduction.
