Some states offer cash incentives for energy-efficient buildings; reducing emissions is their goal

Photo by Nadine Shaabana, Unsplash

Buildings use up energy resources, and in states focused on reducing their greenhouse emissions, shrinking building-energy consumption has become a goal. "Commercial and residential buildings account for 13% of greenhouse-gas emissions and 28% of energy consumption, according to federal energy estimates," reports Erika Bolstad of Stateline. Some states are "beginning to require that the owners of large buildings track how much energy they use and improve their efficiency," but the push for emission reductions ranges "from office buildings, big-box stores, hotels, apartments and other large commercial structures. . . . In some states, building owners who meet their energy targets early may be eligible for incentive payments."

Colorado and Oregon are two states with approved building performance standards that aim to make larger structures more climate-friendly, but changes to any sized building can help. Bolstad writes, "Ashley Haight of the ZERO Coalition, an organization working in Oregon to decarbonize buildings, said smaller buildings can voluntarily monitor their efficiency and emissions to be eligible for some of the state incentives. The exact amount of the incentives in Oregon has not yet been determined. But in Washington state, for example, building owners that demonstrate early compliance with the state's program are eligible for a one-time incentive payment of $0.85 per square foot of floor area."

Efficient buildings can create instant rewards because "they are cheaper to run because they have lower utility bills. And they often have better indoor air quality, a critical measure since most people spend 90% of their time inside a building," Bolstad reports. Cliff Majersik, a senior adviser for policy and programs at the Institute for Market Transformation, told Bolstad, "It makes them more attractive to tenants for a variety of reasons--the buildings become more comfortable, more productive places to work, better places to live, [with] lower vacancy rates."

Colorado state Rep. Cathy Kipp, a Democrat who helped write the state's 2021 building performance law, told Bulstad, "[Buildings] sit there. . . . You don't think of them as giving off energy or consuming energy. . . . Just changing the light bulbs out in a large building can have significant savings. . . . Companies that do the investment in making these changes, and then get their payback in their energy savings down the road. So there are ways for this to happen that are less expensive, and I think a lot of times it's just inertia and people not wanting to change."

"Oregon's proposed building performance standards don't cover agricultural or industrial structures, hospitals or residential buildings, including dorms and some historic buildings. However, many of those building types may still be required to measure and benchmark their energy efficiency as the law goes into effect," Bulstad explains. "And many of the state's buildings that range in size from 20,000 to 35,000 square feet must measure their efficiency and emissions based on how much electricity, gas, and other fuels a building consumes."