USGBC Releases New Resource for Public Sector Programs Under the IRA and Infrastructure Law
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) changes the economics for public buildings that are going green.
According to the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), the Investment Tax Credit (ITC), for example, could be used to receive a tax credit of 30% of the cost for installing rooftop solar (and even more if certain conditions are met). Up to now, to access this credit, public or private entities without enough tax liability to use the credit would have to navigate complicated and expensive tax equity markets where the incentives were bought and sold like commodities and where much of the value was lost in the process. Under the new law, the ITC (as well as a credit for electric vehicle infrastructure) is available as “direct pay” to a local government, school district, university, or other public or nonprofit entity—meaning the federal government writes them a check for the value of the credit.
