There are various tax incentives and rebates that commercial buildings can qualify for. Certain incentives apply to new construction, renovations, or both. Below is a description of some of the benefits available to LEED-certified and energy efficient buildings in the Portland metro area.
Fire Station 18 – City of Portland. LEED Gold certified.
Oregon has a 35% Business Energy Tax Credit that is tied to LEED certification level. According to Oregon.gov, “Oregonians who build a sustainable commercial building are eligible for a tax credit from the Oregon Department of Energy. Sustainability is generally defined as the use of today´s resources in a manner that enables people to meet their current needs and provides for future generation. Sustainable buildings use energy as efficiently as possible by today´s standards.” A LEED Silver rating is the minimum to obtain this tax credit and it applies to LEED NC (New Construction), CI (Commercial Interiors), and CS (Core & Shell) certified buildings. Examples: 100,000 sq ft LEED-NC Silver-rated building is eligible for $140,000 tax credit while a LEED-NC building of the same size with a Gold rating is eligible for a $177,485 tax credit. The application for this tax credit must be started before the building project begins. (Source: http://oregon.gov/ENERGY/CONS/BUS/tax/sustain.shtml)
For Oregon commercial buildings that install a qualifying renewable energy system, there is a property tax exemption for buildings with systems that are “net metered or primarily intended to offset on-site electricity use”. If the value of a property increases due to installing a renewable energy system, Oregon law states that the system is exempt from assessment of the property’s value for tax purposes. Renewable systems that qualify include “solar, geothermal, wind, water, fuel cell or methane gas systems used to heat, cool or generate electricity”. http://egov.oregon.gov/ENERGY/RENEW/Solar/Support.shtml
The Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (http://www.dsireusa.org/) contains a list of incentives for each state. The Oregon Department of Energy has a few corporate project tax credits (up to 35% of project costs) that apply to a wide variety of energy efficient and energy renewable technologies, such as heat pumps, furnaces, boilers, central air conditioners, building insulation, doors, siding, roofs, solar water heat, geothermal heat pumps, cool roofs, LED lighting, and more. These are listed under the headings of Corporate Tax Credit and Personal Tax Credit on dsireusa.org.
