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- Improve and expand existing tax incentives for green housing development and rehabilitation. The tax code contains modest incentives for energy efficiency in new single-family homes and commercial buildings and provides a credit for solar installations, but the code does nothing specifically to encourage green rehabilitation of homes for low-income families.
Read more recommendations The new homes credit should be modified to serve multifamily rental properties, in combination with existing housing programs, and the solar credit should be expanded and revised to work more effectively with housing tax credits. - Increase the funding level for the Green Jobs Program in the U.S. Department of Energy to $300 million
Read more recommendations - Create a green markets tax credit for investments in green technology, conservation efforts, and investments in green intermediaries.
Read more recommendations - Support funding for green power source innovation through the U.S. Department of Energy.
Read more recommendations - Green power is electricity generated using renewable resources, such as wind, geothermal, and biomass. Those resources generate electricity with a net zero increase in carbon dioxide emissions. Green power purchases also support the development of new renewable energy generation sources nationwide.
Read more recommendations - Give the government-sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, extra credit toward meeting their affordable housing responsibilities for purchasing mortgages on properties that are energy efficient or otherwise environmentally responsible.
Read more recommendations - Provide loan guarantees from the U.S. Department of Energy for financing provided to green businesses, particularly for loans made to start-up businesses that have shown promising new technologies.
Read more recommendations - Make the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification (or a comparable standard) for sustainable buildings, currently a voluntary process, a requirement for all new commercial construction.
Read more recommendationsThe certification should remain voluntary for homeowners, but the homeowners who build LEED-certified dwellings should receive an additional federal tax credit. According to studies done by the U.S. Green Building Council, buildings that receive LEED certification use less energy and cut carbon emission by as much as 40 percent.