Committee on the Environment

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ALBION DISTRICT LIBRARY BY PERKINS + WILL IS A 2018 COTE TOP TEN RECIPIENT. IMAGE: DOUBLESPACE PHOTOGRAPHY

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The Committee on the Environment (COTE®) is an AIA Knowledge Community working for architects, allied professionals, and the public to achieve climate action and climate justice through design. We believe that design excellence is the foundation of a healthy, sustainable, and equitable future. Our work promotes design strategies that empower all AIA members to realize the best social and environmental outcomes with the clients and the communities they serve.

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Works in Progress

By Michael R. Davis FAIA posted 10-20-2022 11:22 AM

  

All architects understand the term “works in progress.” We know that a set of construction documents at 75% completion isn’t ready for our clients to build from. Same goes for legislation. Just because a law we have advocated for gets passed doesn’t mean our work is done! An important part of public policy advocacy is influencing how the provisions of a law are implemented. To do that, you need to stay “at the table” even after the bill has been signed.    

 

Take the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) for example. Yes, we were right to celebrate the AIA’s success in seeing many of our climate action policy goals being addressed in that major bill. But wait, there’s more. What people may not appreciate is that after the federal government acts to fund programs and incentives, the details of how these programs and incentives work are still “works in progress”. It’s at this point when regulatory agencies count on – and appreciate – the expertise of organizations like the AIA. 

 

Two important provisions of the IRA that architects should know about are proposed changes to the 179D Energy Efficient Commercial Buildings Tax Deduction and a new proposed Housing and Urban Development (HUD) loan and grant program called the Green and Resilient Retrofit Program (GRRP). Changes to the 179D tax deduction would expand eligibility requirements to include nonprofit building owners and lower the threshold Energy Use Intensity qualification for retrofits. The intent is to make 179D more accessible and more effective. The IRA also made $837.5 million available to HUD through the GRRP to provide loans and grants to improve the energy or water efficiency, implement the use energy storage or building electrification strategies, and/or address the climate resilience of their multifamily buildings.   

 

The AIA has written and submitted strong letters of support that will help the IRS and HUD maximize the effectiveness of these important incentives. When the work on them is done, the last step will be to share the information with all AIA members so we can keep our clients informed as well.  

ALSO: In case you missed it, the AIA and USGBC collaborated on a webinar about the IRA, you can find that here (passcode: 8^I?$8CS).  

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