AIA Reiterates Proposals for Increasing Energy Efficiency
The American Institute of Architects reacted to President Obama’s proposals for increasing the nation’s energy security
Washington,
D.C. –
The American Institute of Architects
reacted to President Obama’s proposals for increasing the
nation’s energy
security by reiterating its top five energy conservation legislative
priorities.
“Architects make design decisions every day that have
significant impact on the
energy that buildings use both during their construction and throughout
their
life cycles,” said AIA 2011 President Clark Manus, FAIA.
“Architects also have
a major impact on whether communities are designed in a sustainable
fashion.”
“How buildings are designed plays a great role in reducing
dependence on fossil
fuels, so we’re gratified to see the President taking the
opportunity again to
push his “Better Buildings Initiative” to make
commercial facilities 20 percent
more efficient by 2020,” said Manus. “Energy
conservation in buildings, which
account for 70 percent of the electricity the U.S. consumes, is the
hallmark of
the AIA’s legislative push in the 112th Congress. The AIA
stands ready
to help
the Administration and Congress enact this agenda in any way that we
can.
Energy efficiency is not a political issue; it’s a national
security issue.”
Among the AIA’s energy conservation legislative priorities
are:
· Strengthening the commercial building energy efficiency tax deduction. The AIA supports increasing the value of the deduction, an increase that was included in bipartisan legislation in 2010, or by turning it into a tax credit as proposed by the Administration.
· Passing a long-term transportation bill that empowers communities to plan in ways that reduce energy-wasting congestion and promote livable, walkable neighborhoods.
· Passing the bipartisan America’s Clean Energy Leadership Act approved in 2009 by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which promotes stronger energy building codes and building retrofits.
· Restoring funding for government building energy retrofits that was cut in the most recent continuing resolution, which will save taxpayers more money over the long-term.
· Passing legislation to allow states and localities to use PACE bonds. The sales proceeds from such municipal bonds are lent to commercial or residential property owners to finance energy efficiency measures and small renewable energy systems. The owners repay their loans over a 20 year term via an annual assessment on their property tax bill.
