New Tax Credit Limits Window Choices

The good news is that there’s a new 30% tax credit for residential window replacements (part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009). The bad news is that along with establishing a maximum U-factor of 0.30, it also sets a maximum solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) of 0.30. The SHGC requirement fails to recognize the benefits of windows for passive solar heating.

EBN sought to uncover how these criteria came about and understand the implications.