News Brief

Inflation Reduction Act Collection: Guidance & Case Studies

The IRA may be revolutionizing green building. Learn how to leverage this generational funding to curtail carbon and elevate equity.

by the BuildingGreen editors

painting of uncle sam pointing his finger at the viewer.

Uncle Sam wants you to electrify your buildings!

Painting by James Montgomery Flagg. License: Public domain.
Remember all those times when a sustainability “conversation” felt more like a fight? A fight you were losing?

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is helping project teams replay that old scene with a new character: Uncle Sam, proffering his open wallet.

By incentivizing technologies that slash emissions and processes that include the voices of the most vulnerable, the law, passed in August 2022, has the potential to transform the sustainability landscape for designers, construction firms, and product manufacturers. 

It’s not as though every client will suddenly start writing RFPs that say “net-zero carbon or bust!” And there are strings attached and hoops to jump through to get at that open wallet. But as AEC practitioners start to comprehend the scale and scope of what’s available, and in turn help their clients comprehend that scale and scope, they’re finding it easier to have productive conversations about specific social and environmental targets. And as more and more funding programs start breaking the financial dam, those conversations are only going to get easier.

BuildingGreen’s IRA collection—which we are building over time as news breaks of new windfalls—explains eligibility requirements, explores grant opportunities, analyzes the impact of specific programs, and captures lessons learned from real-world project teams.

Eventually, our collection will include in-depth guidance and tips on every IRA provision and program that’s relevant to the green building community. As we produce more content, we will be breaking down our guidance and case studies into the following categories, some of which we’ve already started to build out.

Watch this space as the cascading benefits unfold over time.

General IRA Information and Guidance

Here we round up the details of several opportunities in one place.

IRA Guidance and Case Studies on Specific Strategies & Technologies

It’s not just for solar anymore! IRA expands its reach into many different technologies and even design processes.

Bio-gas systems

Combined heat & power systems

Dynamic glazing

Energy audits (single-family homes)

Energy retrofits

HVAC systems—commercial & multifamily buildings

HVAC systems—single-family homes

Microgrid controllers

New commercial buildings

New homes

Renewable energy production and storage

Resilience measures

IRA Guidance and Case Studies by Building Typology

Benefits differ for commercial, multifamily, and single-family projects.

Non-residential

Healthcare

Multifamily residential

Single-family residential

IRA Guidance and Case Studies by Recipient

Sometimes who you are is more important than what you do—at least when it comes to the IRA. There are special funding streams associated with affordable housing, tax-exempt organizations, and the federal government’s own building projects.

AEC firms

Affordable housing owners and developers

Commercial building owners

Commercial building tenants

Federal agencies

Homebuilders

Homeowners

Home renters

Local governments, Tribal governments, and states

Nonprofits and other tax-exempt organizations

Nonprofit financial institutions

Product manufacturers & trade associations

IRA Guidance and Case Studies by Program Name

IRA is a huge, complex bill chock full of opportunities that have obscure names and section numbers. Here you’ll find details about all the different programs based on their official names or numbers.

25C: Energy-Efficiency Home-Improvement Credit

45L: New Energy-Efficient Homes Credit

Section 48: Investment Tax Credit for Energy Property

48(e) and 48(h): Low-Income-Communities Bonus Credit Program

179D: Energy-Efficient Commercial Buildings Deduction

Green and Resilient Retrofit Program

Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund

All BuildingGreen’s IRA Content by Type of Guidance

Analysis

Case studies

“Just the basics,” program by program

News & new opportunities

Product reviews

Roundups

Justice40 Funding: IRA and Other Federal Opportunities 

The Justice40 initiative is part of an executive order by the Biden Administration. It commits at least 40% of certain types of federal funding to “disadvantaged communities,” a term the administration has been defining and refining over time.

<Benefits for Building Project Manufacturers

Guidance and Case Studies on Other Federal Programs

The Infrastructure and Jobs Act (IIJA), pandemic funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), and other programs include several building-related provisions as well.

 

Originally published August 7, 2023 Reviewed November 4, 2023

editors, t. (2023, November 4). Inflation Reduction Act Collection: Guidance & Case Studies. Retrieved from https://www.buildinggreen.com/newsbrief/inflation-reduction-act-collection-guidance-case-studies

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