Federal Stimulus Will Fund Green Building

Of the $787 billion included in the economic stimulus package signed into law by President Obama on February 17, 2009, just under $79 billion will go to renewable energy, energy-efficiency and green transportation projects. “The president’s recovery plan is a down payment on a clean energy transformation of our economy that will help solve global warming, reduce our dependence on oil and create more jobs,” said Anna Aurilio, director of the Washington, D.C., office of the nonprofit organization Environment America.

According to Environment America’s analysis, about $33 billion of the money will go to clean and renewable energy projects through a variety of tax credits and federal programs. The renewable energy production and investment tax credit has been changed to allow developers to opt for a grant from the government instead of a tax credit; the caps for several technologies, including small wind turbines, were removed. A $500 million green jobs act will train 70,000 workers in renewable energy and energy-efficiency work, and $2.5 billion will go to research and development in those fields. Other money will go to renewable energy infrastructure and projects on federal land.

The bill also extends and reestablishes some energy-efficiency programs for homes and commercial buildings. The Weatherization Assistance Program, cut from the 2009 budget (see EBN Apr. 2008), would gain $5 billion in funding, which Environment America projects would weatherize over a million homes. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will receive $2.25 billion to upgrade existing affordable housing sponsored by the department. Existing energy-efficiency tax credits have been extended a year, and increased from 10% to 30% of the taxpayer’s cost. A federal green building program will receive $4.5 billion, cut from an original $7 billion, for improvements to facilities owned by the General Services Administration.