What incentives are granted for "Green" real estate renovations?

Question

What government incentives are provided to businesses/property owners that make use of "Green" renovations/construction?

Answer 1

The answer to your question really is, "that depends."

It depends on your city, county and state - and country, if you are not in the US.

In the US, many local, regional, and state jurisdictions offer various incentives. Some offer tax credits or rebates if you install approved solar-powered water heating and related systems. A few, not many, will offer incentives ranging from sales tax remission to property tax credits if you invest in alternative human waste disposal systems and wastewater disposal systems.

Almost every jursidiction offers incentives - ranging from the supplies to various forms of tax credits or rebates - to retrofit a home with low-flush toilets, shower restrictors or low-flow shower heads, and other water-saving devices.

Some offer incentives to install passive heating and cooling structures in your property. Many offer incentives for double-paned windows and heat/cooling loss prevention devices ranging from superior weatherstripping to caulking the edges of windows and exterior siding. Usually you can get etiher credits or even financial aid to install better ceiling insulation and sometimes improve insulation of walls and doors and the garage.

There are various incentives - depending on where you live - to re-landscape to reduce water demands, too, or to use such natural features as better shade to reduce energy demands.

Most communities today offer curbside recycling and don't charge you extra for it, even though often the waste haulers lose money on that service and charge to do it.

And most utility companies offer various incentives so that you can put a thermal wrap around your water heater, replace older appliances - ESPECIALLY refrigerators and freezers! - with much more energy-efficient units, inprove performance of heating and cooling systems, and conduct an "energy audit" of your property for still more ideas.

You can save by replacing standard light bulbs with more energy-efficient designs that still produce adequate lighting.

There are now web sites all over the place about this. Better Homes & Gardens used to publish some wonderful material on "green" housing designs and upgrades. If they don't today, look for back issues reaching to 1980 - LOTS of stuff was published. Same with Good Housekeeping. Check out "Garbage" magazine - if it's still published. If not, old editions are loaded with stuff.

Call your city and country administrators' offices for referrals to the right sources. Thanks for asking, and take action!