II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1575 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to modify the depreciation 

recovery period for energy-efficient cool roof systems. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 19, 2011 

Mr. CARDIN (for himself and Mr. CRAPO) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to modify 

the depreciation recovery period for energy-efficient cool 

roof systems. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Energy-Efficient Cool 

5 Roof Jobs Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEPRECIATION RECOVERY PERIOD FOR CERTAIN 

7 ROOF SYSTEMS. 

8 (a) 20-YEAR RECOVERY PERIOD.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (F) of section 

10 168(e)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (reVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:31 Sep 21, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1575.IS S1575

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1 lating to classification of certain property) is amend2 ed to read as follows: 

3 ‘‘(F) 20-YEAR PROPERTY.—The term ‘20- 

4 year property’ means— 

5 ‘‘(i) initial clearing and grading land 

6 improvements with respect to any electric 

7 utility transmission and distribution plant, 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(ii) any qualified energy-efficient cool 

10 roof replacement property.’’. 

11 (2) QUALIFIED ENERGY-EFFICIENT COOL ROOF

12 REPLACEMENT PROPERTY.—Section 168(e) of such 

13 Code is amended by adding at the end the following 

14 new paragraph: 

15 ‘‘(9) QUALIFIED ENERGY-EFFICIENT COOL

16 ROOF REPLACEMENT PROPERTY.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified 

18 energy-efficient cool roof replacement property’ 

19 means any roof system— 

20 ‘‘(i) which is placed in service— 

21 ‘‘(I) above conditioned or semi22 heated space on an eligible commer23 cial building, and 

24 ‘‘(II) during the period beginning 

25 on the date of the enactment of this 


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1 paragraph and ending on December 

2 31, 2013, 

3 ‘‘(ii) which has a slope equal to or less 

4 than 2:12, 

5 ‘‘(iii) which replaces an existing roof 

6 system, and 

7 ‘‘(iv) which includes— 

8 ‘‘(I) insulation which meets or 

9 exceeds the minimum prescriptive re10 quirements in tables A–1 to A–9 in 

11 the Normative Appendix A of 

12 ASHRAE Standard 189.1–2009, and 

13 ‘‘(II) in the case of an eligible 

14 commercial building located in a cli15 mate zone other than climate zone 6, 

16 7, or 8 (as specified in ASHRAE 

17 Standard 90.1–2010), a primary roof 

18 covering which has a cool roof surface. 

19 ‘‘(B) COOL ROOF SURFACE.—The term 

20 ‘cool roof surface’ means a roof the exterior 

21 surface of which — 

22 ‘‘(i) has a 3-year-aged solar reflec23 tance of at least 0.55 and a 3-year-aged 

24 thermal emittance of at least 0.75, as de25 termined in accordance with the Cool Roof 


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1 Rating Council CRRC–1 Product Rating 

2 Program, or 

3 ‘‘(ii) has a 3-year-aged solar reflec4 tance index (SRI) of at least 64, as deter5 mined in accordance with ASTM Standard 

6 E1980, determined— 

7 ‘‘(I) using a medium-wind-speed 

8 convection coefficient of 12 W/m2·K, 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(II) using the values for 3-year11 aged solar reflectance and 3-year-aged 

12 thermal emittance determined in ac13 cordance with the Cool Roof Rating 

14 Council CRRC–1 Product Rating Pro15 gram. 

16 ‘‘(C) ROOF SYSTEM.—The term ‘roof sys17 tem’ means a system of roof components, in18 cluding roof insulation and a membrane or pri19 mary roof covering, but not including the roof 

20 deck, designed to weather-proof and improve 

21 the thermal resistance of a building. 

22 ‘‘(D) ELIGIBLE COMMERCIAL BUILDING.— 

23 The term ‘eligible commercial building’ means 

24 any building— 


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1 ‘‘(i) which is within the scope of 

2 ASHRAE Standard 90.1–2010, 

3 ‘‘(ii) which is located in the United 

4 States, 

5 ‘‘(iii) with respect to which deprecia6 tion (or amortization in lieu of deprecia7 tion) is allowable, and 

8 ‘‘(iv) which was placed in service prior 

9 to December 31, 2009. 

10 ‘‘(E) ASHRAE.—The term ‘ASHRAE’ 

11 means the American Society of Heating, Refrig12 erating and Air-Conditioning Engineers.’’. 

13 (b) REQUIREMENT TO USE STRAIGHT LINE METH14 OD.—Paragraph (3) of section 168(b) of such Code is 

15 amended by adding at the end the following new subpara16 graph: 

17 ‘‘(J) Any qualified energy-efficient cool 

18 roof replacement property.’’. 

19 (c) ALTERNATIVE SYSTEM.—The table contained in 

20 section 168(g)(3)(B) of such Code is amended by striking 

21 the last item and inserting the following new items: 

‘‘(F)(i) .......................................................................................... 25

(F)(ii) ......................................................................................... 27.5’’. 


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1 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

2 this section shall apply to property placed in service after 

3 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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