I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4226 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to improve and extend certain 

energy-related tax provisions, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 8, 2009 

Mr. REICHERT (for himself, Mr. KIND, Mr. DAVIS of Kentucky, Mr. 

BLUMENAUER, Mr. LEE of New York, and Mr. PERRIELLO) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and 

Means 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to improve 

and extend certain energy-related tax provisions, and 

for other purposes. 

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; AMENDMENT OF 1986 CODE; 

4 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

5 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

6 ‘‘Expanding Building Efficiency Incentives Act of 2009’’. 

7 (b) AMENDMENT OF 1986 CODE.—Except as other8 wise expressly provided, whenever in this Act an amend9 ment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment 


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1 to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference 

2 shall be considered to be made to a section or other provi3 sion of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

4 (c) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

5 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; amendment of 1986 Code; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Increase in, and extension of, new energy efficient home credit. 

Sec. 3. Modification of deduction for energy efficient commercial buildings. 

Sec. 4. Nonbusiness energy property. 

Sec. 5. Energy ratings of non-business property. 

Sec. 6. Credit for home performance auditor certifications. 

6 SEC. 2. INCREASE IN, AND EXTENSION OF, NEW ENERGY 

7 EFFICIENT HOME CREDIT. 

8 (a) NEW TIER; CREDIT AMOUNT FOR NEW TIER.— 

9 (1) NEW TIER.—Subsection (c) of section 45L 

10 is amended to read as follows: 

11 ‘‘(c) ENERGY SAVINGS REQUIREMENTS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A dwelling unit meets the 

13 energy saving requirements of this subsection if such 

14 unit is— 

15 ‘‘(A) described in paragraph (2), 

16 ‘‘(B) described in paragraph (3), 

17 ‘‘(C) a manufactured home described in 

18 paragraph (4), or 

19 ‘‘(D) a manufactured home described in 

20 paragraph (5). 


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1 ‘‘(2) DWELLING UNIT DESCRIBED IN PARA2 GRAPH (2).—A dwelling unit is described in this 

3 paragraph if such unit is certified— 

4 ‘‘(A) to have a level of annual heating and 

5 cooling energy consumption which is at least 50 

6 percent below the annual level of heating and 

7 cooling energy consumption of a comparable 

8 dwelling unit— 

9 ‘‘(i) which is constructed in accord10 ance with the standards of chapter 4 of the 

11 2003 International Energy Conservation 

12 Code, as such Code (including supple13 ments) is in effect on the date of the en14 actment of the Energy Tax Incentives Act 

15 of 2005, and 

16 ‘‘(ii) for which the heating and cooling 

17 equipment efficiencies correspond to the 

18 minimum allowed under the regulations es19 tablished by the Department of Energy 

20 pursuant to the National Appliance Energy 

21 Conservation Act of 1987 and in effect at 

22 the time of completion of construction, and 

23 ‘‘(B) to have building envelope component 

improvements account for at least 1 24 ⁄5 of such 

25 50 percent. 


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1 The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of 

2 Energy shall provide by regulation for the applica3 tion of this paragraph in the case of a dwelling unit 

4 in a multifamily building that is more than 3 stories 

5 above grade, or in any other building that is not 

6 within the scope of such chapter 4. If, upon the ac7 quisition of such unit by any person described in 

8 subsection (a)(1)(A)(ii)(I), the amount of the credit 

9 allowed under this section with respect to such unit 

10 shall be disclosed to such person. 

11 ‘‘(3) DWELLING UNIT DESCRIBED IN PARA12 GRAPH (3).—A dwelling unit is described in this 

13 paragraph if such unit is certified— 

14 ‘‘(A) to have a level of annual total energy 

15 consumption (including heating, cooling, water 

16 heating, lighting, and appliance energy use) 

17 which is at least 50 percent below the annual 

18 level of total energy consumption of a com19 parable dwelling unit which is constructed in 

20 accordance with the 2004 Supplement of the 

21 2003 International Energy Conservation Code, 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(B) to have building envelope component 

improvements account for at least 1 24 ⁄5 of such 

25 50 percent. 


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1 ‘‘(4) MANUFACTURED HOME DESCRIBED IN

2 PARAGRAPH (4).—A manufactured home is described 

3 in this paragraph if such manufactured home con4 forms to Federal Manufactured Home Construction 

5 and Safety Standards (part 3280 of title 24, Code 

6 of Federal Regulations) and meets the requirements 

7 of a dwelling unit described in paragraph (2). 

8 ‘‘(5) MANUFACTURED HOME DESCRIBED IN

9 PARAGRAPH (5).—A manufactured home is described 

10 in this paragraph if such manufactured home con11 forms to Federal Manufactured Home Construction 

12 and Safety Standards (part 3280 of title 24, Code 

13 of Federal Regulations) and— 

14 ‘‘(A) meets the requirements of— 

15 ‘‘(i) a dwelling unit described in para16 graph (2), applied by substituting ‘30 per17 cent’ for ‘50 percent’ both places it appears therein and by substituting ‘1 18 ⁄3’ for 

‘

1 19 ⁄5’ in subparagraph (B) thereof, or 

20 ‘‘(ii) a dwelling unit described in para21 graph (3), 

22 ‘‘(B) meets the requirements established 

23 by the Administrator of the Environmental Pro24 tection Agency under the Energy Star Labeled 

25 Homes program as in effect on the date of the 


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1 enactment of the Expanding Building Effi2 ciency Incentives Act of 2009, or 

3 ‘‘(C) meets the requirements under the 

4 Energy Star Labeled Homes program estab5 lished after the date of the enactment of the 

6 Expanding Building Efficiency Incentives Act 

7 of 2009.’’. 

8 (2) CREDIT AMOUNT FOR NEW TIER.—Para9 graph (2) of section 45L(a) is amended to read as 

10 follows: 

11 ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE AMOUNT.—For purposes of 

12 paragraph (1), the applicable amount is an amount 

13 equal to— 

14 ‘‘(A) in the case of a dwelling unit de15 scribed in paragraph (2) or (4) of subsection 

16 (c), $2,000, 

17 ‘‘(B) in the case of a dwelling unit de18 scribed in paragraph (3) of subsection (c), 

19 $5,000, 

20 ‘‘(C) in the case of a manufactured home 

21 described in paragraph (5)(A)(i) or (5)(B) of 

22 subsection (c), $1,500, and 

23 ‘‘(D) in the case of a manufactured home 

24 described in paragraph (5)(A)(ii) or (5)(C) of 

25 subsection (c), $2,500. 


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1 Nothing in this section shall permit the same dwell2 ing unit or manufactured home to qualify for more 

3 than one applicable amount.’’. 

4 (b) CREDIT AVAILABLE FOR RENTAL UNITS, 

5 OWNER-BUILDERS, AND QUALIFIED LOW-INCOME

6 BUILDINGS; CREDIT AMOUNT FOR QUALIFIED LOW-IN7 COME BUILDINGS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) of section 

9 45L(a) is amended to read as follows: 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 

11 38— 

12 ‘‘(A) in the case of an eligible contractor, 

13 the new energy efficient home credit for the 

14 taxable year is the applicable amount for each 

15 qualified new energy efficient home which is— 

16 ‘‘(i) constructed by the eligible con17 tractor, and 

18 ‘‘(ii)(I) acquired by a person from 

19 such eligible contractor and used by any 

20 person as a residence during the taxable 

21 year, or 

22 ‘‘(II) used by such eligible contractor 

23 as a residence during the taxable year, and 

24 ‘‘(B) in the case of a taxpayer, the new en25 ergy efficient home credit for the taxable year 


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1 is the applicable amount for each qualified new 

2 energy efficient home which is in a qualified 

3 low-income building (as defined in section 

4 42(c)(2))— 

5 ‘‘(i) placed in service by the taxpayer 

6 during the taxable year, and 

7 ‘‘(ii) for which such taxpayer is al8 lowed a credit under section 42 or a 

9 subaward under section 1602(c) of the 

10 American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax 

11 Act of 2009.’’. 

12 (2) CREDIT AMOUNT.—Paragraph (2) of section 

13 45L(a), as amended by this section, is amended by 

14 adding at the end the following new flush sentence: 

15 ‘‘In the case of a dwelling unit in a qualified low16 income building (as so defined), the applicable dollar 

17 amount for such a dwelling unit described in 1 of 

18 the preceding subparagraphs shall be equal to 150 

19 percent of the dollar amount otherwise specified in 

20 such preceding subparagraph, except that if the 

21 credit under section 42 with respect to such unit is 

22 determined by applying section 42(d)(5)(B), then 

23 the applicable dollar amount shall be 115 percent of 

24 such dollar amount so specified.’’. 


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1 (c) CERTIFICATION METHOD FOR HIGH RISE MUL2 TIFAMILY AND MIXED USE BUILDINGS.—Section 

3 45L(d)(1) is amended by inserting ‘‘, and in the case of 

4 high rise multifamily and mixed use buildings, after exam5 ining the methods required for such buildings under sec6 tion 179D’’ after ‘‘the Secretary of Energy’’. 

7 (d) CREDIT ALLOWED AGAINST ALTERNATIVE MIN8 IMUM TAX.—Subparagraph (B) of section 38(c)(4) is 

9 amended— 

10 (1) by redesignating clauses (vi), (vii), and (viii) 

11 as clauses (vii), (viii), and (ix), respectively, and 

12 (2) by inserting after clause (v) the following 

13 new clause: 

14 ‘‘(vi) the credit determined under sec15 tion 45L,’’. 

16 (e) EXTENSION.—Subsection (g) of section 45L is 

17 amended by striking ‘‘December 31, 2009’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘December 31, 2015’’. 

19 (f) EFFECTIVE DATES.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by 

21 this section shall apply to homes constructed and ac22 quired or placed in service after December 31, 2008. 

23 (2) AMT.—The amendments made by sub24 section (d) shall apply to credits determined under 

25 section 45L of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 


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1 in taxable years beginning after December 31, 2008, 

2 and to carrybacks of such credits. 

3 SEC. 3. MODIFICATION OF DEDUCTION FOR ENERGY EFFI4 CIENT COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS. 

5 (a) INCREASE IN MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF DEDUC6 TION.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (A) of section 

8 179D(b)(1) is amended by striking ‘‘$1.80’’ and in9 serting ‘‘$3.00’’. 

10 (2) PARTIAL ALLOWANCE.—Paragraph (1) of 

11 section 179D(d) is amended to read as follows: 

12 ‘‘(1) PARTIAL ALLOWANCE.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

14 subsection (f), if— 

15 ‘‘(i) the requirement of subsection 

16 (c)(1)(D) is not met, but 

17 ‘‘(ii) there is a certification in accord18 ance with paragraph (6) that— 

19 ‘‘(I) any system referred to in 

20 subsection (c)(1)(C) satisfies the en21 ergy-savings targets established by the 

22 Secretary under subparagraph (B) 

23 with respect to such system, or 

24 ‘‘(II) the systems referred to in 

25 subsection (c)(1)(C)(ii) and subsection 


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1 (c)(1)(C)(iii) together satisfy the en2 ergy-savings targets established by the 

3 Secretary under subparagraph (B) 

4 with respect to such systems, 

5 then the requirement of subsection (c)(1)(D) 

6 shall be treated as met with respect to such sys7 tem or systems, and the deduction under sub8 section (a) shall be allowed with respect to en9 ergy efficient commercial building property in10 stalled as part of such system and as part of 

11 a plan to meet such targets, except that sub12 section (b) shall be applied to such property de13 scribed in clause (ii)(I) by substituting ‘$1.00’ 

14 for ‘$3.00’ and to such property described in 

15 clause (ii)(II) by substituting ‘$2.20’ for 

16 ‘$3.00’. 

17 ‘‘(B) REGULATIONS.— 

18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, 

19 after consultation with the Secretary of 

20 Energy, shall establish a target for each 

21 system described in subsection (c)(1)(C) 

22 which, if such targets were met for all such 

23 systems, the building would meet the re24 quirements of subsection (c)(1)(D). 


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1 ‘‘(ii) COMBINED SYSTEMS.—The Sec2 retary, after consultation with the Sec3 retary of Energy, shall establish not later 

4 than 6 months after the date of the enact5 ment of the Expanding Building Efficiency 

6 Incentives Act of 2009 a prescriptive par7 tial compliance pathway for combined en8 velope and mechanical system performance 

9 that details the appropriate components, 

10 efficiency levels, or other relevant informa11 tion for which the required level of com12 bined savings in both categories can be 

13 deemed to have been achieved.’’. 

14 (b) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—Section 179D is 

15 amended by redesignating subsections (g) and (h) as sub16 sections (h) and (i), respectively, and by inserting after 

17 subsection (f) the following new subsection: 

18 ‘‘(g) COORDINATION WITH NEW ENERGY EFFICIENT

19 HOME CREDIT.—No deduction shall be allowed under this 

20 section with respect to any building or dwelling unit with 

21 respect to which a credit under section 45L was allowed.’’. 

22 (c) EXTENSION.—Subsection (h) of section 179D is 

23 amended by striking ‘‘December 31, 2013’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘December 31, 2015’’. 


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

2 this section shall apply to property placed in service in 

3 taxable years beginning after the date of the enactment 

4 of this Act. 

5 SEC. 4. NONBUSINESS ENERGY PROPERTY. 

6 (a) INCREASE IN LIMITATION AMOUNT.—Subsection 

7 (b) of section 25C is amended by striking ‘‘$1,500’’ and 

8 inserting ‘‘$5,000’’. 

9 (b) EXTENSION.—Paragraph (2) of section 25C(g) is 

10 amended by striking ‘‘December 31, 2010’’ and inserting 

11 ‘‘December 31, 2015’’. 

12 (c) ONSITE LABOR COSTS ALLOWED.—Paragraph 

13 (1) of section 25C(c) is amended by adding at the end 

14 the following flush sentence: ‘‘Such term includes amounts 

15 paid or incurred for labor costs properly allocable to the 

16 onsite preparation, assembly, or original installation of 

17 such improvements.’’. 

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

19 this section shall apply to property placed in service in 

20 taxable years beginning after the date of the enactment 

21 of this Act. 

22 SEC. 5. ENERGY RATINGS OF NON-BUSINESS PROPERTY. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart A of part IV of sub24 chapter A of chapter 1 is amended by inserting after sec25 tion 25D the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 25E. ENERGY RATINGS OF NON-BUSINESS PROPERTY. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an individual, 

3 there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax imposed 

4 by this chapter for the taxable year an amount equal to 

5 the amount paid or incurred by the taxpayer for a quali6 fied home energy rating conducted during such taxable 

7 year. 

8 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—The amount allowed as a credit 

9 under subsection (a) with respect to any taxpayer for any 

10 taxable year shall not exceed $200. 

11 ‘‘(c) QUALIFIED HOME ENERGY RATING.—For pur12 poses of this section, the term ‘qualified home energy rat13 ing’ means a home energy rating conducted with respect 

14 to any residence of the taxpayer by a home performance 

15 auditor certified by a provider accredited by the Building 

16 Performance Institute (BPI), the Residential Energy 

17 Services Network (RESNET), or equivalent rating system 

18 as determined by the Secretary of Energy. 

19 ‘‘(d) TERMINATION.—This section shall not apply 

20 with respect to any rating conducted after December 31, 

21 2011.’’. 

22 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

23 for subpart A of part IV of subchapter A chapter 1 is 

24 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

25 25D the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 25E. Energy ratings of non-business property.’’. 


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

2 this section shall apply to amounts paid or incurred in tax3 able years beginning after the date of the enactment of 

4 this Act. 

5 SEC. 6. CREDIT FOR HOME PERFORMANCE AUDITOR CER6 TIFICATIONS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of sub8 chapter A of chapter 1 is amended by adding at the end 

9 the following new section: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 45R. HOME PERFORMANCE AUDITOR CERTIFICATION 

11 CREDIT. 

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 38, the 

13 home performance auditor certification credit determined 

14 under this section for any taxable year is an amount equal 

15 to the qualified training and certification costs paid or in16 curred by the taxpayer which may be taken into account 

17 for such taxable year. 

18 ‘‘(b) QUALIFIED TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION

19 COSTS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified train21 ing and certification costs’ means costs paid or in22 curred for training which is required for the tax23 payer or employees of the taxpayer to be certified as 

24 home performance auditors for purposes of providing 

25 qualified home energy ratings under section 25E(c). 


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1 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—The qualified training and 

2 certification costs taken into account under sub3 section (a)(1) for the taxable year with respect to 

4 any individual shall not exceed $500 reduced by the 

5 amount of the credit allowed under subsection (a)(1) 

6 to the taxpayer (or any predecessor) with respect to 

7 such individual for all prior taxable years. 

8 ‘‘(3) YEAR COSTS TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT.— 

9 Qualified training and certifications costs with re10 spect to any individual shall not be taken into ac11 count under subsection (a)(1) before the taxable 

12 year in which the individual with respect to whom 

13 such costs are paid or incurred has performed 25 

14 qualified home energy ratings under section 25E(c). 

15 ‘‘(c) SPECIAL RULES.— 

16 ‘‘(1) AGGREGATION RULES.—For purposes of 

17 this section, all persons treated as a single employer 

18 under subsections (a) and (b) of section 52 shall be 

19 treated as 1 person. 

20 ‘‘(2) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—No deduction shall be 

22 allowed for that portion of the expenses other23 wise allowable as a deduction for the taxable 

24 year which is equal to the amount taken into 


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1 account under subsection (a) for such taxable 

2 year. 

3 ‘‘(B) AMOUNT PREVIOUSLY DEDUCTED.— 

4 No credit shall be allowed under subsection (a) 

5 with respect to any amount for which a deduc6 tion has been allowed in any preceding taxable 

7 year.’’. 

8 (b) CREDIT TREATED AS PART OF GENERAL BUSI9 NESS CREDIT.—Section 38(b) is amended by striking 

10 ‘‘plus’’ at the end of paragraph (34), by striking the period 

11 at the end of paragraph (35) and inserting ‘‘plus’’, and 

12 by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

13 ‘‘(36) the home performance auditor certifi14 cation credit determined under section 45R(a).’’. 

15 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec16 tions for subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 

17 1 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

18 45Q the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 45R. Home performance auditor certification credit.’’. 

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

20 this section shall apply to amounts paid or incurred after 

21 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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