I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8930 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow 10-year straight 

line depreciation for energy efficient qualified improvement property, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 9, 2020 

Mr. SCHNEIDER (for himself and Mr. RICE of South Carolina) 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 allow 10- 

year straight line depreciation for energy efficient qualified improvement property, 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. 

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

5 Qualified Improvement Property Act of 2020’’ or the ‘‘E– 

6 QUIP Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEPRECIATION OF ENERGY EFFICIENT QUALIFIED 

2 IMPROVEMENT PROPERTY. 

3 (a) 10-YEAR PROPERTY.—Section 168(e)(3)(D) of 

4 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking 

5 ‘‘and’’ at the end of clause (iii), by striking the period 

6 at the end of clause (iv) and inserting ‘‘, and’’, and by 

7 adding at the end the following new clause: 

8 ‘‘(vi) energy efficient qualified im9 provement property.’’. 

10 (b) STRAIGHT LINE METHOD.—Section 168(b)(3) of 

11 such Code is amended by adding at the end the following 

12 new subparagraph: 

13 ‘‘(H) Energy efficient qualified improve14 ment property described in subsection (e)(7).’’. 

15 (c) ENERGY EFFICIENT QUALIFIED IMPROVEMENT

16 PROPERTY DEFINED.—Section 168(e) of such Code is 

17 amended by adding at the end the following new para18 graph: 

19 ‘‘(7) ENERGY EFFICIENT QUALIFIED IMPROVE20 MENT PROPERTY.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘energy effi22 cient qualified improvement property’ means 

23 any improvement— 

24 ‘‘(i) to a building which is nonresiden25 tial real property, or multifamily residen26 tial rental property, first placed in service 


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1 more than 10 years before the date of the 

2 enactment of this subparagraph, 

3 ‘‘(ii) which is installed as part of— 

4 ‘‘(I) the lighting system, 

5 ‘‘(II) the heating, cooling, ven6 tilation, or hot water systems, or 

7 ‘‘(III) the building envelope, 

8 ‘‘(iii) which meets the performance re9 quirements of subparagraph (B), 

10 ‘‘(iv) which, in the case of an improve11 ment described in subclause (I) or (II) of 

12 clause (ii)— 

13 ‘‘(I) is audited, commissioned, or 

14 managed by a professional with a cre15 dential that is recognized by the De16 partment of Energy through its Bet17 ter Buildings Workforce Guidelines, 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(II) is subject to an ongoing op20 erations and maintenance plan under 

21 such certification during the applica22 ble recovery period, 

23 ‘‘(v) which, in the case of an improve24 ment described in clause (ii)(III), the de25 sign and installation has been completed, 


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1 observed, or approved by an individual 

2 qualified by industry-recognized profes3 sional credential programs in building en4 velope quality assurance, as identified by 

5 the Secretary of Energy (following an op6 portunity for, and consideration of, public 

7 input), and 

8 ‘‘(vi) which is placed in service before 

9 January 1, 2026, and 

10 ‘‘(vii) with respect to which the tax11 payer elects the application of this sub12 paragraph. 

13 ‘‘(B) PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS.—An 

14 improvement meets the performance require15 ments of this subparagraph if— 

16 ‘‘(i) in the case of lighting, it meets 

17 the lighting power allowances, densities, 

18 and control specifications in the prescrip19 tive option of the International Green Con20 struction Code (2018), 

21 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a unitary air22 cooled air conditioner, it meets or exceeds 

23 Consortium for Energy Efficiency Tier 2, 

24 as in effect on January 1, 2019, 


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1 ‘‘(iii) in the case of a unitary water2 cooled and evaporatively cooled air condi3 tioner, it meets or exceeds Consortium for 

4 Energy Efficiency Tier 1, as in effect on 

5 January 1, 2019, 

6 ‘‘(iv) in the case of a unitary heat 

7 pump— 

8 ‘‘(I) with a capacity of less than 

9 65,000 Btu per hour, it meets or ex10 ceeds Consortium for Energy Effi11 ciency Tier 2, as in effect on January 

12 1, 2019, or 

13 ‘‘(II) with a capacity of 65,000 

14 Btu per hour or greater, it meets or 

15 exceeds Consortium of Energy Effi16 ciency Tier 1, as in effect on January 

17 1, 2019, 

18 ‘‘(v) in the case of a variable refrig19 erant flow multisplit air conditioner or 

20 variable refrigerant flow multisplit heat 

21 pump— 

22 ‘‘(I) with a capacity of less than 

23 65,000 Btu per hour, it meets or ex24 ceeds Consortium for Energy EffiVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:38 Dec 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8930.IH H8930

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1 ciency Tier 2, as in effect on January 

2 12, 2016, or 

3 ‘‘(II) with a capacity of 65,000 

4 Btu per hour or greater, it meets or 

5 exceeds Consortium of Energy Effi6 ciency Tier 1, as in effect on January 

7 12, 2016, 

8 ‘‘(vi) in the case of a boiler, it meets 

9 or exceeds Consortium for Energy Effi10 ciency Tier 1, as in effect on September 1, 

11 2015, 

12 ‘‘(vii) in the case of a hot water heat13 er— 

14 ‘‘(I) that is gas-fired, it meets or 

15 exceeds Consortium of Energy Effi16 ciency Tier 1, as in effect on June 5, 

17 2012, or 

18 ‘‘(II) that runs on electricity, it 

19 has a Coefficient of Performance of 3 

20 or more, 

21 ‘‘(viii) in the case of a water-cooled 

22 centrifugal chiller package, it meets the 

23 prescriptive option of the International 

24 Green Construction Code (2018), 


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1 ‘‘(ix) in the case of insulation for 

2 heating and cooling supply and return 

3 ducts, it meets the prescriptive option for 

4 duct insulation of the International Green 

5 Construction Code (2018) and its applica6 ble Normative Appendix, 

7 ‘‘(x) in the case of roofing, walls, and 

8 associated insulation, it meets the prescrip9 tive option for building envelope opaque 

10 elements of the International Green Con11 struction Code (2018) and its applicable 

12 Normative Appendix, 

13 ‘‘(xi) in the case of windows and sky14 lights, they meet the prescriptive option for 

15 building envelope fenestration and sky16 lights of the International Green Construc17 tion Code (2018) and its applicable Nor18 mative Appendix, 

19 ‘‘(xii) in the case of sensors and con20 trols, it is a device that automatically con21 trols the operation of other qualified equip22 ment without manual operation of a 

23 switch, using technology such as motion or 

24 occupancy detection, infrared, ultrasonic, 

25 microwave, audio-based, image-processing, 


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1 temperature, humidity, time-scheduling, bi2 level, or demand-response, and 

3 ‘‘(xiii) in the case of a variable speed 

4 or frequency drive, it is a drive— 

5 ‘‘(I) added to adjust the speed 

6 and torque of an operational motor 

7 that powers pump, fan, exhaust, ven8 tilation, air-handling, or compressor 

9 equipment, and 

10 ‘‘(II) controlled automatically by 

11 a building automation system, process 

12 control system, or local controller 

13 driven by differential pressure flow, 

14 temperature or another variable sig15 nal.’’. 

16 (d) ALTERNATIVE DEPRECIATION SYSTEM.—The 

17 table in section 168(g)(3)(B) of such Code is amended by 

18 inserting after the item relating to subparagraph (D)(v) 

19 the following new item: 

‘‘(D)(vi) ........................................................................................ 10’’. 

20 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

21 this section shall apply to property placed in service after 

22 December 31, 2020. 


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1 SEC. 3. REPORT RELATING TO DEPRECIATION OF ENERGY 

2 EFFICIENT QUALIFIED IMPROVEMENT PROP3 ERTY. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after the 

5 date that is 3 years after the date of the enactment of 

6 this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation 

7 with the Secretary of Energy, shall submit to Congress 

8 a report on energy efficient qualified improvement prop9 erty (as defined in section 168(e)(7) of the Internal Rev10 enue Code of 1986). 

11 (b) CONTENTS.—Such report shall include the fol12 lowing: 

13 (1) The number of times over such 3-year pe14 riod energy efficient qualified improvement property 

15 was placed in service and treated as 10-year prop16 erty under section 168(e)(3)(D) of such Code. 

17 (2) A summary of the types of such energy effi18 cient qualified improvement property placed in serv19 ice during such period. 

20 (3) An estimate of the energy use savings, and 

21 reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, attributable 

22 to such property. 

23 (4) An estimate of the number of jobs created 

24 which are attributable to the enactment of the En25 ergy Efficient Qualified Improvement Property Act 

26 of 2020. 


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1 (5) Any recommendations for updated efficiency 

2 requirements for energy efficient qualified improve3 ment property or rules for the depreciation thereof. 

Æ 


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