I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4317 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend and expand the 

new energy efficient home credit, to extend the energy efficient commercial buildings deduction, to eliminate the basis reduction for low-income 

housing properties receiving certain energy benefits, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 12, 2019 

Mr. LANGEVIN (for himself and Mr. WELCH) 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 extend 

and expand the new energy efficient home credit, to 

extend the energy efficient commercial buildings deduction, to eliminate the basis reduction for low-income 

housing properties receiving certain energy benefits, 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 ‘‘Building Efficiently 

5 Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. EXTENSION AND EXPANSION OF NEW ENERGY EFFI2 CIENT HOME CREDIT. 

3 (a) EXTENSION OF CREDIT.—Section 45L(g) of the 

4 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking 

5 ‘‘December 31, 2017’’ and inserting ‘‘December 31, 

6 2020’’. 

7 (b) CREDIT FOR QUALIFIED ENERGY EFFICIENT

8 RENTAL PROPERTY.—Paragraph (2) of section 45L(a) of 

9 such Code is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of 

10 subparagraph (A), by striking the period at the end of 

11 subparagraph (B) and inserting ‘‘, and’’, and by adding 

12 at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(C) in lieu of subparagraphs (A) and (B), 

14 in the case of qualified new energy efficient 

15 home that is a qualified energy efficient resi16 dential rental property, 3.3 percent of the cost 

17 of construction of such property, reduced by 

18 any expenditure not taken into account under 

19 this section by reason of subsection (f).’’. 

20 (c) QUALIFIED ENERGY EFFICIENT RESIDENTIAL

21 RENTAL PROPERTY DEFINED.—Subsection (b) of section 

22 45L of such Code is amended by adding at the end the 

23 following: 

24 ‘‘(5) QUALIFIED ENERGY EFFICIENT RESIDEN25 TIAL RENTAL PROPERTY.— 


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

2 energy efficient residential real property’ means 

3 a building which is residential rental property 

4 which is described in subparagraph (B), (C), or 

5 (D). 

6 ‘‘(B) NEW OR RECONSTRUCTED BUILD7 ING.—A building is described in this subpara8 graph if— 

9 ‘‘(i) the certification requirements of 

10 subparagraph (E) with respect to the 

11 building are met, 

12 ‘‘(ii) the original use of which com13 mences with the taxpayer, and 

14 ‘‘(iii) the building is placed in service 

15 after the date of the enactment of the 

16 Building Efficiently Act of 2019. 

17 ‘‘(C) IMPROVEMENTS TO EXISTING BUILD18 ING.—A building is described in this subpara19 graph if, only after improvements are made to 

20 the building— 

21 ‘‘(i) the certification requirements of 

22 subparagraph (E) with respect to the 

23 building are met, 

24 ‘‘(ii) the original use of the improved 

25 building commences with the taxpayer, 


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1 ‘‘(iii) the improved building is placed 

2 in service after the date of the enactment 

3 of the Building Efficiently Act of 2019, 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(iv) the taxpayer elects to the appli6 cation of this paragraph with respect to 

7 the building. 

8 ‘‘(D) BUILDINGS ACQUIRED BY PUR9 CHASE.—A building is described in this sub10 paragraph if the building— 

11 ‘‘(i) is acquired by purchase from an 

12 unrelated person, 

13 ‘‘(ii) meets the certification require14 ments of subparagraph (E), and 

15 ‘‘(iii) is placed in service after the 

16 date of the enactment of the Building Effi17 ciently Act of 2019. 

18 ‘‘(E) CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.— 

19 The requirements of this subparagraph are met 

20 if, with respect to a building, the building is 

21 certified in accordance with subsection (d) as 

22 being constructed, reconstructed, or retrofitted, 

23 as the case may be, under a plan designed to 

24 reduce energy and power consumption of the 


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1 building by 40 percent or more in comparison 

2 to— 

3 ‘‘(i) in the case of retrofits made to 

4 an existing building, the baseline annual 

5 energy and power consumption of the 

6 building, or 

7 ‘‘(ii) in any other case, a reference 

8 building which meets the minimum re9 quirements of the International Energy 

10 Conservation Code 2018 using methods of 

11 calculation under subsection (d). 

12 ‘‘(F) BASELINE ANNUAL ENERGY AND

13 POWER CONSUMPTION.—The baseline annual 

14 energy and power consumption of any building 

15 shall be determined by using— 

16 ‘‘(i) a building energy performance 

17 benchmarking tool designated for purposes 

18 of this paragraph by the Administrator of 

19 the Environmental Protection Agency, 

20 which is based upon energy and power con21 sumption data during the 1-year period 

22 ending on the date on which retrofits 

23 under the plan are placed in service, or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) such other methods of calculation 

2 as certified by the Secretary in accordance 

3 with subsection (d). 

4 ‘‘(G) RELATED PERSONS.—For purposes 

5 of subparagraph (D), a person is related to an6 other person if— 

7 ‘‘(i) the persons are members of an 

8 affiliated group (as defined in section 

9 1504), or 

10 ‘‘(ii) the persons have a relationship 

11 described in subsection (b) of section 267; 

12 except that, for purposes of this clause, the 

13 phrase ‘80 percent or more’ shall be sub14 stituted for the phrase ‘more than 50 per15 cent’ each place it appears in such sub16 section and rules similar to the rules of 

17 subsections (c) and (e) (other than para18 graphs (4) and (5) thereof) shall apply.’’. 

19 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 45L(d) is 

20 amended by striking ‘‘subsection (c)’’ both places it ap21 pears and inserting ‘‘subsection (b)(5) or (c)’’. 

22 (e) EFFECTIVE DATES.— 

23 (1) EXTENSION.—The amendment made by 

24 subsection (a) shall apply to property placed in serv25 ice after December 31, 2017. 


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1 (2) QUALIFIED ENERGY EFFICIENT RENTAL

2 PROPERTY.—The amendments made by subsections 

3 (b), (c), and (d) shall apply to property placed in 

4 service after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

5 in taxable years ending after such date. 

6 SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF ENERGY EFFICIENT COMMERCIAL 

7 BUILDINGS DEDUCTION. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 179D(h) of the Internal 

9 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘December 

10 31, 2017’’ and inserting ‘‘December 31, 2020’’. 

11 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

12 this section shall apply to property placed in service after 

13 December 31, 2017. 

14 SEC. 4. ELIMINATION OF BASIS REDUCTION FOR LOW-IN15 COME HOUSING PROPERTIES RECEIVING 

16 CERTAIN ENERGY BENEFITS. 

17 (a) NEW ENERGY EFFICIENT HOME CREDIT.—Sub18 section (e) of section 45L of the Internal Revenue Code 

19 of 1986 is amended— 

20 (1) by striking ‘‘ADJUSTMENT.—For purposes’’ 

21 and inserting ‘‘ADJUSTMENT.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes’’; and 

23 (2) by adding at the end the following new 

24 paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR LOW-INCOME HOUSING

2 PROPERTIES.—Paragraph (1) shall not apply to any 

3 property with respect to which a credit is allowed 

4 under section 42.’’. 

5 (b) ENERGY EFFICIENT COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS

6 DEDUCTION.—Subsection (e) of section 179D of the In7 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 

8 (1) by striking ‘‘REDUCTION.—For purposes’’ 

9 and inserting ‘‘REDUCTION.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes’’; and 

11 (2) by adding at the end the following new 

12 paragraph: 

13 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR LOW-INCOME HOUSING

14 PROPERTIES.—Paragraph (1) shall not apply to any 

15 property with respect to which a credit is allowed 

16 under section 42.’’. 

17 (c) ENERGY CREDIT.—Paragraph (3) of section 

18 50(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 

19 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara20 graph (A); 

21 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub22 paragraph (B) and inserting ‘‘, and’’; and 

23 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub24 paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(C) paragraph (1) shall not apply to any 

2 property with respect to which a credit is al3 lowed under section 42.’’. 

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

5 this section shall apply to property placed in service after 

6 the date of the enactment of this Act, in taxable years 

7 ending after such date. 

Æ 


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