I 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5597 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to modify the new energy 

efficient home credit and to provide a credit against tax for the purchase 

of certain energy efficient homes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 12, 2008 

Ms. BEAN 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 modify 

the new energy efficient home credit and to provide a 

credit against tax for the purchase of certain energy 

efficient homes. 

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 ‘‘Next Generation 

5 Homes Act of 2008’’. 

6 SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF NEW ENERGY EFFICIENT HOME 

7 CREDIT. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.— 


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1 (1) MODIFICATION OF CREDIT AMOUNT.—Para2 graph (2) of section 45L(a) of the Internal Revenue 

3 Code of 1986 (relating to applicable amount) is 

4 amended to read as follows: 

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

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

7 equal to— 

8 ‘‘(A) in the case of an Energy Star Home, 

9 $700, 

10 ‘‘(B) in the case of an Energy Plus Home, 

11 $2,000, 

12 ‘‘(C) in the case of an Energy Saver 

13 Home, $5,000, and 

14 ‘‘(D) in the case of Zero Energy Home, 

15 $10,000.’’. 

16 (2) MODIFICATION OF ENERGY SAVING RE17 QUIREMENT.—Subsection (c) of section 45L of such 

18 Code is amended to read as follows: 

19 ‘‘(c) ENERGY SAVINGS REQUIREMENTS.— 

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

21 energy savings requirements of this subsection if 

22 such unit is described in paragraph (2). 

23 ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE DWELLING UNITS.—For pur24 poses of this section— 


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1 ‘‘(A) ENERGY STAR HOME.—The term 

2 ‘Energy Star Home’ means a dwelling unit 

3 which meets the requirements established by 

4 the Administrator of the Environmental Agency 

5 under the Energy Star Labeled Homes pro6 gram. 

7 ‘‘(B) ENERGY PLUS HOME.—The term 

8 ‘Energy Plus Home’ means a dwelling unit 

9 which is certified under the most recent Mort10 gage Industry National Home Energy Rating 

11 Systems Standards as having a relative energy 

12 use index value of more than 50, but not more 

13 than 70. 

14 ‘‘(C) ENERGY SAVER HOME.—The term 

15 ‘Energy Saver Home’ means a dwelling unit 

16 which meets the requirements of subparagraph 

17 (B) applied by substituting ‘0’ for ‘50’ and ‘50’ 

18 for ‘70’. 

19 ‘‘(D) ZERO ENERGY HOME.—The term 

20 ‘Zero Energy Home’ means a dwelling unit 

21 which meets the requirements of subparagraph 

22 (B) applied by substituting ‘0’ for ‘more than 

23 50, but not more than 70’.’’. 


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1 (3) MODIFICATION OF TERMINATION.—Sub2 section (g) of section 45L of such Code (relating to 

3 termination) is amended to read as follows: 

4 ‘‘(g) TERMINATION.—This section shall not apply to 

5 any qualified new energy efficient home acquired after— 

6 ‘‘(1) in the case of an Energy Star Home, De7 cember 31, 2011, 

8 ‘‘(2) in the case of a Energy Star Home, De9 cember 31, 2013, 

10 ‘‘(3) in the case of a Energy Plus Home, De11 cember 31, 2015, and 

12 ‘‘(4) in the case of a Zero Energy Home, De13 cember 31, 2018.’’. 

14 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

15 this section shall apply to new energy efficient homes ac16 quired after December 31, 2008. 

17 SEC. 3. ENERGY EFFICIENT HOME PURCHASE. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part VII of subchapter B of chap19 ter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating addi20 tional itemized deductions for individuals) is amended by 

21 redesignating section 224 as section 225 and by inserting 

22 after section 223 the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 224. ENERGY EFFICIENT HOME PURCHASE DEDUC2 TION. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There shall be allowed as a de4 duction for the taxable year an amount equal to the dif5 ference of— 

6 ‘‘(1) the amount paid or incurred by the tax7 payer for the taxable year in acquiring or con8 structing an energy efficient dwelling unit, over 

9 ‘‘(2) the acquisition or construction cost, as the 

10 case may be, of a comparable dwelling unit. 

11 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULES.—For pur12 poses of this section— 

13 ‘‘(1) ENERGY EFFICIENT DWELLING UNIT.— 

14 The term ‘energy efficient dwelling unit’ means any 

15 dwelling unit described in section 45L(c)(2) which is 

16 used as the principal residence (within the meaning 

17 of section 121) of the taxpayer during the taxable 

18 year. 

19 ‘‘(2) COST OF A COMPARABLE DWELLING

20 UNIT.—The Secretary shall by regulation prescribe 

21 such methods for determining the acquisition or con22 struction cost of a comparable dwelling unit as are 

23 necessary to carry out the purposes of this section. 

24 ‘‘(3) RECAPTURE.—The Secretary shall by reg25 ulation provide for such recapture of the benefit of 

26 any deduction allowed under subsection (a) as may 


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1 be necessary to prevent abuse of this section. Such 

2 rules shall provide exceptions to such recapture as 

3 may be appropriate, including (if applicable) in the 

4 case of a sale or exchange by reason of a change in 

5 place of employment, health, or, to the extend pro6 vided in regulations, unforseen circumstances.’’. 

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

8 for part VII of subchapter B of chapter 1 of such Code 

9 is amended by striking the item relating to section 224 

10 and inserting the following new items: 

‘‘Sec. 224. Energy efficient home purchase deduction. 

‘‘Sec. 225. Cross reference.’’. 

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

12 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

13 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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