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 commer-
cial buildings deduction, to eliminate the basis reduction for low-income 
housing properties receiving certain energy benefits, and for other pur-
poses. 
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 deduc-
tion, to eliminate the basis reduction for low-income 
housing properties receiving certain energy benefits, and 
for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Building Efficiently 
Act of 2019’’. 
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SEC. 2. EXTENSION AND EXPANSION OF NEW ENERGY EFFI-
CIENT HOME CREDIT. 
(a) EXTENSION OF CREDIT.—Section 45L(g) of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking 
‘‘December 31, 2017’’ and inserting ‘‘December 31, 
2020’’. 
(b) CREDIT
FOR QUALIFIED ENERGY EFFICIENT 
RENTAL PROPERTY.—Paragraph (2) of section 45L(a) of 
such Code is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of 
subparagraph (A), by striking the period at the end of 
subparagraph (B) and inserting ‘‘, and’’, and by adding 
at the end the following: 
‘‘(C) in lieu of subparagraphs (A) and (B), 
in the case of qualified new energy efficient 
home that is a qualified energy efficient resi-
dential rental property, 3.3 percent of the cost 
of construction of such property, reduced by 
any expenditure not taken into account under 
this section by reason of subsection (f).’’. 
(c) QUALIFIED ENERGY EFFICIENT RESIDENTIAL 
RENTAL PROPERTY DEFINED.—Subsection (b) of section 
45L of such Code is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(5) QUALIFIED ENERGY EFFICIENT RESIDEN-
TIAL RENTAL PROPERTY.— 
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‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified 
energy efficient residential real property’ means 
a building which is residential rental property 
which is described in subparagraph (B), (C), or 
(D). 
‘‘(B) NEW
OR
RECONSTRUCTED
BUILD-
ING.—A building is described in this subpara-
graph if— 
‘‘(i) the certification requirements of 
subparagraph (E) with respect to the 
building are met, 
‘‘(ii) the original use of which com-
mences with the taxpayer, and 
‘‘(iii) the building is placed in service 
after the date of the enactment of the 
Building Efficiently Act of 2019. 
‘‘(C) IMPROVEMENTS TO EXISTING BUILD-
ING.—A building is described in this subpara-
graph if, only after improvements are made to 
the building— 
‘‘(i) the certification requirements of 
subparagraph (E) with respect to the 
building are met, 
‘‘(ii) the original use of the improved 
building commences with the taxpayer, 
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‘‘(iii) the improved building is placed 
in service after the date of the enactment 
of the Building Efficiently Act of 2019, 
and 
‘‘(iv) the taxpayer elects to the appli-
cation of this paragraph with respect to 
the building. 
‘‘(D) BUILDINGS
ACQUIRED
BY
PUR-
CHASE.—A building is described in this sub-
paragraph if the building— 
‘‘(i) is acquired by purchase from an 
unrelated person, 
‘‘(ii) meets the certification require-
ments of subparagraph (E), and 
‘‘(iii) is placed in service after the 
date of the enactment of the Building Effi-
ciently Act of 2019. 
‘‘(E) CERTIFICATION
REQUIREMENTS.— 
The requirements of this subparagraph are met 
if, with respect to a building, the building is 
certified in accordance with subsection (d) as 
being constructed, reconstructed, or retrofitted, 
as the case may be, under a plan designed to 
reduce energy and power consumption of the 
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building by 40 percent or more in comparison 
to— 
‘‘(i) in the case of retrofits made to 
an existing building, the baseline annual 
energy and power consumption of the 
building, or 
‘‘(ii) in any other case, a reference 
building which meets the minimum re-
quirements of the International Energy 
Conservation Code 2018 using methods of 
calculation under subsection (d). 
‘‘(F) BASELINE
ANNUAL
ENERGY
AND 
POWER
CONSUMPTION.—The baseline annual 
energy and power consumption of any building 
shall be determined by using— 
‘‘(i) a building energy performance 
benchmarking tool designated for purposes 
of this paragraph by the Administrator of 
the Environmental Protection Agency, 
which is based upon energy and power con-
sumption data during the 1-year period 
ending on the date on which retrofits 
under the plan are placed in service, or 
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‘‘(ii) such other methods of calculation 
as certified by the Secretary in accordance 
with subsection (d). 
‘‘(G) RELATED
PERSONS.—For purposes 
of subparagraph (D), a person is related to an-
other person if— 
‘‘(i) the persons are members of an 
affiliated group (as defined in section 
1504), or 
‘‘(ii) the persons have a relationship 
described in subsection (b) of section 267; 
except that, for purposes of this clause, the 
phrase ‘80 percent or more’ shall be sub-
stituted for the phrase ‘more than 50 per-
cent’ each place it appears in such sub-
section and rules similar to the rules of 
subsections (c) and (e) (other than para-
graphs (4) and (5) thereof) shall apply.’’. 
(d) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 45L(d) is 
amended by striking ‘‘subsection (c)’’ both places it ap-
pears and inserting ‘‘subsection (b)(5) or (c)’’. 
(e) EFFECTIVE DATES.— 
(1) EXTENSION.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall apply to property placed in serv-
ice after December 31, 2017. 
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(2) QUALIFIED
ENERGY
EFFICIENT
RENTAL 
PROPERTY.—The amendments made by subsections 
(b), (c), and (d) shall apply to property placed in 
service after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
in taxable years ending after such date. 
SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF ENERGY EFFICIENT COMMERCIAL 
BUILDINGS DEDUCTION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 179D(h) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘December 
31, 2017’’ and inserting ‘‘December 31, 2020’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
this section shall apply to property placed in service after 
December 31, 2017. 
SEC. 4. ELIMINATION OF BASIS REDUCTION FOR LOW-IN-
COME 
HOUSING 
PROPERTIES 
RECEIVING 
CERTAIN ENERGY BENEFITS. 
(a) NEW ENERGY EFFICIENT HOME CREDIT.—Sub-
section (e) of section 45L of the Internal Revenue Code 
of 1986 is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘ADJUSTMENT.—For purposes’’ 
and inserting ‘‘ADJUSTMENT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
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‘‘(2) EXCEPTION
FOR
LOW-INCOME
HOUSING 
PROPERTIES.—Paragraph (1) shall not apply to any 
property with respect to which a credit is allowed 
under section 42.’’. 
(b) ENERGY EFFICIENT COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS 
DEDUCTION.—Subsection (e) of section 179D of the In-
ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘REDUCTION.—For purposes’’ 
and inserting ‘‘REDUCTION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(2) EXCEPTION
FOR
LOW-INCOME
HOUSING 
PROPERTIES.—Paragraph (1) shall not apply to any 
property with respect to which a credit is allowed 
under section 42.’’. 
(c) ENERGY CREDIT.—Paragraph (3) of section 
50(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara-
graph (A); 
(2) by striking the period at the end of sub-
paragraph (B) and inserting ‘‘, and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new sub-
paragraph: 
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‘‘(C) paragraph (1) shall not apply to any 
property with respect to which a credit is al-
lowed under section 42.’’. 
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to property placed in service after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, in taxable years 
ending after such date. 
Æ 
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