I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5181 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide temporarily increase 
the deduction for energy efficient commercial buildings, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 7, 2021 
Mr. BLUMENAUER (for himself and Mr. BEYER) 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 provide 
temporarily increase the deduction for energy efficient 
commercial buildings, 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 ‘‘Energy Efficient Com-
mercial Buildings Act of 2021’’. 
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SEC. 2. ENERGY EFFICIENT COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS DE-
DUCTION. 
(a) TEMPORARY INCREASE IN DEDUCTION, ETC.— 
Section 179D is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(i) TEMPORARY RULES.— 
‘‘(1) PERIOD OF APPLICATION.—The provisions 
of this subsection shall apply only to taxable years 
beginning after December 31, 2021, and before Jan-
uary 1, 2032. 
‘‘(2) MODIFICATION
OF
EFFICIENCY
STAND-
ARD.—Subsection (c)(1)(D) shall be applied by sub-
stituting ‘25’ for ‘50’. 
‘‘(3) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF DEDUCTION.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The deduction under 
subsection (a) with respect to any building for 
any taxable year shall not exceed the excess (if 
any) of— 
‘‘(i) the product of— 
‘‘(I) the applicable dollar value, 
and 
‘‘(II) the square footage of the 
building, over 
‘‘(ii) the aggregate amount of the de-
ductions under subsection (a) and para-
graph (6) with respect to the building for 
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the 3 taxable years immediately preceding 
such taxable year (or, in the case of any 
such deduction allowable to a person other 
than the taxpayer, for any taxable year 
ending during the 4-taxable-year period 
ending with such taxable year). 
‘‘(B) APPLICABLE
DOLLAR
VALUE.—For 
purposes of paragraph (3)(A)(i), the applicable 
dollar value shall be an amount equal to $2.50 
increased (but not above $5.00) by $0.10 for 
each percentage point by which the total annual 
energy and power costs for the building are cer-
tified to be reduced by a percentage greater 
than 25 percent. 
‘‘(C) APPLICATION OF INFLATION ADJUST-
MENT.—Subsection (g) shall be applied— 
‘‘(i) by substituting ‘2022’ for ‘2020’, 
‘‘(ii) 
by 
substituting 
‘subsection 
(i)(3)(B)’ for ‘subsection (b) or subsection 
(d)(1)(A)’, and 
‘‘(iii) 
by 
substituting 
‘2021’ 
for 
‘2019’. 
‘‘(D) LIMITATION TO APPLY IN LIEU OF 
CURRENT
LIMITATION
AND
PARTIAL
ALLOW-
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ANCE.—Subsections (b) and (d)(1) shall not 
apply. 
‘‘(4) ALLOCATION OF DEDUCTION BY CERTAIN 
TAX-EXEMPT ENTITIES.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—A specified tax-ex-
empt entity shall be treated in the same manner 
as a Federal, State, or local government for 
purposes of applying subsection (d)(4). 
‘‘(B) SPECIFIED
TAX-EXEMPT
ENTITY.— 
For purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘spec-
ified tax-exempt entity’ means— 
‘‘(i) the United States, any State or 
political subdivision thereof, any possession 
of the United States, or any agency or in-
strumentality of any of the foregoing, 
‘‘(ii) any Indian tribal government 
(within the meaning of section 139E), and 
‘‘(iii) any organization exempt from 
tax imposed by this chapter. 
‘‘(5) ALTERNATIVE
DEDUCTION
FOR
ENERGY 
EFFICIENT RETROFIT BUILDING PROPERTY.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a tax-
payer which elects (at such time and in such 
manner as the Secretary may provide) the ap-
plication of this paragraph with respect to any 
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qualified building, there shall be allowed as a 
deduction for the taxable year which includes 
the date of the qualifying final certification with 
respect to the qualified retrofit plan of such 
building, an amount equal to the lesser of— 
‘‘(i) the excess described in paragraph 
(3) (determined by substituting ‘energy 
usage intensity’ for ‘total annual energy 
and power costs’ in subparagraph (B) 
thereof), or 
‘‘(ii) the aggregate adjusted basis (de-
termined after taking into account all ad-
justments with respect to such taxable year 
other than the reduction under subsection 
(e)) of energy efficient retrofit building 
property placed in service by the taxpayer 
pursuant to such qualified retrofit plan. 
‘‘(B) QUALIFIED
RETROFIT
PLAN.—For 
purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘qualified 
retrofit plan’ means a written plan prepared by 
a qualified professional which specifies modi-
fications to a building which, in the aggregate, 
are expected to reduce such building’s energy 
usage intensity by 25 percent or more in com-
parison to the baseline energy usage intensity of 
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such building. Such plan shall provide for a 
qualified professional to— 
‘‘(i) as of any date during the 1-year 
period ending on the date of the first cer-
tification described in clause (ii), certify 
the energy usage intensity of such building 
as of such date, 
‘‘(ii) certify the status of property in-
stalled pursuant to such plan as meeting 
the requirements of clauses (ii) and (iii) 
subparagraph (C), and 
‘‘(iii) as of any date that is more than 
1 year after completion of the plan, certify 
the energy usage intensity of such building 
as of such date. 
‘‘(C) 
ENERGY
EFFICIENT
RETROFIT 
BUILDING
PROPERTY.—For purposes of this 
paragraph, the term ‘energy efficient retrofit 
building property’ means property— 
‘‘(i) with respect to which depreciation 
(or amortization in lieu of depreciation) is 
allowable, 
‘‘(ii) which is installed on or in any 
qualified building, 
‘‘(iii) which is installed as part of— 
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‘‘(I) the interior lighting systems, 
‘‘(II) the heating, cooling, ven-
tilation, and hot water systems, or 
‘‘(III) the building envelope, and 
‘‘(iv) which is certified in accordance 
with subparagraph (B)(ii) as meeting the 
requirements of clauses (ii) and (iii). 
‘‘(D) QUALIFIED
BUILDING.—For pur-
poses of this paragraph, the term ‘qualified 
building’ means any building which— 
‘‘(i) is located in the United States, 
and 
‘‘(ii) was originally placed in service 
not less than 5 years before the establish-
ment of the qualified retrofit plan with re-
spect to such building. 
‘‘(E) 
QUALIFYING
FINAL
CERTIFI-
CATION.—For purposes of this paragraph, the 
term ‘qualifying final certification’ means, with 
respect to any qualified retrofit plan, the certifi-
cation described in subparagraph (B)(iii) if the 
energy usage intensity certified in such certifi-
cation is not more than 75 percent of the base-
line energy usage intensity of the building. 
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‘‘(F) BASELINE
ENERGY
USAGE
INTEN-
SITY.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘baseline 
energy usage intensity’ means the energy 
usage intensity certified under subpara-
graph (B)(i), as adjusted to take into ac-
count weather as compared to the energy 
usage intensity determined under subpara-
graph (B)(iii)(I). 
‘‘(ii) DETERMINATION
OF
ADJUST-
MENT.—For purposes of clause (i), the ad-
justments described in such clause shall be 
determined in such manner as the Sec-
retary, after consultation with the Admin-
istrator of the Environmental Protection 
Agency, may provide. 
‘‘(G) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—For purposes 
of this paragraph— 
‘‘(i) ENERGY USAGE INTENSITY.—The 
term ‘energy usage intensity’ means the 
site energy usage intensity determined in 
accordance with such regulations or other 
guidance as the Secretary may provide and 
measured in British thermal units. 
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‘‘(ii) 
QUALIFIED
PROFESSIONAL.— 
The term ‘qualified professional’ means an 
individual who is a licenced architect or a 
licenced engineer and meets such other re-
quirements as the Secretary may provide. 
‘‘(H) COORDINATION
WITH
DEDUCTION 
OTHERWISE
ALLOWED
UNDER
SUBSECTION 
(a).— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any 
building with respect to which an election 
is made under subparagraph (A), the term 
‘energy efficient commercial building prop-
erty’ shall not include any energy efficient 
retrofit building property with respect to 
which a deduction is allowable under this 
paragraph. 
‘‘(ii) CERTAIN RULES NOT APPLICA-
BLE.— 
‘‘(I) IN
GENERAL.—Except as 
provided in subclause (II), subsection 
(d) shall not apply for purposes of 
this paragraph. 
‘‘(II) ALLOCATION
OF
DEDUC-
TION BY CERTAIN TAX-EXEMPT ENTI-
TIES.—Rules similar to subsection 
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(d)(4) (determined after application of 
paragraph (5)) shall apply for pur-
poses of this paragraph.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro-
vided in this subsection, the amendment made by 
this section shall apply to taxable years beginning 
after December 31, 2021. 
(2) ALTERNATIVE DEDUCTION FOR ENERGY EF-
FICIENT
RETROFIT
BUILDING
PROPERTY.—Para-
graph (6) of section 179D(i) of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986 (as added by this section), and any 
other provision of such section solely for purposes of 
applying such paragraph, shall apply to property 
placed in service after December 31, 2021 (in tax-
able years ending after such date) if such property 
is placed in service pursuant to qualified retrofit 
plan (within the meaning of such section) estab-
lished after such date. 
Æ 
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