I 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6915 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to expand the new energy 
efficient home credit, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 26, 2018 
Mr. LANGEVIN 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 expand 
the new energy efficient home credit, 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 2018’’. 
SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF NEW ENERGY EFFICIENT HOME 
CREDIT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (2) of section 45L(a) 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by strik-
ing ‘‘and’’ at the end of subparagraph (A), by striking 
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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).’’. 
(b) 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.— 
‘‘(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— 
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‘‘(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 2018. 
‘‘(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, 
‘‘(iii) the improved building is placed 
in service after the date of the enactment 
of the Building Efficiently Act of 2018, 
and 
‘‘(iv) the taxpayer elects to the appli-
cation of this paragraph with respect to 
the building. 
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‘‘(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 2018. 
‘‘(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 
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-
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quirements of the International Energy 
Conservation Code 2004 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 
‘‘(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 
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‘‘(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.’’. 
(c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 45L(d) is 
amended by striking ‘‘subsection (c)’’ both places it ap-
pears and inserting ‘‘subsection (b)(5) or (c)’’. 
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to property placed in service after 
December 31, 2015. 
SEC. 3. 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 
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(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.’’. 
(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 
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(3) by adding at the end the following new sub-
paragraph: 
‘‘(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 
December 31, 2018. 
Æ 
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