I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1212 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide tax credits for 
making energy efficiency improvements to existing homes and for con-
structing new energy efficient homes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 10, 2005 
Mr. WELLER (for himself and Mr. CARDIN) 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 
tax credits for making energy efficiency improvements 
to existing homes and for constructing new energy effi-
cient homes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Save America’s Valuable Energy Resources Act of 
2005’’. 
(b) AMENDMENT OF 1986 CODE.—Except as other-
wise expressly provided, whenever in this Act an amend-
ment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment 
to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference 
shall be considered to be made to a section or other provi-
sion of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 
SEC. 2. CREDIT FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENTS 
TO EXISTING HOMES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart A of part IV of sub-
chapter A of chapter 1 (relating to nonrefundable personal 
credits) is amended by inserting after section 25B the fol-
lowing new section: 
‘‘SEC. 25C. ENERGY EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENTS TO EXIST-
ING HOMES. 
‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—In the case of an in-
dividual, there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax 
imposed by this chapter for the taxable year an amount 
equal to 20 percent of the amount paid or incurred by 
the taxpayer for qualified energy efficiency improvements 
installed during such taxable year. 
‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) MAXIMUM CREDIT.—The credit allowed by 
this section with respect to a dwelling shall not ex-
ceed $2,000. 
‘‘(2) PRIOR CREDIT AMOUNTS FOR TAXPAYER 
ON SAME DWELLING TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT.—If a 
credit was allowed to the taxpayer under subsection
(a) with respect to a dwelling in 1 or more prior tax-
able years, the amount of the credit otherwise allow-
able for the taxable year with respect to that dwell-
ing shall not exceed the amount of $2,000 reduced 
by the sum of the credits allowed under subsection 
(a) to the taxpayer with respect to the dwelling for 
all prior taxable years. 
‘‘(3) LIMITATION
BASED
ON
AMOUNT
OF 
TAX.—The credit allowed under subsection (a) for 
the taxable year shall not exceed the excess of— 
‘‘(A) the sum of the regular tax liability 
(as defined in section 26(b)) plus the tax im-
posed by section 55, over 
‘‘(B) the sum of the credits allowable 
under this subpart (other than this section and 
section 23) and section 27 for the taxable year. 
‘‘(c) CARRYFORWARD OF UNUSED CREDIT.—If the 
credit allowable under subsection (a) exceeds the limita-
tion imposed by subsection (b)(3) for such taxable year, 
such excess shall be carried to the succeeding taxable year 
and added to the credit allowable under subsection (a) for 
such succeeding taxable year. 
‘‘(d) QUALIFIED ENERGY EFFICIENCY IMPROVE-
MENTS.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘qualified 
energy efficiency improvements’ means any energy effi-
cient building envelope component which meets the pre-
scriptive criteria for such component established by the 
1998 International Energy Conservation Code, if— 
‘‘(1) such component is installed in or on a 
dwelling— 
‘‘(A) located in the United States, and 
‘‘(B) owned and used by the taxpayer as 
the taxpayer’s principal residence (within the 
meaning of section 121), 
‘‘(2) the original use of such component com-
mences with the taxpayer, and 
‘‘(3) such component reasonably can be ex-
pected to remain in use for at least 5 years. 
If the aggregate cost of such components with respect to 
any dwelling exceeds $1,000, such components shall be 
treated as qualified energy efficiency improvements only 
if such components are also certified in accordance with 
subsection (e) as meeting such criteria. 
‘‘(e) CERTIFICATION.—The certification described in 
subsection (d) shall be— 
‘‘(1) determined on the basis of the technical 
specifications or applicable ratings (including prod-
uct labeling requirements) for the measurement of 
energy efficiency, based upon energy use or building