May 20, 2008
Build green and save some green

Commissioners Court wants to make it easier for builders to be green.


Companies that build environmentally friendly facilities in Harris County could get a sizable property tax break under a proposal to be considered by Commissioners Court today.

The plan would offer up to a 100 percent tax abatement for 10 years on whatever amount a builder spends to become certified under the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, program.

[...]

Commissioner Sylvia Garcia said the county really wants to encourage "green" building.

"Providing the incentive will go a long way to get more people on board with doing more that's environmentally friendly and more efficient for everyone," Garcia said Monday.

The environmental tax abatement would apply only to new commercial construction that meets the national green building council's certification standards. It is meant to compensate companies for the added cost of meeting those standards.

The council awards a series of points based on issues such as how the building site works with its surrounding environment, the use of recycled materials, its energy efficiency and the environmental quality of the interior workspace. It then assigns ratings ranging from "certified" to "platinum."

Companies that construct buildings meeting the lowest rating would be eligible for a tax abatement on 1 percent of the construction costs. Buildings with higher ratings would get bigger discounts, with the top receiving credit for 10 percent of construction costs.

For example, a $10 million new building that was built to platinum standards would be eligible for a $1 million tax abatement, he said. At the county's current property tax rate, that could save $6,300 per year.

"If a company spent an extra million dollars to make a building green, then we feel that they should not have to pay taxes on that million dollars," said David Turkel, director of the Harris County Community Services Department.


I don't know how much incentive a $6300 property tax cut would represent for a builder who would undoubtedly be spending a lot more than that to qualify for it. On the other hand, being able to market the building as being LEED certified ought to be a plus. In either case, I approve of the idea, and hope it makes a difference.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on May 20, 2008 to Local politics
Comments

While I like the idea that demonstrably "green" building could earn a tax break I think the HCCC needs to put some effort into looking at the LEED criteria and understanding what is applicable for the area.

LEED certification points are based on a national standard rather than what makes sense for a region. For example builders of a development in Las Vegas were debating the installation of catch basins for rain water. The greater the capacity of the basins for the site, the more points they would get. Apparently the debate over size from the "green" building consultants went on for a while until one person from Las Vegas pointed out that they get about 3" of rain per year.

Furthermore there is some effort afoot to modify the LEED certification standards to make them more locally relevent. But that flexibily could mean that builders are trying to meet a standard that changes in the middle of the project. I think it would be better if the HCCC identified those types of specific locally relevant green improvements that they wish to promote and build that into the proposal rather than defaulting to the LEED standard.

Posted by: Patrick on May 21, 2008 9:06 AM