The Ears Of The Obama Transition Team
They are lending them to some good people. Three weeks ago Ed Mazria, founder of Architecture 2030, was in Washington D.C. presenting his proposal for a stimulus plan that “integrates a mortgage buy-down program for residential buildings and an accelerated-depreciation program for commercial buildings with the energy efficiency targets of the 2030 Challenge.”
And on December 19, the leaders of the Urban Land Institute met with Treasury Department transition team members to advocate for policies that “reward plans that reduce car dependency and vehicle miles traveled,” and a federal tax credit program to “encourage retrofitting buildings to make them more energy efficient.” To address the lack of affordable housing in many large cities, ULI suggested tax credits that “encourage the conversion of existing market-rate units to workforce housing units.”
All indications are that green retrofitting is going to take off over the next few years. Perhaps it will help pick up some of the slack in new construction.