Energy Trust of Oregon
Business Energy Efficiency Incentives for New Buildings
Background
Energy Trust of Oregon offers incentives to commercial, and institutional entities – including schools, that design and build new buildings that substantially exceed commercial building codes. High efficiency, sustainably designed buildings are good for communities and the planet. Energy Trust provides cash incentives of up to $465,000 per project for a new construction or major renovation project that is more energy efficient and environmentally friendly. Incentives are available for energy modeling, commissioning and high-efficiency equipment.
Energy Trust’s New Buildings program offers incentives through four different program tracks: Standard, Custom, ENERGY STAR® and LEED®-NC. For more information on each track, visit: www.energytrust.org/newbuildings.
Standard Track provides incentives for electrical equipment for: lighting and lighting controls, heat pumps, motors, variable speed drives, demand control ventilation, air conditioning, chillers, domestic hot water, natural gas heating equipment and foodservice equipment. Incentives of up to $100,000 are available for projects that pursue measures that are eligible under the Standard Track. Energy Trust also provides technical assistance to maximize energy savings potential. For details on incentive offerings by measure type, check the Standard Track workbook on the Energy Trust’s New Buildings program Web site.
Custom Track provides cash incentives for the installation of buildings systems that are more energy efficient than those installed to meet minimum Oregon code requirements/standards in the same type building with similar occupancy. Incentives of up to $300,000 per project are available based on the first year, annual electric and gas savings estimates/calculations. The estimated energy savings are determined through an energy model or energy analysis. Incentives are available at the following rates:
- New Construction Projects: $0.10 per kilowatt hour and $0.80 per therm.
- Major Renovation Lighting Measures: $0.15/kWh, up to 30 percent of eligible project cost, not to exceed 100 percent of incremental cost.
- Major Renovation Non-lighting Measures: $0.20/kWh and $1/Therm, up to 35 percent of eligible project cost, not to exceed 100 percent of incremental cost.
Additional incentives are available for technical assistance and commissioning. Standard Track and Custom Track incentives, including technical assistance and commissioning, can be combined for a total incentive of up to $465,000.
ENERGY STAR Track offers incentives to eligible new building projects that achieve the ENERGY STAR building performance certification from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ENERGY STAR Track incentives provide $2,000 to $30,000 per project. Qualifying projects use two ENERGY STAR tools, Portfolio Manager and Target Finder, to document energy savings in a new building.
LEED® NC Track provides incentives for new construction projects registering for certification with the US Green Building Council (USGBC) LEED NC program. Incentives of up to $300,000 per project are determined through one of the following two ways: 1) For projects for which the USGBC awards Energy & Atmosphere Credit 1 points prescriptively, incentives are determined by the number of Energy & Atmosphere Credit 1 points awarded to the project or 2) By the estimated energy savings determined by the energy analysis that is submitted to USGBC in pursuit of Energy & Atmosphere Credit 1 points.
Solar Incentives for New Buildings
Incentives are also available for installation of solar energy systems. Energy Trust offers $6.00/therm or $0.40/kWh for solar water heating systems and $1.50/therm solar pool heating systems. Solar electric incentives vary based on the size of the system and the electric utility and can be as high as $175,000 for public buildings including schools. To avoid a large capital investment, a school may seek to purchase solar electricity from a third party that installs, owns and operates a solar electric system on the school. Details on Energy Trust’s solar incentives can be found at: http://www.energytrust.org/solar/index.html.
Energy Trust cash incentives can be combined with state and federal tax credits for energy efficient and solar energy systems.
Contact Information
Building Energy Solutions — New Buildings
Energy Trust of Oregon, Inc.
851 SW Sixth Avenue, Suite 1200
Portland, Oregon 97204
866-368-7878
newbuildings@energytrust.org
http://www.energytrust.org
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