New York Green Building Initiative
As is occurring in many states, New York is trying to promote
Green Building practices. The state is doing it by offering tax
credits as financial incentives.
New York Green Building Initiative
The concept of green building isn't particularly old and has
arisen as a result of a better understanding of the impact of
buildings on people and the environment. Ideally, green
buildings are designed to use non-polluting energy, recyclable
resources and systems that avoid health impacting elements.
These buildings are extremely environmentally friendly, provide
healthier environments for workers and decrease the heat and
pollutant situations found in tightly packed structure and
population areas such as New York City.
While green building is a nice idea, our country is based on
capitalist methods. If green building isn't cost efficient, no
developer is going to pursue it because doing so will give their
competition a price advantage. This is where the New York Green
Building Initiative comes in.
The Initiative addresses the cost impact of green building by
creating financial incentives to promote the process. By going
green, developers are given breaks through tax credits. The
state is one of the first in the nation to provide such an
incentive system, which is a major incentive. The advantage of
tax credits over other incentives is they are incredibly useful
in reducing tax liability. Unlike a tax deduction which comes
off of gross revenues, tax credits are used to reduce the actual
amount of tax owed. For instance, if is a developer owes $5
million in taxes and gets a $2 million dollar tax credit, it has
to pay $3 million in taxes.
The New York Green Building Initiative offers developers tax
credits of up to $2 million dollars for using green building
techniques when building structures. The program is in place
until 2014. The Initiative is run by the New York State
Department of Environmental Conservation, which can provide you
with more information on the program and the application
process.
The New York Green Building Initiative represents another step
in the recognition of the impact our society has on the
environment. By promoting better building practices with tax
credits, New York is the model for promoting green building.