Government incentives for building and renovating “Green”

Government incentives for building and renovating “Green”
Nafisa Abdulla, Canadian Home Builders’ Association of BC, Oct 11 07

In a presentation made to government today, the
Canadian Home Builders’ Association of BC (CHBA BC), together with the BC Real
Estate Association (BCREA) and the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver
(REBGV), have recommended a two-year pilot program that reinvests Property
Transfer Tax (PTT) revenues to help reduce emission from homes by building or
renovating “green”.
 
“With BC’s strong economy showing no signs of
letting up and the continuation of record levels of Property Transfer Tax being
collected, CHBA BC has partnered with the BCREA and the REBGV to present our
government with another opportunity to maintain BC as the Best Place on Earth to
live, by establishing an easy to use process to combat greenhouse gas emissions
and save our precious resources. Together, we are reaching higher for British
Columbia,” says M.J. Whitemarsh, CEO of CHBA BC.

Five recommendations
that were delivered to the provincial government will see both PTT and
Provincial Sales Tax (PST) revenues used to fund a provincial Green Building Tax
Incentive and Rebate Program. The recommendations are as follows:

1.
Provide a PTT rebate to buyers of homes that meet or exceed the standards of
the Built Green™ BC program.
2.    Provide a PST rebate to home owners
renovating to energy efficient standards.
3.    Provide a PTT rebate to
buyers of energy efficient green buildings.
4.    Provide a PST rebate to
owners of commercial buildings renovating to energy efficient standards.
5.
Provide incentives to local governments to promote green development.

Each Built Green™ Gold home saves 2.5 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions
annually. In 2006, 36,443 new homes were built. If only 5% of new homes built in
2006 were built to Built Green™ Gold standards and received a rebate of $5,000,
the total cost to government would be only $9.1 million. The benefit of this is
4,550 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions are prevented from entering our
environment annually. This is the equivalent to taking approximately 700 cars
off the road per year and an excess of 9100 gig joules of energy saved.