Funds Begin to Flow from Inflation Reduction Act

Money from the 2022 climate law is now available for high-performance construction and retrofit projects. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), passed in August 2022, allocates $370 billion to energy-efficiency improvements, clean energy, and building product manufacturing across the United States. In its pursuit of climate change mitigation and resilience, the IRA centers on environmental justice by driving benefits to middle-class homeowners and renters; Tribes; rural and underserved communities; and those subject to legacy pollution. Certain tax credits offer increased benefits for projects that pay workers the prevailing wage and employ registered apprentices.

IRA funding is now available, and a guidebook released by the White House in December 2022 lays out new details for every program and provision. Those relating to the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of buildings fall into five categories:

• Non-residential buildings: energy upgrades and retrofit programs
• Residential buildings: energy upgrades, resilience, and new construction
• Reduction of embodied carbon in construction materials
• Adoption of the latest energy codes
• Increased community resilience to climate change

The details of each program are available in the table.

More on federal support for high-performance buildings

A Boatload of Building-Related Incentives in Inflation Reduction Act

EPA’s New Environmental Justice Arm to Disburse $3 Billion

Feds Introduce Decarbonization Specs for Governance Projects

For more information:

White House
whitehouse.gov