How Can Your Small Business Take Advantage of the Tax Incentives in the Stimulus Package for Efficiency Upgrades?

March 1, 2009 by 5 Comments

You gotta spend money to save money. For energy efficiency upgrades, that saying couldn’t be more timely or accurate.

Energy efficiency programs and rebates are getting a real shot in the arm from, among other things, the stimulus package, plus many other federal, state, and local programs. As a result of the stimulus package, energy efficiency tax credits have been raised from 10% of cost to 30%. The maximum credit has been raised from $500 to $1500, and more expensive upgrades, such as solar panels, solar water heaters, and geothermal pumps are not limited to the $1,500 maximum. The $200 tax credit cap on efficient windows has been removed, however, the standards are also more stringent. All of this means that there has never been a better time, financially, to upgrade, insulate, and/or weatherize your buildings. These investments should pay for themselves relatively quickly, given the incentives and the energy savings, and provide long term savings in addition to good PR for your company.

The Small Business Association also has a guaranteed loan program for construction and renovation including Energy Star appliances and upgrades. The 7a Loan Guaranty Program, has a high degree of flexibility in what you are able to use the money for, including energy efficiency, retrofitting, and new Energy Star upgrades.

Scott Cooney is the author of Build a Green Small Business: Profitable Ways to Become an Ecopreneur (McGraw-Hill), and hopes that someday the green economy will simply be referred to as…the economy.

Photo credit: BrentDanley on Flickr Creative Commons




Filed Under: Energy, Financing Tagged With: , , ,
About Scott Cooney

Scott Cooney (twitter: scottcooney) is an adjunct professor Sustainability in the MBA program at the University of Hawai'i, green business startup coach, author of Build a Green Small Business: Profitable Ways to Become an Ecopreneur (McGraw-Hill), and developer of the sustainability board game GBO Hawai'i. As a serial eco-entrepreneur who has started, grown and sold multiple green businesses, Scott believes that capitalism, true capitalism, can be a powerful force for change, but that our current version of capitalism is severely hampered by perverse subsidies and negative externalities that make unsustainable products less expensive than healthier alternatives. Scott is a vegetarian, an avid cyclist, and an organic gardener.

Find Scott on Google Plus

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    March 4, 2009 at 4:00 pm

    [...] are a slew of rule changes for energy efficiency tax credits from the stimulus bill, and many of these should help small businesses, like ski resorts, quickly capitalize on clean tech [...]

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  2. Keeping Winter Cool | Eco Friendly Mag says:
    March 9, 2009 at 3:24 pm

    [...] are a slew of rule changes for energy efficiency tax credits from the stimulus bill, and many of these should help small businesses, like ski resorts, quickly capitalize on clean tech [...]

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    March 26, 2009 at 10:25 am

    [...] in turn could offer eco-friendly alternative business plans, mentorship, sustainability consulting, education about efficiency tax credits and other incentives, green business networking with other eco-entrepreneurs, and consulting on applying for and [...]

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    [...] How Can Your Small Business Take Advantage of the Tax Incentives in the Stimulus Package for Efficie… (ecopreneurist.com) [...]

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  5. Top 7 Reasons Why This Recession Is a Great Time to Start a Green Business says:
    April 9, 2013 at 11:05 am

    [...] jobs czar’, you’ll be able to pick up some skilled workers (see #2 above). In addition, tax credits and incentives for energy efficiency and other green incentives are being pushed from Washington all the way down to local municipalities. 5. It’s no longer [...]

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